ALERTCalifornia

ALERTCalifornia provides state-of-the-art technology that supports data-driven decisions to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters.

Based at the University of California San Diego, ALERTCalifornia is a public safety program working to understand wildfires and other natural hazards and determine short and long-term impacts on people and the environment to inform management decisions.

The state-focused program manages a network of more than 1,000 monitoring cameras and sensor arrays, and collects data that provides actionable, real-time information to inform public safety. In addition to the camera network, and in response to increasingly frequent and severe climate-driven disasters, ALERTCalifornia is prioritizing novel data collection and research. These data are open-source and are shared with fellow institutions and partners.

Advanced technology offers fresh insight into the cascading disasters associated with wildfires, such as post-fire debris flows, floods, and erosion. These data will lead to a greater understanding of natural disasters and their long-term pacts on air, water, and soil quality as well as human health in California.

Our multidisciplinary team is based at UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering, Qualcomm Institute, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. We also work closely with partners across the state.

ALERTCalifornia is the third generation of UC San Diego’s wireless network. Learn more about our history here.