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AI-Powered Wildfire Prediction from Satellite Imagery

Fire & Emergency · Planning & Decision-making

What it collects

About a measurement
Anonymized data
  • Satellite imagery capturing environmental measurements such as vegetation indices, land surface temperature, and reflectance bands used to detect and predict wildfire conditions.
About a place
Anonymized data
  • Geographic and spatial data derived from satellite imagery, including land cover maps and terrain information used to localize wildfire predictions.
Run by
Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with
Accountable organization

What it is for

Fire & EmergencyPlanning & Decision-making

This system uses satellite imagery and machine learning to predict where wildfires may occur or spread. It was developed by the Canada Research and Development Corporation on behalf of the Canadian Space Agency and is used by Government of Canada employees. The system is currently in Phase 1 and produces predictions that inform decision-making — it does not automatically trigger emergency responses.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

About a measurement
Anonymized data
  • Satellite imagery capturing environmental measurements such as vegetation indices, land surface temperature, and reflectance bands used to detect and predict wildfire conditions.
About a place
Anonymized data
  • Geographic and spatial data derived from satellite imagery, including land cover maps and terrain information used to localize wildfire predictions.

Processing

Classification & Prediction
  • Machine learning models trained on satellite imagery classify or forecast wildfire risk by predicting ignition likelihood or fire spread across geographic areas.

What it does

Deciding (Analytical AI)
Human decides
  • The system applies machine learning to satellite data to produce wildfire risk predictions (scores, classifications, or forecasts). Government of Canada employees review these predictions and decide on any action.
Sensing (Perceptive AI)
Human decides
  • The system ingests raw satellite imagery and transforms it into structured inputs for the prediction pipeline, detecting features such as vegetation, heat signatures, and land cover.

Outputs

A recommendation or prediction
Anonymized data
  • The system outputs wildfire risk predictions — forecasts, risk scores, or classified threat areas — provided to Government of Canada employees as advisory information to inform planning and decision-making.
About a place
Anonymized data
  • Predicted wildfire risk areas or fire spread projections expressed as geographic regions, heatmaps, or location-tagged risk outputs.

Run by

Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
  • The Canadian Space Agency is the federal department responsible for deploying this wildfire prediction system and its primary users are Government of Canada employees.

AI Register — Department field

Built by

Canada Research and Development
  • The Canada Research and Development Corporation developed this AI system under contract. The register indicates development was performed by a vendor.

AI Register — Developed by / Developer name fields

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Available to the accountable organization
  • Wildfire prediction outputs are available to Government of Canada employees, as identified in the register as the primary users.

Stored

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyThis system is listed in the Government of Canada's AI Register, which provides public disclosure of AI systems used by federal departments. Members of the public may consult the register at open.canada.ca for information about how this system operates.

Risks and safeguards

  • Civil liberties harmThe system processes environmental satellite imagery rather than personal data, significantly reducing civil liberties risks. Outputs are advisory and reviewed by human government employees before any action is taken, preserving human oversight.