Wildfire Risk Mitigation through Systems Analysis of the Planetary Emergency

Abstract

Recognizing wildfires as a multiscale planetary emergency, this paper describes a systems analysis of technology countermeasures, with special attention to Sicily, California, and several other regions. The paper describes a framework for systems integration of firefighting, satellites, fixed imaging, and aerial vehicles, with mathematical simulation and machine learning, to support both policy mitigations and responses to incidents. The approach includes (1) the characterization of the planetary emergency of wildfires, (2) early identification of dangerous wildfires and means for their control, and (3) reduction of risks to population centers in both rural and urban areas. Societal metrics of success include human health and safety, environment and ecology, critical food and industrial supply chains, geopolitical security, and others. Several technology and policy countermeasures of particular interest are regional fuel management, distributed sensors, computational intelligence, advanced firefighting materials, protocols, and automatic and semiautonomous responses, benefiting from the latest advancements in information technologies including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and others.