WildFireSat: Canada’s Groundbreaking Wildfire Monitoring Mission
Dr. Johnston
Dr. Johnston is a former wildland fire fighter and incident commander. Today he is a Forest Fire Research Scientist with the Canadian Forest Service and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on the development of remote sensing tools for studying the physical properties of combustion and fire behaviour, as well as the adaptation of remote sensing tools for operational fire management. Dr. Johnston represents Canada’s satellite fire monitoring interests globally through a number of international leadership roles (e.g. GOFC-GOLD Fire Implementation Team and CEOS WG Disasters). In 2017 Josh launched Canada’s first national emergency tactical wildfire mapping systems, known as Torchlight. In 2018 he was named the Principal Investigator for the WildFireSat (WFS) satellite mission, and in 2022 he led the mission to a fully funded state, making WildFireSat the world’s first publicly owned, purpose built operational wildfire monitoring satellite system (launch date 2029).
50 Pim Street Sault Ste. Marie, ON Canada P6A 3G4
