Observatoire de l'environnement Nouvelle Calédonie

This tool, intended for both professionals and individuals, is associated with the Fire Alert service developed by the OEIL: all the user has to do is subscribe, and configure their personalized alert (specific geographical area, type of impacted properties...) to receive information by email if fires occur in its areas of interest. Subscribe

An automatic detection system

The Observatory has been working since 2015 on improving the detection of fires in New Caledonia and started sharing this expertise with Fiji in 2018.

The service is based on a pre-existing NASA service that provides fire alerts daily for a given area. The Observatory has developed an automated processing chain that integrates data from four satellites: Aqua MODIS, Terra MODIS, Suomi NPP and NOAA-20. The three of their trajectories cumulated fly over Fiji minimum 6 times a day, with a concentration on the 9am to 2pm slot. Mid-afternoon fires are less well monitored.

The table below shows the most frequent transit times of all three satellites. Each of them visits Fiji twice a day.

Genesis

In 2017, the Observatory identified more than 24,000 hectares of burnt areas in New-Caledonia thanks to this innovative remote sensing monitoring system. Given the effectiveness of this detection system and the magnitude of the pressure exerted by bushfires on ecosystems, creating an alert system became obvious. While improving constantly its quality for New-Caledonia, the Observatory was approached in 2018 to share this innovative expertise with the Fijian government. Starting 2020, the people of Fiji can beneficiate both the analysis portal and the fire alert system adapted to Fijian islands.

There are two services linked to the detection system:

·         The geoportal Vulcain allows you to extract interesting information for a given region and/or thematic and visualize it on the interactive map online. You can export statistics, data, and maps personalized with your own requests to the database.

·         The fire alert system works on a subscription basis. Every subscriber receives a personalized list of recently detected fires by email, at the frequency they wish. What’s more, the tool offers the possibility to set one’s alert according to geographical and thematic criteria such as environmental stake areas.

Partners

The Fire Alert project was born out of the contribution of many stakeholders in Fiji and in New Caledonia.

Coordinator: Observatory of the environment in New-Caledonia (OEIL).  The main missions of the OEIL are to monitor the state of the environment and regularly return this information to the public authorities, policy makers and the citizens.

Financial and technical contributors: