Your Interactive Hub for GIS Data and Advanced Wildfire & Flood Simulation.
Introduction:
Over the last decade, we have developed and refined our technology to empower frontline communities in their fight against climate-related disasters. Our crowning achievement, FireJumpers Inferno, has been widely used by various agencies for training and disaster mitigation purposes.
Challenge:
The escalating impacts of climate change pose serious challenges, particularly for frontline communities that are often at the heart of these crises. They endure devastating losses from wildfires, floods, and extreme weather events - all intensified by a rapidly changing climate.
Problem Statement:
These disasters not only cause significant property damage and economic losses but also threaten lives and disrupt community structures. It is vital to equip these communities with the tools, strategies, and resources needed to effectively mitigate and respond to these challenges.
This US map contains 625,000 pixels which is the Loading Screen. Each of those pixels is a downloadable content file containing 15,000 pixels of high-resolution GIS data. That's over 9.3 billion pixels of data! Click and download your local area to simulate wildfires!
Existing Solution:
FireJumpers Inferno, our original offering, leverages wildfire simulation software and disaster preparedness strategies. This multiplayer platform, complete with VR capabilities and Google Translate for accessibility, allows users to collaboratively tackle simulated disaster scenarios in real-time.
Existing Key Features:
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Wildfire Simulation: FireJumpers Inferno utilizes Rothermel's surface fire spread model to accurately simulate wildfire behaviour, aiding in strategic planning and mitigation.
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GIS Integration: The software hosts a comprehensive 40GB GIS data repository, encompassing the entire continental United States. Users can easily load data for their local communities to simulate wildfire threats.
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Multiplayer and Virtual Reality: The platform is designed to enable multiple users to collaboratively strategize in real-time. The inclusion of VR capabilities further provides an immersive learning experience.
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User-Friendly Interface: The platform offers an easy-to-use interface, simplifying the complexities of fire science and disaster management.
Current platform showcasing simulated wildfire spread using Rothermel's equations.
Currently can support up to 200 simultaneous users, each handling dozens of units.
Our Future Vision:
Building on the solid foundation of FireJumpers Inferno, GeoFireFlow will represent a quantum leap in disaster resilience technology. GeoFireFlow is envisaged as a comprehensive, free-to-use platform that will operate similarly to Google Maps, serving as a central hub for data, insights, and strategic planning tools, while also directing potential customers to our partners offering additional services and data.
Planned Future Features:
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Flood Prediction: The platform will incorporate advanced flood prediction algorithms, enabling proactive flood management strategies.
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Company-Specific GIS Data Hosting: GeoFireFlow aims to host company-specific GIS data layers, fostering a collaborative data-sharing environment that benefits all participants.
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Customer Funnel: GeoFireFlow will also act as a funnel, directing potential customers to our partner companies offering their data and services.
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AI Analysis: We plan to integrate artificial intelligence to analyze fire spread patterns and flood models, providing critical insights for decision-makers and strategic planners.
Data-sharing environment that benefits all participants.
We've already started our AI computations to analyze the best fuel break locations by considering many factors, such as most probable fire spread paths, wind speed and direction, slope, fuel type and more!
International Adoption:
In our commitment to making GeoFireFlow a truly global platform, we understand the need for localized data and the pivotal role it plays in disaster management.
This international adoption will not only expand the scope and coverage of our software but will also allow us to customize the simulation environment to reflect local conditions more accurately. We envision a world where frontline communities across the globe, irrespective of their location, can benefit from our software's robust simulation capabilities
Impact:
Through GeoFireFlow, we aim to democratize access to critical disaster management tools and information, fostering community resilience and promoting shared economic opportunities. While this comprehensive platform is still under development, its potential impact is underscored by the success and acceptance of FireJumpers Inferno.
Currently being used by training agencies and companies.
Turning Tides: AI-Driven GIS Platform Unites Global
Communities and Industries Against Climate Threats!
Intended Impact Elaboration
Our AI-driven solution, now expanded to include the novel geospatial data integration feature, brings an unprecedented level of empowerment and preparedness to frontline communities, translating into several significant benefits:
Comprehensive Decision-Making: The solution not only enhances Incident Commanders' decision-making capabilities but also opens new dimensions for companies to manage and share their unique geospatial data. This improves firefighting strategies, resource allocation, containment efforts, and much more.
Enhanced Preparedness & Reduced Vulnerability:
The tool bolsters disaster preparedness through more accurate wildfire threat analysis, targeted mitigation measures, and immersive training simulations. Companies can now share specific preventative measures taken, such as tree plantations for post-wildfire recovery or sandbag barriers for flood protection.
Improved Community Resilience:
With geospatial data layers shared by various companies, communities can now directly access a multitude of resilience efforts and plans – from fire lines to evacuation strategies, contributing to an enhanced sense of safety and security.
Economic Sustainability:
The tool allows for the tracking of the cost or value of each pixel within an area, providing invaluable data for insurance agencies determining potential costs, and aiding in the reduction of economic losses and property damage.
Environmental Preservation:
The increased ability to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of environmental sustainability measures, such as reforestation, aids in proactive prevention and mitigation efforts.
Timely & Inclusive Warnings:
Our solution continues to provide timely and effective early warning systems, but now with an added layer of rich, company-specific data that can guide evacuation, containment actions, and cross-linguistic communication.
In essence, our expanded solution serves as a hub of empowerment – harnessing AI-driven analytics, immersive simulations, and a rich collection of geospatial data to fortify frontline communities against climate-related disasters.
Intended Scale and Geography
The scale of our solution is designed to be flexible and adaptable, capable of serving neighborhood-based preparedness initiatives to nationwide prevention programs, with a potential for global deployment. Our initial focus is on the continental United States, a region severely impacted by wildfires and floods. However, the universal nature of our technology enables us to foresee expansion to other geographies as our solution matures.
The addition of the geospatial data integration feature further widens the scale of our solution. This feature allows companies from various sectors, including tree planting organizations, property developers, insurance agencies, and disaster management firms, to upload their own geospatial GIS data layers. They can share crucial information, such as locations of newly planted trees, homes with enhanced protective measures, areas with sandbag barriers, evacuation plans, and more.
This feature has the potential to extend the geographical reach of our solution, as companies worldwide can contribute their data. It also amplifies our solution's scale by engaging a broad array of stakeholders in climate resilience efforts, further driving the effectiveness of preparedness, response, and recovery initiatives.
With our solution, local communities, especially those on the frontlines of climate-related disasters, are not only empowered with predictive models and early warning systems but also benefit from the shared geospatial data, enhancing their resilience against these adversities.
For the private sector, our expanded solution provides invaluable insights and strategies to mitigate risks and minimize the impact of disasters on their operations. The feature to track the cost or value of each pixel within an area based on pixel type can be particularly useful for insurance companies and property developers, aiding in more accurate risk assessment and pricing.
Moreover, our platform's capability to adapt to various international GIS data formats paves the way for global expansion, catering to the needs of communities worldwide and promoting universal climate resilience.
As we progress, we aim to actively pursue partnerships and collaborations with other technology providers, academic institutions, and disaster response organizations. This will not only enhance our market potential but also ensure that our solution remains at the forefront of technology, continually addressing the evolving challenges of climate resilience.
Stakeholders and Needs
Our solution's direct impact on frontline communities is multifaceted. We aim to significantly reduce their vulnerability to climate-related risks and disasters and enhance their capacity to respond effectively through data-driven insights and collaborative decision-making.
With our enhanced solution, we not only offer predictive models and early warning systems, but also provide communities with shared geospatial data layers, fostering greater community resilience. Those within frontline communities who will benefit most from this solution include local disaster response teams, community leaders, and individuals living in high-risk areas.
Our solution empowers them to make data-driven decisions, leading to improved safety and resilience. For example, having access to geospatial data showing the locations of fuel breaks and fire lines can guide local response teams and community leaders in their strategic planning, resource allocation, and execution of containment strategies.
Our software's ability to track the cost or value of each pixel within an area based on pixel type can aid individuals in understanding the potential economic impact of a disaster on their property. This can guide them in taking preventative measures or purchasing appropriate insurance coverage, thereby reducing financial losses.
Moreover, our platform's inclusive and accessible design ensures all members of frontline communities can effectively utilize the software. The provision of easy-to-understand GIS data and user-friendly interfaces enables individuals of diverse backgrounds, languages, and literacies to engage with our software, thereby democratizing access to crucial information.
In summary, our solution is a powerful tool for frontline communities, addressing their immediate needs and providing a pathway towards a more resilient future. By integrating shared geospatial data into our software, we offer a comprehensive and engaging platform for climate resilience.
Potential Harm and Mitigation
The inclusion of the new geospatial data integration feature adds another layer to our solution, which also introduces potential risks alongside its substantial benefits. Here are the potential risks and our strategies to mitigate them:
Inaccurate Analysis and Decision-Making: With an increase in data sources due to the new geospatial data integration feature, the risk of inaccuracies could potentially rise. To mitigate this, we'll perform rigorous data validation and employ advanced data quality control measures. We also encourage the community and the companies sharing their data to actively participate in maintaining data accuracy.
Data Privacy and Security:
When organizations share their geospatial data, there could be potential risks to data privacy and security. To address this, we'll implement robust data protection protocols, adhering to the highest standards of cybersecurity.
Misinterpretation of Data:
The addition of various data layers could lead to potential misinterpretation of information. To mitigate this, we'll incorporate intuitive data visualization techniques and provide clear, concise explanations of all data layers.
Unintended Environmental Consequences:
While our intent is to provide a tool for environmental stewardship, incorrect use of geospatial data could inadvertently cause harm. We'll mitigate this risk by providing guidance on environmental best practices, and by collaborating with environmental experts to ensure that the use of our platform promotes sustainable outcomes.
Our commitment remains focused on providing a beneficial tool for frontline communities, while diligently managing potential risks to ensure our solution serves its purpose responsibly and effectively.
Stakeholder Involvement
Over the course of the past decade, I have had the privilege of actively engaging with various stakeholders, including frontline communities, wildland firefighters, government agencies, international organizations, training agencies, policymakers, insurance companies, universities, and research professionals. My primary objective has been to educate and empower these stakeholders by demonstrating the immense value and capabilities of my software in enhancing their decision-making processes.
Furthermore, I have collaborated closely with wildland agencies, including Canada's Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, to develop a tailored training tool that specifically addresses their unique requirements. This customized solution has allowed them to leverage the full potential of the software, equipping their personnel with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively combat wildfires and protect their communities
Through my extensive engagement and educational initiatives, I have played a pivotal role in disseminating knowledge and fostering a comprehensive understanding of the benefits of my software. By empowering stakeholders with the necessary tools and insights, I have significantly contributed to their ability to make informed decisions and navigate the challenges posed by climate-related disasters.