The California Wildfire Map

The California Forest Observatory uses AI and satellite imagery to map tree extent and canopy density in California. The map is designed to provide up-to-date and accurate forest information to help predict where and how fast wildfires might spread in the state and in what direction. The map can also be used as a forest management tool, in order to plan and implement fire prevention measures.

Last week the New York Times published a number of maps and other data to visualize The Severe Drought Gripping California and the West. One result of this severe drought is the increased risk of wildfire in California. The California Forest Observatory map uses high-resolution NASA satellite imagery and LIDAR data to provide highly detailed data on the location and height of trees in California. 

The map includes a number of different layers, which can be used to view the density & height of tree canopies and the density of surface fuels in California's forests. The map also comes with a real-time animated wind layer, which shows the intensity and direction of current wind in the state. An additional Fire Hot Spots layer visualizes current wildfire hot-spots using data from VIIRS.

Also See

The LA Times' California Wildfires Map
The University of California's Fire Activity interactive map
The ALERTWildfire interactive map (wildfire detection from live cameras)