Data and Tools Now Available for Bushfire Research and Management
Designed through the ARDC's Bushfire Data Challenges program, a wide range of datasets, platforms, underpinning infrastructure and frameworks are now available and helping the bushfire community to improve Australia’s bushfire resilience, response and recovery.
Published: 29 November 2024
The ARDC’s Bushfire Data Challenges program is now complete with an array of datasets, tools and other resources available for those involved in bushfire-related research, development, planning and response.
The program was the first of the ARDC’s Translational Research Data Challenges, an initiative to provide innovative digital infrastructure solutions to real-world problems. Bushfires are a perennial challenge for Australia that is likely to be exacerbated by climate change and need to be better managed through the sharing of data, which the ARDC was in a strong position to enable.
With total co-investment of over $12 million from the ARDC and partners, and through extensive consultation and co-design with research, government, industry and other stakeholders, the ARDC launched 13 projects. These projects have delivered data collections, platforms, and underpinning frameworks supporting diverse areas, including fire history, fuel, species, air quality, health outcomes, data governance and bushfire behaviour modelling. These outputs are now available and helping to improve Australia’s bushfire resilience, response and recovery.
“I am thrilled to see the successful outcomes of our program, with projects delivering data infrastructure that now enables vital bushfire research and supports efforts to protect our communities and environment,” said Dr Sheida Hadavi, Director, Translational Research Data Challenges, ARDC.
Joining Forces to Manage Bushfires
For thousands of years, bushfires have been an integral part of existence in Australia, at once destructive and essential.[1] Under climate change, however, bushfires are becoming more intense as evidenced by the 2019–20 bushfires.[2]
In its 2020 report, the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements called for better decision making around bushfires through the national sharing of data.[3] At that time, the ARDC already had a track record of supporting bushfire research, with the ARDC Nectar Research Cloud being used to store, access and manipulate data on wildlife response to bushfires and predict the live fuel moisture content (LFMC) of vegetation using satellite images. Through the Translational Research Data Challenges, the ARDC was poised to provide problem-based, national-scale, collaborative, enduring and integrative solutions for bushfire research and management across technological, organisational and state boundaries.
Taking a co-design approach, the ARDC launched Bushfire Data Challenges to focus efforts on developing systemic, high-impact information infrastructure for the analysis, response and management of bushfires. Over 14 months, the ARDC conducted targeted consultations, including a series of facilitated meetings and co-design workshops, with 151 stakeholders. These included government agencies, industry, research institutes, disaster management organisations, and other members of the bushfire community. The process identified priority focus areas for national digital research infrastructure – namely, fire history, fuel, air quality, health outcomes, species, data governance and a bushfire behaviour modelling – and 13 projects were rolled out to address them.
The ARDC and the project teams have done an excellent job of understanding the fire industry’s needs and these projects could solve some long-standing data sharing and integration problems. The new data sets and capability created will set Australia up for improved and more consistent fire management and prediction in the future.
Stuart Matthews, former senior project officer at NSW Rural Fire Service
Datasets and Tools Bridging Bushfire Research and Community Needs
The 13 projects delivered outstanding outcomes that have significantly advanced bushfire research and management in Australia.
Together, these projects have laid a strong foundation for advancing bushfire resilience and response, with outputs that will continue to benefit researchers, policymakers, and communities nationwide.
Showcasing Bushfire Data Impact
Two examples showcasing the impactful outcomes of the Bushfire Data Challenges and the value of harmonised data for addressing critical challenges in Australia are the Aggregated and Harmonised Burnt Extent Fire History Data on a National Scale project, led by Geoscience Australia, and the Aggregating and Integrating Data on Health Outcomes Associated with Bushfires at a National Scale project, led by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Historical bushfire data
An aggregated, harmonised national dataset of fires between 1899 and 2023 to uplift Australian states’ and territories’ burnt extent data systems was created in the Fire History project led by Geoscience Australia. Now available for anyone to access and use through the Digital Atlas of Australia, the dataset enables bushfire analysts and planners to prepare a faster, more effective response.
“With how everything was set up before, you couldn’t really look beyond your own border. But as ACT fire planners, we can’t just look at our own patch. We are a small jurisdiction with a large border with New South Wales,” said ACT Rural Fire Service fire behaviour analyst and modeller Ailish Milner.
“The fire history data allows us to adjust fuel accumulation rates for different vegetation types so we can put the best fuel inputs into the different fire behaviour models we use.”
12 months on, this dataset is becoming even better in response to the needs of emergency organisations. Data quality continues to improve, and the technical challenge of providing near real-time data within 15 minutes has been overcome through further investments by National Bushfire Intelligence Capability (NBIC).
The dataset is used by a wide range of stakeholders across various sectors serving multiple purposes. For example, the Department of Health and Aged Care is using it to manage responses to bushfires for both short- and long-term planning. This includes understanding the capacity of hospitals to deal with respiratory, cardiovascular or burns patients and deploying resources to where they are most needed.
Learn more about the Aggregated and Harmonised Burnt Extent Fire History Data on a National Scale project.
Health outcomes
Another impactful project, led by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), focused on health service use potentially relevant to bushfires. This dataset enables researchers to examine correlations between bushfires and spikes in health service use associated with particular health conditions such as respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. By providing policymakers with this data, the project enables more informed decisions about effective prevention, service provision including workforce planning, adaptation and disaster response strategies.
“The resource has the potential to allow people working in the health sector to understand the likely patterns of service use that could occur if, for example, there were another event on the scale of the 2019–20 bushfires. Researchers can analyse the data and draw insights and identify topics for more detailed research,” said Dr Vanessa Prescott, Head of the Prevention and Environmental Health Unit at AIHW and leader of the project team.
Learn more about the Aggregating and Integrating Data on Health Outcomes Associated with Bushfires at a National Scale project.
Recognition for Our Projects and Partners
The researchers, project teams and projects involved in the Bushfire Data Challenges have been nominated for several awards:
Aggregated and Harmonised Burnt Extent Fire History Data on a National Scale
In 2023, the National Bushfire Boundaries Dataset was named the ACT Winner of the Geospatial Excellence Environment and Sustainability Award by the Geospatial Council of Australia.
In 2024, the National Bushfire Boundaries Data Services won the 2024 APS Data Award for Data Sharing and Partnerships. It was also named the ACT Winner of the Environment and Sustainability Award by the Geospatial Council of Australia.
Photo: Aurora Foo (left), representing National Bushfire Intelligence Capability (NBIC), Geoscience Australia and EMSINA, and Jake Bradley, representing EMSINA and the state or territory agencies, receiving the Data Sharing and Partnerships Award for the National Bushfire Boundaries Data Services at the 2024 APS Data Award ceremony. Courtesy of Geoscience Australia
Improving Remote Sensing of Fuel Data on a National Scale
Dr Arnick Abdollahi of ANU was nominated Scientist of the Year in Australian Space Awards 2024 as well as AI Academic/Researcher of the Year and AI Rising Star of the Year – Enterprise in Australian AI Awards 2024 in part for his work on the project. The project contributed validated and more reliable data on fuel moisture to the Australian Flammability Monitoring System (AFMS).
“I am incredibly proud of the dedication and hard work of our partners in the Bushfire Data Challenges program. It’s inspiring to see their efforts recognised through these nominations and awards. The data infrastructure established through these projects is a remarkable achievement that will have a lasting impact on bushfire research and management,” said Dr Hadavi.
Use datasets, tools and other resources delivered by the ARDC for bushfire research and management now. Learn more about our Bushfire Data Challenges and its projects and our Translational Research Data Challenges.
The ARDC is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) to support national digital research infrastructure for Australian researchers.
References
- Bushfires [Internet]. Australian Climate Service. [cited 2024 Sep 23]. Available from: https://www.acs.gov.au/pages/95546c69f5044e99848b8443120b0a3c Jump back
- Cook G, Dowdy A, Knauer J, Meyer M, Canadell P, Briggs P. Australia’s Black Summer of fire was not normal – and we can prove it [Internet]. CSIRO. 2021 [cited 2024 Sep 23]. Available from: https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/articles/2021/november/bushfires-linked-climate-change Jump back
- Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements: Report [Interner]. 2020 [cited 2024 Nov 29]. Avaialble from: https://www.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2020-12/Royal%20Commission%20into%20National%20Natural%20Disaster%20Arrangements%20-%20Report%20%20%5Baccessible%5D.pdf Jump back
Author
Jason Yuen (ARDC)
Reviewed by
Kylie Black, Dr Sheida Hadavi, Dr Stefanie Kethers, Jo Savill (ARDC)
Research Topic
Related Program
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