Cal Poly is using artificial intelligence to help with wildfire recovery. The project leverages deep learning technology, which has the potential to improve firefighting efforts by 30%.
The technosylva is a project that uses artificial intelligence deep learning to aid wildfire recovery. Cal Poly has partnered with the US Forest Service to use the technology in their efforts to fight wildfires.
SAN LUIS OBISPO –– SAN LUIS OBISPO –– SAN LUIS OB Artificial intelligence was utilized by two Cal Poly professors and a group of students to teach a computer to rapidly evaluate wildfire damage, possibly reducing reaction time for attempts to recover from catastrophic wildfires.
As the danger of wildfires grows, accurate and fast damage assessment has become essential for response and recovery. Damage assessment reports influence first responder tactics, have an impact on citizens’ capacity to submit insurance claims, and guide state and federal disaster assistance and financial aid programs.
Most wildfire event inspectors still have to go to impacted regions and manually record the degree of structure damage, which may take weeks.
With artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning, social sciences assistant professor Andrew Fricker, computer science assistant professor Jonathan Ventura, visiting Cal Poly undergraduate student Gustave Rousselet, and a group of Stanford PhD students attempted to expedite this procedure. DamageMap, their project, involves teaching a computer to recognize wildfire damage from aerial images. When compared to official damage reports, DamageMap provided findings that were over 90% accurate when evaluated on photos from California’s Camp Fire and Carr Fire.
We’re going to get through this together, Atascadero
Fricker’s issue had become personal to him.
“I was desperate for answers about what had happened to my boyhood home in the aftermath of the Camp Fire (the deadliest in California history to date),” he added, adding that finding out took weeks. Thousands of people were in the same boat as me.
“In the meanwhile, folks are camped out in the Walmart parking lot, hoping for answers. If your house burnt down, you could use the insurance money to pay for a hotel room, a car, or anything else you needed to get back on your feet. However, you won’t be able to collect your insurance money unless you can show your house was damaged. As a result, there is a need for a more rapid flow of information and assessment.”
When DamageMap won the Highly Inquisitive group prize in a build-a-thon competition in 2019, Fricker utilized money from a Cal Poly Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities (RSCA) grant to collect data, recruit student research assistants, and attend Google’s Geo For Good conference.
Previous AI systems have been unable to successfully address the increasing demand for catastrophe reporting by comparing pre-fire and post-fire aerial images to evaluate damage. To accurately assess damage without deep learning, pre-fire and post-fire picture circumstances must match as nearly as feasible. The technique is challenging to deploy since it requires regular surveys in fire-prone regions.
DamageMap, on the other hand, just needs post-fire aerial images and may be scaled up for broader usage in wildfire damage reporting in order to assist give relief more quickly.
“If we can create a tool that uses remote sensing and artificial intelligence to reduce assessment time, we could theoretically offer victims quicker answers –– and possibly put money in the wallets of those who need it the most,” Fricker said.
Cal Poly’s Department of Social Sciences emphasizes on practical training and critical thinking abilities. Degrees in anthropology-geography and sociology are available, with the option of concentrating in a particular emphasis area. Internships, study abroad programs, service learning, and senior projects are all used to help students bridge the gap between classroom learning and the real world.
Cal Poly’s Grant Program for Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activities Cal Poly is dedicated to the teacher-scholar paradigm, which combines teaching quality with excellence in research, scholarly, and creative activities. Cal Poly’s purpose as an institution dedicated to excellent undergraduate and graduate education, knowledge development via fundamental and applied research, societal enrichment through creative activities in the arts and humanities, and community service is made possible through the teacher-scholar model. The Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activities (RSCA) Grant Program, which is funded by the California State University Chancellor’s Office and the California Polytechnic State University Provost’s Office, is designed to help faculty stay engaged in their disciplines outside of the classroom and contribute new knowledge through robust scholarship programs aimed at strengthening California socially, culturally, and economically. The program’s yearly grant is designed to offer additional internal resources to assist academics in pursuing a wider range of professional activities. Visit research.calpoly.edu/rsca.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221242092100501X?via% 3Dihub DamageMap is a prototype that may be seen at https://kkraoj.users.earthengine.app/view/damagemap.
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