Bay Area company collecting climate data using AI satellites to better understand weather events

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (KGO) -- A Mountain View company is working on technology that could one day make those weather warnings more targeted and specific.

Bill Jones is a seasoned sailor getting ready to head to South America.

We spoke with Jones Thursday at the Santa Cruz Harbor.

"I'm here pretty much 24/7, except when I go out for something to eat or do some sort of an errand," Jones said.

He was checking on his sailboat after Thursday's Tsunami Warning was lifted.

MORE: How would a tsunami impact the Bay Area? Scientists weigh in

Jones says if powerful waves are predicted, sometimes it's better to be at sea.

"The safest thing is to go out to harbor quick as they can and hang out in about 180 feet of water. Because when a tsunami comes through and you're out there on the water, you don't even know what's coming. Underneath, you don't even know it. You get hit when you're in here," Jones said.

When it comes to understanding weather, better forecasts and extreme events, satellites are collecting critical climate data.

Jonny Dyer is the CEO of Mountain View-based Muon Space.

"You get to see the whole world, you know. Every couple hours, you can see things about the way the earth is behaving that are totally non-obvious from the ground," Dyer said.

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In May, Muon Space and Earth Fire Alliance announced the AI-driven FireSat system. Designed for wildfire detection, the satellites analyze images quickly and then tracks a fire's intensity.

"You can think about these. It's a large constellation. Eventually, 52 satellites of that have these cameras. They're basically thermal cameras on them. You can think about them as seeing heat signatures on earth," Dyer said.

This week, the startup was awarded a contract with the U.S. Space Force.

"Clouds are big forcing functions on weather in a lot of different dimensions, so that contract is actually to look at how we can adapt some of the work we're doing with the fire satellites to better address better weather predictions as well," Dyer said.

Whether its wildfire detection or climate monitoring, Dyer says it's the opportunity for impact these systems can have that excites him the most.

"There's a huge landscape of untapped applications for that, that we can drive massive positive impacts, you know, that will impact my children in their lifetime. And that, to me, is what's most exciting about what we're working on," Dyer said.