The bureau said the main satellite for Australia’s northern bushfire warning and detection system was “dying” and could have a blind spot of up to 12 hours each day.
Local land managers in Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia rely on a network of eight international satellites via the Northern Australian Fire Information (NAFI) service to spot fires.
But NAFI service manager Peter Jacklin said there had been a problem with a “very important” satellite orbiting over Australia in the early hours of the morning.
“I’m about to die,” he said.
”I’m 25 years old [and] It’s a small miracle that it’s still up and running.”
The satellite, called Terra, was launched by NASA in December 1999.
It was one of the first institutions to simultaneously collect land, ocean, and atmospheric data from space.
An artist’s impression of NASA’s Terra satellite, which passes over Australia every morning. (Provided by: NASA)
Jacklin said Terra has been running out of power, impacting the reliability of some data collection equipment.
“We are now detecting far fewer hotspots than before, which means we think we are much more likely to miss a fire in the morning,” he said.
Jacklin said the failure caused a flaw in fire detection software, which in some cases could take 10 to 12 hours before a fire was detected.
“For example, a fire that was last detected before dawn will not be detected again until a major satellite passes in the afternoon.”
“I couldn’t pull it up.”
Queensland cattle farmer Cameron Tickell said a series of detection failures had shaken his confidence in the system.
Tickell said the system failed to detect several large grass fires that occurred over the summer, including fires on neighboring properties.
“I could see a little bit of smoke coming from what appeared to be one of my neighbor’s houses,” he said.
The Charleville-based cattle producer said by the time he arrived to locate and extinguish the fire, “significant” flames had already reached the sky.
Heat maps like this one, which shows fires in north-west Queensland in 2024, are relied upon for information. (Provided by: Northern Australia Fire Information)
“We couldn’t raise it,” he said.
Fortunately, 5 millimeters of rain fell, but it was enough to put out the fire, he said.
“We probably fought for six to eight hours and it never even showed up on the NAFI site,” Tickell said.
Tickell said land managers need reliable systems for early detection of fires.
“There are no longer people living here in the bush who can deliver the bush telegram. [information] So we are currently relying on these sites to locate the fire,” he said.
Old satellite ‘drifts’ closer to Earth
All satellites used by NAFI are owned and operated by American, European or Japanese space agencies and provide data to Australia through data sharing agreements.
A new satellite has been launched by the European Space Agency to replace the old one, but hotspot data may not become active until the middle of this year, Jacklin said.
Early detection is critical for fire departments in remote areas to respond quickly to fire threats. (ABC News: Grace Nakamura)
“That’s because here in Australia we have to develop our own little algorithms that look at images. [from] “We look at satellites and identify active fires in images,” he said.
“And that’s going to take a while to develop.”
A NASA spokesperson said the Terra satellite “is still producing science” but will be moved to an orbit 3 miles closer to Earth in 2022 to save fuel.
The space agency said “power-based limitations” after orbit changes and reduced efficiency of solar panels were affecting some sensors, including the satellite’s thermal telescope (ASTER TIR).
NAFI’s website said satellite networks are the only way to detect and record fires in line with the “management needs” of many rural and remote land managers.