Victorians are being asked to watch grass dry in a bid to minimise the state's summer bushfire risk.
The Country Fire Authority has called on residents to undergo its training to become volunteer grassland observers and log information critical for decision-makers during the bushfire season.
The observers gather readings of "grass curing", which is the process of grasses flowering, then dying or becoming dormant and drying out.
The authority combines on-the-ground data with satellite imagery to create maps that show how dry the grass is in Victoria while the risk of bushfires looms in the 2023/24 season, which is expected to be hotter and drier than in previous years.
Remote sensing analyst Danielle Wright said the authority particularly needed more grassland observers in Victoria's northeast, northwest and southwest, where numbers were lacking.
"Our volunteer grassland observers are an incredibly valuable resource that helps to inform a lot of our decision-making over the fire season," Dr Wright said.
"We can't rely on satellite imagery alone.
"It is the best performing model available to us, but it can overestimate and underestimate the curing levels."
Satellite modelling could over-estimate curing on bare sand and soil, and underestimate curing in areas where rainfall had prompted new growth, Dr Wright said.
Grassland observers could adjust the satellite readings, meaning authorities had the most accurate information possible, she said.
Melissa Hughes, a grassland observer and volunteer at Wattle Glen fire brigade in Melbourne's northeast, urged others to join the citizen science effort by completing an online module with the authority.
The module took her about half an hour to finish.
"This really is citizen science at its best, the information we observers gather has an immediate benefit to the community," Ms Hughes said.
"I don't just see grass anymore when I am out on the road, I see so much more detail.
"It might be dry at the top but still green at the bottom, and I know exactly where it is in the curing process no matter where I am."
Dr Wright urged anyone interested to visit the authority's website for more information about how to become a volunteer grassland observer.
