RAPID: Evaluation of an Artificial Intelligence-enhanced Edge Sensor System for Multi-Hazard Monitoring and Detection

On Aug 8, 2023, Lahaina faced a massive fire, exacerbated by regional drought, high temperatures, and winds influenced by Hurricane Dora. This project combines University of Hawaii's Climate Mesonet system with Northwestern University’s Sage Artificial Intelligence-enhanced instrument platform to build a multi-hazard monitoring and detection station for natural disasters such as fires, high winds, and floods.

The system is being deployed as near as possible to the burn site in Lahaina/Maui, to gather data vital to the recovery effort.

The work is being conducted by a team with over 80-years of experience in research, development and deployment of scientific instrumentation and cyber-infrastructure used by government agencies, businesses and the general public. The project integrates cutting edge climate science with cutting-edge computer science approaches for enhanced instrument design, gathers essential climate and pollutant data to aid clean-up activities in Lahaina, and obtains performance and reliability data, guiding both instrument enhancements and Lahaina's recovery planning.

This project provides essential data for informing Lahaina's recovery, while highlighting to the community the advantages of adopting recent climate science and cyber-infrastructure advancements. Local students in Maui are being recruited to participate in the instrument construction, data gathering, analysis and visualization effort.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.