08 Nov New Fire Alarm allows trees to raise concerns
A group of Turkish innovators have made a new alarm which allows trees to signal satellites about the movements of wildfires.
ForestGuard is a system of sensors spread amongst trees which registers changes in airflow and emissions, able to determine what is affecting the nearby environment as a result, whilst avoiding false positives.
One sensor covers 16 hectares of forestland – over 16,000 trees, through an interconnected network of these sensors fitted to the trees themselves. This can also be utilized in dry areas, such as those in the Middle East, through sensors on sparse trees and dry woodland measuring the spread of embers in these dry lands to determine the path of wildfires.
According to the creators of the device, ForestGuard has the capability to determine the presence of a fire and alert fire teams in 15 minutes, by expediting a process which usually takes 90.
Currently, wildfire detection is managed through a mix of drones, satellites and thermal imaging, which must be constantly tuned and re-tuned to see through forest tops and differentiate fire from its surroundings. In the Middle East, this can be particularly difficult due to the similarity of a fire, on an arid background, in the perspective of a satellite.
Innovations continue to develop in fire detection, with companies such as Apollo Fire Detectors trying innovative approaches to alarm and interface systems.
Find out more from ForestGuard through the official breakdown from the alarm creator.