Digital Earth Australia Hotspots is a national bushfire monitoring system that provides timely information about hotspots to emergency service managers across Australia. The mapping system uses satellite sensors to detect areas producing high levels of infrared radiation (called Hotspots) accurately to allow users to identify potential fire locations with a possible risk to communities and property.
Please note the following limitations of detecting Hotspots from satellite sensors.
At best, the information is 30 min to an hour old (this is how long it takes to download and process data into hotspots after each satellite pass)
Satellites pass over a given area between 2 to no more than 4 times a day, and each pass covers only a part of Australia, which means some fires are not detected because the satellite was not looking over that particular area.
The hotspot location on any map (no matter how detailed) is only accurate to at best 1.5 km
The size of the hotspot does not indicate the area of fire
Not all hotspots are fires; they can also indicate black soil, gas fires, industry, furnaces, smoke plumes or hot rocks
Not all hotspots are detected by the satellites. Some heat sources may be too small, not hot enough, or obscured by thick smoke or cloud
Fire and Emergency Service Agencies requiring access to the registered layers should contact Geoscience Australia directly by email (earth.observation@ga.gov.au) for access details.
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