ICEYE, a provider of natural catastrophe insights, has announced the beta release of its Wildfire Insights product.
ICEYE Wildfire uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide building-level impact data for wildfires in near real time based on satellite imagery. The product captures data for any wildfire that impacted communities throughout the US, ICEYE said.
As part of the beta phase, ICEYE will invite certain insurers to participate in final functionality testing prior to the product’s planned general-availability release in the third quarter.
ICEYE Wildfire Insights includes a monitoring application for all ongoing wildfires across the country, the company said. When a wildfire exceeds a given threshold based on size and proximity to a community, ICEYE begins to capture satellite imagery, which is then overlaid with building footprints and analyzed to indicate which buildings have been destroyed and which have not been damaged by the fire.
The hazard information is provided to insurance companies within 24 hours of the initial analysis, and at 24-hour intervals until the wildfire ceases to impact additional buildings, ICEYE said.
ICEYE’s Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite constellation can monitor events on the ground regardless of atmospheric conditions, the company said. The satellites can generate high-resolution imagery through clouds, at night – and through smoke.
ICEYE said its Wildfire Insights product will inform the allocation and deployment of field adjusters for more efficient and effective event response, allowing them to process and pay wildfire claims faster.
“Wildfire events are rapidly increasing in severity and frequency across the US,” said Penelope KourKouli, ICEYE Wildfire Insight product manager. “Insurers struggle to respond because they don’t have actionable insured building damage data in a timely, reliable manner. Traditional methods to gain this vital information often take several days, if not weeks. The ICEYE Wildfire Insights product enables users to access ground-level hazard data for wildfire events in the US within hours of the damage from the event.
“Through our SAY constellation and data analysis capabilities, we provide a level of hazard insight, and in timeframes, that were not previously possible. This is a critical development in the evolution of how the industry addresses the growing wildfire peril, and we are excited to work with insurers during the beta-testing phase ahead of our launch.”
Earlier this month, ICEYE partnered with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, Guy Carpenter, and New York City government agencies to launch a parametric flood insurance scheme for the city’s lower-income residents.
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