Research highlight: new advances in remote sensing for fire risk management

Bioeconomy Science Institute researchers are developing new ways to estimate live fuel moisture content and fuel types by combining field measurements, satellite data and machine learning — helping improve wildfire prediction and management across New Zealand.

Fire ecologist and science leader Shana Gross explains how linking on-the-ground measurements with satellite and other remotely sensed data is closing a critical gap in understanding fuel moisture at scale.

This latest research is part of our collaboration with NASA’s Ames Research Centre, the Australian National University , the US Forest Service, The 3-year project is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), receiving $1.28 million from the Catalyst Fund (strategic).

🔗 Read the roadmap for how we’re developing the system:

Watt, M.S., Gross, S., Difuntorum, J.K., McCarty, J.L., Pearce, H.G., Shuman, J.K., Yebra, M (2025) Monitoring Wildfire Risk with a Near-Real-Time Live Fuel Moisture Content System: A Review and Roadmap for Operational Application in New Zealand. Remote Sens. 2025, 17(21), 3580; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17213580