Australia’s federal government will continue to purchase flood and bushfire data from natural catastrophe services company Iceye.
Under the agreement with Iceye, the federal government, states and territories can access the Finland-based company’s Flood Insights and Bushfire Insights products, to be made available to agencies via Esri’s ArcGIS software.
Using a combination of synthetic aperture radar satellite data with ground data, disaster response and resource allocation planners will be able to use actionable intelligence to mitigate the impact of flooding and wildfire. The company operates a 25-satellite constellation to monitor Earth’s conditions day or night, even during cloudy days.
The island continent first used Iceye’s Flood Insights in October 2022, and the platform has since analyzed 18 large-scale floods across the region.
The new deal, which expands on the existing relationship between the two sides, comes as the hot and dry continent deals with more record-breaking extreme weather events each year due to climate change.
“Understanding the true impact of floods and bushfires quickly can transform response and improve recovery outcomes for survivors,” said Andry Read, global head of government solutions at Iceye.