Real-time risk maps, fire-weather data and an Italy–Slovenia digital twin. Developed by Infordata, the system turns satellites, sensors and AI into a public tool for citizens, authorities and researchers.
The wildfires of summer 2022 burned for days along the border between Italy and Slovenia, reshaping the fire regime across the Karst plateau. That emergency gave rise to Karst Firewall 5.0, a cross-border digital twin that predicts, maps and helps manage wildfire risk in the Karst — and which is now open to public exploration at kf50.infordata.it.
The project tackles a specific problem: European danger indices, designed for a continental scale, don’t “see” the Karst. 97.3% of local wildfires occur below the generic “High” threshold. That’s why the team built the Karst Fire Weather Index (KFWI), an index calibrated to the territory that combines weather severity with a machine-learning model for ignition probability. The result is a 77.5% detection rate, compared with 29% for a traditional Fire Weather Index, with a Random Forest model reaching an AUC of 0.934.
The system integrates Copernicus satellite data, more than 40 weather stations from ARSO, ARPA FVG and ARPA Veneto, a network of IoT “electronic noses” for early warning, drones and the PyroWISE simulation engine, which models fire spread to support prevention, firebreaks and response. Everything converges into a single shared picture for fire brigades, civil protection, the Slovenia Forest Service (ZGS) and municipalities on both sides of the border.
In keeping with the Industry 5.0 and Society 5.0 approach, the platform doesn’t replace those who protect the Karst: it amplifies their everyday work, keeping human judgment and the health of the ecosystem at the centre.
Most of the tools — the live risk map, the KFWI, weather stations, air quality, wildfire history and the 3D terrain twin — are available free of charge and without registration. Approved operators and researchers gain access to the underlying data in the restricted area; advanced simulations and consultancy are available on request.
Karst Firewall 5.0 is co-financed by the Interreg VI-A Italy–Slovenia Programme (ERDF), with a budget of €1.06 million, and is led by the IUAV University of Venice together with six cross-border partners. The platform is developed by Infordata Sistemi Srl Società Benefit (Trieste).
Explore today’s risk map → https://kf50.infordata.it/portal