Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2024 - 40

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TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY
This monthly column explores the inter-relationships between technology and society. It features people and projects aiming to
deliver a positive impact on the world facing unprecedented social and environmental challenges.
Drones Detect, Monitor, and Prevent Wildfires
A proactive solution to fight brutal wildfires that can significantly cut detection time.
W
here there's smoke, there will be
no fire because a drone is already
on the scene. At least that's the hope of
Zhaodan Kong, Professor in the Department
of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
and his team at the University
of California, Davis.
The group is working on a proactive
solution to fighting the brutal California
wildfires, as the current method gets firefighters
to the scene too late. It's an integrated
system of technologies used to
detect fires before they get to a heavy
smoking point.
" Our solution consists of two main
parts: early fire risk prediction and early
fire detection and tracking, " Kong said.
" We are focusing on early detection and
tracking because we believe early detection
often leads to a smaller fire size at
the initial attack, a greater probability of
containment, and the prevention of loss
of life and property. "
Kong said the detection would start on
the ground via internet-connected sensors
placed in CalFire-determined areas
of danger. Palm-sized and developed by
UC Davis' Anthony Wexler, the sensors
measure
temperature, humidity, and
wind speed - the necessary ingredients
for a wildfire, according to Wexler.
For reconnaissance missions, the team is
building a rotorcraft equipped with naviAT
A GLANCE
INNOVATORS: Professor Zhaodan Kong
and his team at the University of
California, Davis.
INNOVATION: A wildfire detection and
tracking technology consisting of two main
parts: early fire risk prediction and early fire
detection and tracking.
IMPACT: Proactively detecting fires early,
and thereby, increasing containment and
prevention of loss of life and property.
40
An integrated system of technologies to detect
fires before they get to a smoking point could be
game changing,
potentially preventing widespread
wildfire damage. (Image: UC Davis)
gation systems, sensors, and cameras. " We
have completed our design and prototyping,
and we are in the process of building
and testing it. It has a biplane-multirotor
configuration, " Kong said.
The fire risk prediction model is built
based on historical data on weather, fuel,
such as vegetation, topography, and fire,
Kong said. Such a model can be trained
using machine learning. Then, it can be
deployed in real-time by feeding real-time
information about weather, provided
by the ground sensors, fuel, and
topography, GIS data, he added.
The latter model can only identify
high-fire-risk areas. The team can then
use its fire detection and tracking module
to patrol and search for potential fires.
The module mainly consists of a group of
uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), each
equipped with multiple sensors, including
electronic-optical (EO) and infrared
(IR) cameras, chemical sensors, wind sensors,
and multispectral cameras.
EO/IR/chemical sensors work together
to detect fire from a location that
might be far away from the fire; wind sensors
are needed since wind is one important
driver of fire and the wind field is not
uniform, e.g., wind speeds and directions
can be different across a mountain ridge;
and multispectral cameras can be used to
provide high-resolution vegetation inforwww.techbriefs.com
mation,
GIS data can be outdated and
normally with a low resolution, Kong said.
" A group of such UAVs will be deployed
since that will increase the efficiency of localizing
potential fires, " Kong said. " Once
a fire and/or smoke has been identified by
our EO/IR cameras or a chemical indicative
of wildfire has been identified by our
chemical sensors, the UAV group will
switch to tracking mode. They can, for example,
use the plume and the onboard
sensors to trace back to the resource -
working like K9 dogs, " he added.
How much sooner could it detect a
blaze than current methods? Well, that depends
on the location of the ignition
point. " The Dixie Fire was the largest and
most destructive fire of the 2021 California
wildfire season and the most expensive -
measured by the cost of the firefighting
effort - wildfire in U.S. history, " Kong
said. " The ignition was around 7 a.m.; the
fire became visible from Highway 70 in the
late afternoon, which prompted multiple
reports to 911; and fire engines and air
tankers were in place around 5 p.m. "
According to Kong, their method can
significantly cut the detection time, " If one
of our UAVs were near the ignition, it
should have detected the fire within minutes,
but they need to be at the right place
and at the right time. That is why we are
taking a proactive approach to prioritize
areas of high risk. I can't provide a specific
number, but we discovered that, on average,
chemical sensors can detect a fire earlier
than EO/IR cameras. "
Kong said the team has begun testing its
ground sensors in Quail Ridge Reserve.
The main goal is to showcase that the inexpensive
sensors can sustain harsh conditions
in rugged terrain. They installed five
last year; one was damaged due to a flood,
but the other four are still functioning.
This article was written by Andrew Corselli,
Digital Content Editor at SAE Media
Group. For more information, visit www.
techbriefs.com.
Tech Briefs, May 2024

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Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2024

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