NASA Background. At NASA, there is no ambiguity in our mission: we reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind. Doing so however, doesn’t just require groundbreaking technologies, it requires visionary people - people who are unwilling to quit despite the most difficult of circumstances. Naturally, this environment lends itself well to collaboration with entrepreneurs and the startup companies they found.
Challenge Background. The MSI Space Incubator Competition debuted in summer 2022 as a first-of-its-kind NASA innovation program that brought together diverse scholars to advance Agency goals for improving its future science missions. This year, the program will continue to engage under-represented academic institutions that can help NASA take significant strides forward in the area of new technologies to enable operational agencies in wildland fire management. The NASA MSI Incubator Wildfire Climate Tech Challenge also includes advising from NASA experts as part of a multi-week program for selected awardees to help align their ideas with NASA needs and aid the selected teams on a variety of topics including business acumen, business plan development, customer discovery, investment preparation, how to write effective proposals for NASA, pitch preparation, and more.
Climate Change and Wildfires. Climate change continues to cause longer fire seasons and more severe wildfires.
The number, severity, and overall size of wildfires has increased, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, through contributing factors including extended drought, the build-up of fuels, past fire management strategies, invasive species targeting specific tree species, and the spread of residential communities into formerly natural areas. The impacts of wildfires are not equally distributed. Various factors relating to structural racism and discrimination influence the severity of wildfire exposure and effects. This has caused marginalized and vulnerable communities to bear a disproportionate burden of the impacts of climate change, including wildfires. NASA researchers are finding innovative ways to use Earth data to improve the way we manage and adapt to growing wildfire threats.
NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) is prioritizing improvements in the prediction, management, and the understanding of overall impacts of wildland fires within the United States and around the world. The Wildfires program area uses Earth observations to help communities manage the impacts of fires. The program provides applications and tools to arm decision-makers with the information they need to act.
The Equity and Environmental Justice Program supports the use of Earth data, tools, and capacity building resources to better understand the injustices and inequities of disadvantaged communities and help give decision-makers the information they need to advocate for policy change.
NASA possesses unique geospatial assets and modeling capabilities that provide partners with data, mapping, and imagery to help to provide situational awareness and inform decision-making before, during, and after a wildland fire.
How can you utilize NASA tools, applications and research to gain a deeper understanding of wildfires throughout their lifecycle and create a climate tech business that aims to mitigate impacts on human health and the environment, especially on communities who disproportionately bear these consequences?
Ideas should consider the full lifecycle stages of wildland fires:
- Pre-Fire (critical information on vegetative biomass and boundary layer conditions)
- Active Fire (critical information on vegetative biomass and boundary layer conditions)
- Post-Fire (identifying the overarching impact of severe wildland fires on vegetation canopy)
