Wildfire smoke curls over a mountain range. A river swells over its banks after days of heavy rain. These events can unfold in hours, sometimes minutes. And by the time emergency managers receive satellite imagery, the situation has already changed.
Paul Grogan, an associate professor of industrial engineering in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, is working to change that.
His research develops ways for satellites to respond to fast-changing events like fires and floods, not just record them after the fact.
“Just as internet access transformed how we operate on Earth, we’re on the cusp of seeing the same transformation in space,” Grogan says. “Networked systems will change everything from Earth observation missions to human exploration.”
The challenge: slow, siloed space systems
Historically, satellites have run like clockwork: fixed schedules, isolated missions and pre-set data deliveries. That’s fine for tracking seasonal snowpack or long-term climate trends, but it’s too slow for the chaos of a flash flood or the unpredictable path of a wildfire.
Grogan says both environmental scientists and the defense community face similar pressures: integration, intelligence and affordability. Researchers are trying to make systems work together and do more with limited resources.
“In the Earth science community, budgets have been flat or shrinking. In defense, budgets are bigger, but the scope has exploded,” he explains. “The answer for both is the same. Find ways to connect systems that weren’t designed to work together and make them act like a single, smart team.”
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