Project: Intelligent System to detect forest fires and manage fire-fighting based on artificial vision, 3D maps and GIS technology.
Nowadays, forest fires are an endemic problem in Mediterranean countries and in other regions with hot and dry summers. Every year forest fires cause several human deaths and huge economic and environmental losses. The EFFIS (European Forest Fire Information System) stated in its annual report that the surface area burnt in Europe in the five CO Mediterranean countries (SP, FR, IT, PT, GR) was 441,517Ha each year between 2000 and 2008. That means that approximately the surface area of Luxembourg has been burnt each year in these countries over the last decade. This data shows the economic and social relevance of the problem of forest fires._x000D__x000D_In its annual report (2008), the EFFIS highlights the future need to improve the resources for fire-fighting and the use of fire early detection tools at a local level, both of which are CO aims of the project._x000D_At the moment, there is no integrated system on the market that can offer both functions._x000D_In addition, vigilance tasks are mostly carried out by human watchers, which can make it difficult to locate the fire. Although automatic systems have been developed in the last few years, they are not very precise and are extremely expensive._x000D_Fire fighting management also has some needs to be addressed such as tools for monitoring of a forest fire, reliable prediction systems for the evolution of a forest fire and improving the flow of information between fire-fighting teams and the operational headquarters, in order to reduce the risk to people and improve the efficiency with which resources are used._x000D__x000D_The evolution of several technologies such as artificial vision, GIS or 3D cartography has created a new opportunity to develop solutions to reduce all these problems._x000D_The CO goal of the project is the development of a new integrated system of forest fire early detection with the tools needed for optimal resource management during the fire-fighting process._x000D__x000D_The most noteworthy objectives of the new system will be:_x000D_- Forest fire early detection. The most important function of the new system will be detecting the forest fire within the first five minutes. This will reduce the impact of the fire, the risk to people and the environment and the economic cost of fire-fighting tasks. _x000D_- Management assistance during fire-fighting. After early detection, the system will assist in the management of the resources used to extinguish the fire. The system will predict the evolution of the fire depending on the weather and the topography of the forest area. The system will also manage all the information of the 3D GIS system (paths for resource transport, kind of vegetation, fire-lines, rivers, lakes etc.). All of this information will be monitored in a remote central operations point where decisions on the management and strategy of fire-fighting will be taken. Important information such as the predicted evolution of the fire will also be monitored on the GPS used by the fire-fighting teams. _x000D_Additional functions will be included in the system such as "damage evaluation" or "ignition risk evaluation"_x000D__x000D_The project aims to develop a new integrated system to reduce forest fire damage at a reasonable cost. The new system will be very useful for public bodies or private companies who are responsible for watching forests and managing forest fires._x000D__x000D_The consortium to develop the new system is composed of entities with the expertise needed to assure the success of the project._x000D__x000D__x000D_PHOSCODE. Technology company with expertise in 3D Maps and image treatments. It has developed its own technology to associate images to 3D Cartography which has so far been used for tourism applications._x000D__x000D_DECORACION Y PAISAJE S.A. Services company with a lot of experience in fire-fighting processes. It manages fire-fighting in several Spanish regions as a subcontractor of public administrations. Its knowledge about forest fire characteristics and fire-fighting management is needed to fix objectives and product validation._x000D__x000D_T-CONNECT. Technology company with a lot of experience in R&D projects in the field of ICT. It will be responsible for developing the remote communications between all the elements involved and for the integration of the different systems developed._x000D__x000D__x000D_BOLOGNA UNIVERSITY - It will be responsible for developing the integration of the information in a 3D GIS and the adaptation of a model to predict forest fire evolution. The research team of the university has expertise in both areas._x000D_
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Acronym
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EFIRE
(Reference Number: 5717)
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Duration
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01/01/2011 - 01/03/2014
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Project Topic
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The objective of the project is the development of a system for early detection of forest fires and assistance in the fire-fighting management process. The project will integrate several types of technology to create a new product capable of supporting vigilance and fire-fighting tasks in the forest
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Network
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Eurostars
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Call
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Eurostars Cut-Off 4
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Project partner
