Wildfire Impact Tracker

Inspiration

I was interested in how satellite technology can be used to solve real-world problems. I noticed that knowing where a wildfire is doesn't always tell people how relevant it might be to a location they care about. I wanted to build something that makes this information easier to understand and use.

What it does

Wildfire Impact Tracker is a web app that displays active fire detections from NASA FIRMS on an interactive map. Users can search for locations, see nearby hotspots, check details such as confidence and fire radiative power, and view an estimated impact score. It also includes weather and air-quality information when available, along with alerts for saved locations.

The score is an educational estimate, not an official fire-risk warning.

How we built it

I built the app using React, TypeScript, and Vite, with an interactive map and APIs for satellite fire detections, weather, air quality, and location search. I used AIassisted development to help implement features, debug issues, and improve the interface. I also worked on making the app responsive and handling situations where an API has missing or unavailable data

Challenges we ran into

One of the main challenges was getting different APIs to work together reliably. Handling missing data without showing misleading results was also important. I had to work through dependency and deployment issues while making sure the app remained usable on both desktop and mobile.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I'm proud that I turned the idea into a working application with live satellite data, an interactive map, location-based insights, and a clear impact scoring system. I also focused on making the information understandable rather than just displaying a map full of hotspots.

What we learned

I learned more about API integration, working with real-world data, debugging, and deploying a web application. I also learned that building a useful tool involves more than making the main feature work; handling errors, explaining limitations, and presenting information clearly matter too.

What's next for Wildfire Impact Tracker

I'd like to improve the impact estimates with more reliable data, add better ways to track changes in fire activity over time, and make the location alerts more useful. In the future, I would also like to explore how the app could provide better context about potential smoke and air-quality impacts without presenting estimates as certain predictions.

Built With

• aiassisted
• debugging-at-3am
• javascript
• leaflet.js
• nasa
• nasafirms
• openstreetmap
• powered-by-caffeine
• react
• restapi
• tailwindcss
• typescript
• vite
• wildfiredetection