A UAV–Satellite Hybrid Pipeline for Wildfire Detection and Dynamic Perimeter Prediction

Effective wildfire management demands seamless integration of real-time detection and long-term spread forecasting. This paper proposes a novel power-efficient UAV–satellite hybrid pipeline that synergizes the agility of UAVs with the scale of satellite intelligence. The system begins with a dashboard-guided, multi-UAV detection module that scores fire likelihood from historical satellite data and enables scalable, energy-efficient deployment with low-latency onboard processing. This aerial component ensures persistent surveillance and reliable ignition detection, supported by a Dual LoRa (Long Range) communication scheme for robust and low-power connectivity. It achieves an F1-score of 97.4% while minimizing power consumption to extend operational flight times. Following detection, the pipeline transitions to a dynamic perimeter-prediction phase utilizing a custom Canadian boreal dataset. We employ a Squeeze-and-Excitation Residual U-Net (SE-ResUNet) to model spatiotemporal fire propagation based on static terrain and dynamic environmental features. The model was validated using a dynamic simulation framework that evaluates temporal consistency and convergence behavior against final cumulative burned-area masks, effectively addressing the absence of daily ground truth. Under these conditions, the model achieves a recall of 84% and an AUC of 0.97, demonstrating a strong capability to delineate active fire fronts. By coupling dashboard-driven UAV sensing with satellite-based predictive modeling, this work establishes a modular, foundational framework to support data-scarce forecasting in modern wildfire management.