Wildfire event detection using social media and Earth observation data: a use case for Attica, Greece

Wildfires increasingly threaten the Attica region in Greece due to climate change, prolonged droughts, and rising temperatures. Their increasing frequency, intensity, and proximity to urban areas put human lives, infrastructure, and biodiversity at risk, leading to serious environmental and economic consequences. This underscores the need for better detection methods and optimized resource allocation to improve real-time fire monitoring. This study investigates the integration of social media data with air quality data derived from S-5P TROPOMI satellite products for near real-time wildfire detection and monitoring. Geotagged social media posts from past wildfire events are correlated with sudden spikes in nitrogen dioxide concentrations to evaluate the effectiveness of this late fusion approach. The results demonstrate the critical role of social media in providing early fire alerts and highlight the value of earth observation data in improving detection reliability.