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LANSING, Mich. — A new satellite research plan involving a Michigan State University scientist aims to detect small, low-intensity wildfires that existing space-based monitoring systems can miss.
The report arrives after Michigan firefighters spent much of October battling three Upper Peninsula wildfires across rugged, drought-stricken terrain.
The Ridge, Craig Lake and Black River fires burned nearly 1,400 acres combined. Some fire remained buried in the forest’s duff layer, where rain could not fully extinguish it. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said prolonged moisture deficits created some of the Upper Peninsula’s driest conditions in decades.
MSU Scientist Helps Shape FireSat Research
The new report, published Oct. 26 in Fire Ecology, establishes a scientific roadmap for FireSat, a privately developed satellite constellation dedicated to detecting and monitoring fire.
Michigan State University geography professor David P. Roy was among more than 40 contributors. Roy directs MSU’s Center for Global Change and Earth Observations and has extensive experience developing satellite-based environmental monitoring methods.
The report synthesizes three 2025 workshops attended by approximately 100 representatives from universities, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private companies.
Researchers identified priorities including independently validating FireSat measurements, calculating uncertainty, integrating its observations with established fire records, and converting satellite results into useful information for incident commanders.
Looking for Fires Other Satellites Miss
Existing satellite tools involve a tradeoff.
Polar-orbiting satellites can produce relatively detailed images but may pass over the same location only a few times each day. Geostationary satellites provide updates every few minutes but observe the ground at a coarser resolution.
NASA’s commonly used VIIRS fire product has a nominal resolution of about 375 meters. Fires may also go undetected if they start and end between satellite passes or are hidden by clouds, smoke, or tree canopy.
FireSat is designed to observe fires at approximately 80-meter resolution and provide sub-hourly updates when the complete constellation is operating.
The science team says that combination could improve detection of small, cool, short-duration and understory fires. Those are precisely the types of incidents that can be difficult to identify before they grow or continue smoldering beneath vegetation.
First Satellites Are Already in Orbit
Earth Fire Alliance, the nonprofit organization developing FireSat, launched its first three operational satellites July 7.
After testing, the organization expects those spacecraft to provide observations at least twice daily to participating early-adopter agencies. The organization plans additional launches to reduce the interval between observations to an hour or less by 2029, with an eventual goal of updates every 20 minutes or less.
The full capability described in the research report does not yet exist.
The first three satellites remain in commissioning and calibration. Earth Fire Alliance plans initial fire-validation events in 2027 using prescribed burns with known locations and ignition times.
Possible Addition to Michigan’s Fire Tools
Michigan DNR pilots spotted the Craig Lake Fire on Oct. 8 and the Ridge Fire on Oct. 9. During the later suppression work, crews used drone-mounted infrared cameras to find residual heat and send GPS coordinates to firefighters on the ground.
FireSat could eventually provide another source of information between aircraft patrols, especially in remote areas. It might also help track fire boundaries, spread direction and heat output.
However, Michigan officials have not announced that the DNR will receive or operationally use FireSat data. The new publication is a scientific strategy developed through workshops, not an evaluation demonstrating the system’s performance in Michigan forests.
Tree canopy, cloud cover, snow, smoke and deeply buried duff fires may still complicate detection. Faster satellite data will also be valuable only if agencies can receive, interpret and integrate it quickly with ground reports, aircraft observations and weather information.
For now, FireSat is a promising system under construction—not a replacement for pilots, firefighters, or public reports.
Primary sources: FireSat science roadmap | Michigan DNR wildfire update | Earth Fire Alliance deployment roadmap
