Find the hotspots that restart a fire.
Thermal detection of residual heat across burned ground — finding the hotspots that restart a fire long after the flame front has passed.
Radiometric thermal
Hotspot coordinates and thermal map
Cool-conditions post-burn survey
The fire that is not out yet
Once a flame front has moved through, the harder problem is what it left behind: pockets of heat still burning in root systems, stumps, duff and debris. They are often invisible from the surface and can smoulder for days before wind finds them again. Locating them by hand means crews walking blackened ground looking for something that may be sitting a foot beneath it.
A thermal payload flown over that same ground reads heat directly, marking each source against its position so crews can be sent to a coordinate rather than a search pattern. Flown at intervals, it also shows whether the ground is genuinely cooling or whether something is still holding heat.
What you get
Thermal survey of the assigned area with heat sources identified
Coordinates for each detected hotspot, ready for direct ground follow-up
A thermal map showing heat distribution across the area surveyed
Repeat surveys flown to the same pattern, so cooling can be compared over time
Imagery archive for the incident record
How it works
Agree area and timing
Coverage area and survey timing are set with whoever is managing the incident. Thermal contrast is strongest in cool conditions, which usually means early or late in the day.
Plan the pattern
The area is broken into a systematic flight pattern at an altitude that balances coverage rate against detection detail.
Survey
The area is flown methodically, with heat sources marked against position as they are detected.
Report
Detections are delivered as coordinates and a thermal map, so crews can be tasked directly to them.
Common questions
When is the best time to fly a hotspot survey?
Generally when ambient temperature is lowest and solar loading is least, which often means early morning. Ground that has been heated by sun all afternoon masks the contrast a thermal sensor relies on, so a midday survey over dark burned ground is considerably less reliable.
Can thermal find heat underground?
It reads surface temperature, so what it actually detects is heat that has conducted up to the surface. Deep smouldering with no surface expression can be missed, which is exactly why repeat surveys matter — heat that is still active tends to show itself eventually.
How large an area can you cover?
Coverage rate depends on altitude, the level of detail required and the conditions. We would rather scope realistic coverage for your area and timeframe than quote a hectares-per-hour figure that ignores terrain and thermal conditions.
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