Across the state of California and around the world, researchers are preparing for — and working to mitigate — more frequent and intense wildfires as Earth’s climate continues to warm. With support from a 2021 CITRIS Seed Award, Zhaodan Kong, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UC Davis, is using the capabilities of drones to strengthen early fire detection methods.
Kong and his team are currently designing and testing prototypes with the goal of minimizing the time between fire ignition and detection by the authorities. Their recently tested octocopters employ a combination of video, infrared cameras and chemical sensors to comprehensively visualize fires, providing information that firefighters can use to locate and eliminate a threat in record time.
This method, which benefits from detailed visibility and high mobility that satellites and fixed watchtowers lack, could improve monitoring of hard-to-reach areas and serve as a real-time aerial patrol, especially during periods of high fire risk. Kong believes a multifront attack is the best approach to solving this problem, and his team’s solution will work in harmony with other firefighting methods.
“I think there’s a very good application for drones,” said Bob Roper, senior policy adviser to the Western Fire Chiefs Association. “Are they the end-all to completely replace staffed aviation? No. Do they have an application in certain situations where manned equipment is? Very definitely.”