“Only you can prevent forest fires.”

There is some truth in these words, spoken by iconic mascot Smokey the Bear. Random acts of nature that spark wildfires — most notably lightning — cannot be prevented, but other events can be prevented.

For purposes of today’s Satelytics Insider article, the “you” that can prevent fires are power utilities — those who are responsible for ensuring distribution and transmission corridors are clear of vegetation and encroachments and that infrastructure and assets remain in proper working condition. All it takes is one tree — a little too tall and a little too close — to ignite catastrophic consequences.

In the past decade alone, the American west has been devastated by numerous, record-breaking fires. Lives and homes destroyed, businesses disrupted, hundreds of thousands of acres completely scorched and bare — these losses are irreplaceable. So many of these losses could have been prevented, if only that one tree had been removed in time.

Satelytics is here to help. Whether monitoring thousands of trees or millions, no matter where or how many miles in expanse, Satelytics provides Constant Vigilance™ to assure that one tree will not be missed again. We send alerts within hours of data collection, ensuring that utilities have all the information they need to promptly begin vegetation management actions — including exact coordinates, imagery, details, and measurements.

From one set of data, Satelytics alerts utilities to:

• Trees encroaching on transmission corridors
• Tree speciation, height, and density
• Vegetation growth and decline
• Non-vegetation encroachments
• Land movements
• Turbidity (NTU)
• Sediment loading and TSS (mg/L)
• Nutrient loading: cyanobacteria, phosphorus, chlorophyll-a (ppb)
• Surface land and water temperatures
• Shoreline erosion
• Metals concentration

Additional benefits of employing Satelytics include:

• Environmental Health & Safety and ESG
  • Employee safety
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Remediation programs
  • Reports and audits
  • Litigation support
• Reduced risk
• Efficient and accurate asset management
• Documentation on the cloud (data never deleted)
• Lower insurance premiums
• No license fees

As the saying goes, “time is of the essence.” With current weather conditions all over the world encouraging fires to rage farther and longer, preventing the ones we can is critical for the lives of innumerable customers, employees, and loved ones. Satelytics aims to empower utilities and all the industries we serve that have the power to impact positive change for the environment and communities around the world.