UAV-IoT networks could help fight wildfires

Wildfire detection performed mainly by satellite imaging and remote cameras, but these technologies can be impeded by cloudy weather and fires can grow to a considerable size before they are spotted. With the recent significant global increase in wildfire frequency and severity, technologies that can aid wildfire management are in demand. One possibility is Internet of things (IoT) sensors, which could monitor the forest for the first signs of smoke and heat.

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“Deploying a massive number of low-cost IoT sensors through the forest allows for early wildfire detection at the sensor level,” said Osama Bushnaq, a KAUST Ph.D. graduate. However, inexpensive sensors do not have the battery or computational power to communicate a fire detection event across a massive IoT network to the fire control centre. “To guarantee that IoT devices are low cost and have a simple structure, UAVs can be utilised,” Bushnaq said. The UAVs could fly over the forest to gather data from each sensor, returning to base to report a fire or to recharge their depleted batteries.