The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $955,736 Cooperative Agreement under the TIP (CFDA 47.084) program to Helios Pompano Inc., a minority-owned, Hispanic American-owned small business, to develop an innovative system for detecting high-risk lightning strikes that could potentially start wildfires. The project aims to leverage extremely low frequency (ELF) lightning detection and machine learning algorithms to rapidly identify and verify lightning strikes that pose a high risk of igniting wildfires, with a target detection efficiency of 95% and 40-meter accuracy. This technology could enable early wildfire detection and significantly reduce the area burned, economic losses, and public health impacts associated with lightning-caused wildfires, particularly in the western United States and Florida. The award period runs from July 2024 to June 2026, and the company plans to utilize sub-awards as part of the project.
Generated 2/25/25, 4:21 AM