Come one. Come all. To the NextGIS detection and monitoring of wildfires contest. The contest, sponsored by Microsoft, is aimed at increasing activity in this field, and the creation of practical algorithms for the detection of burned areas.
The contest, which will be held from April through October 2011, will have two parts: algorithmical and thematic. The first is targeted to people interested in developing different algorithms for data processing to assess burned area. The second will answer questions (ie: what explains spatio-temporal dynamics of burning) and will use ready-made data. These two approaches might be combined in a single research. Participants will be given direction, supported by experts, and (of course) be awarded awesome prizes.
We aimed this contest at using freely available sources and open-source software. Existing technologies have field for improvements in terms of quality, and might be a closed source of unavailability. More details can be found on the contest page (in Russian).
Platform for discussions, data collection, and results is sponsored by GIS-Lab.info.