This Quebec company is pitching its balloons and A.I. system to combat wildfires
During Canada’s worst forest fire year on record, a Montreal start-up says they’ve created a system to help authorities deal with future blazes.
“Here we have the balloon,” said company president and co-founder Katrina Albert, gesturing towards the large white sphere inflated in LUX Aerobot’s Quebec studio. The company uses the balloons to collect data on forest fires which, with the use of A.I., can predict their progression.
After ascending into the stratosphere, Albert says they can stay in the air for days capturing high-resolution images. The data can be quickly shared with authorities on the ground, the company says.
“Not only are you preventing the fires from expanding and then potentially damaging infrastructure, and obviously have an impact on the population, but also you prevent them from emitting CO2,” said Albert.
LUX Aerobot has already secured a $500,000 contract with celebrity entrepreneur Robert Herjavec of Dragon’s Den. It says it’s also signed a contract with Australia’s defence force, and it’s in talks with Quebec’s wildfire response agency SOPFEU.
THE 'BLOCKBUSTER' YEAR
Quebec’s wildfires wreaked havoc on local forests and air quality across eastern North America this year.
In late June, Montreal topped the charts for the world’s worst air quality due to 80 consectuive wildfires scorching northern Quebec. Those with lung conditions were warned to stay indoors as shifting winds sent a thick haze of smoke southbound through the city and into the United States.
A firefighter walks toward a major field and forest fire at Lambert Peat moss fields in Riviere-Ouelle, Que., Friday, June 19, 2020. The fire spread over more than 10 km, pushed by strong winds. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
SOPFEU’s Information Technology and Performance Director Olivier Lundqvist called it a “blockbuster.”
“It’s a season we couldn’t have imagined,” he told CTV. Agencies like SOPFEU rely in-part on satellites for fire imaging.
“We really only get one or two images per day, and then as soon as there's cloud cover that's not even useful,” said Lundqvist.
SOPFEU is planning to run LUX Aerobot’s balloons through a series of field tests next year. The company hopes to expand their services to include monitoring of other natural disasters, such as floods, coastal erosion, as well as arctic security.
“It's really investing in new innovation that will help us address these challenges that are to come,” said Albert.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Haida elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Yemen's Houthi rebels claim downing U.S. Reaper drone, release footage showing wreckage of aircraft
Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed shooting down another of the U.S. military's MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.
Britney Spears settles long-running legal dispute with estranged father, finally bringing ultimate end to conservatorship
Britney Spears has reached a settlement with her estranged father more than two years after the court-ordered termination of a conservatorship that had given him control of her life, their attorneys said.
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.