Australia and other countries are increasingly being affected by extreme or blow-up fire events. Much effort is being expended on developing or improving techniques to forecast and describe these fires and their astonishing dynamics.

When a wildfire blows-up, it becomes hazardous to approach anywhere near to collect data. The best ways to understand its dynamics are (i) familiarity with latest knowledge of this phenomenon, and (ii) interpretation of a combination of a number of sources of remotely-sensed data. While many of these are widely available to Incident Management Teams, some are not widely enough understood. Each data type has its issues, which need to be known if the full value of the data is to be achieved. The most important sources are weather satellites, weather radar and other specialised satellites. It is important that our industry makes full value of these sources, and understands future opportunities.

They can then be used to develop robust intelligence products, and can help ensure the safety of fire crews and the public. They are vital for post-analysis and learning lessons.