Wildfires have been increasing in the past years as the result of the dangerous combination of climate changes and the lack of care from parks visitors. However, an astrophysicist came up with a useful plan to solve this problem. It may sound crazy, but it will be possible to stop wildfires from the sky!
Who Is He?
The owner of this incredibly genius idea is an astrophysicist from The University of California named Carl Pennypacker. He is the leader of the team of researchers who is developing a wide range of high technology devices specially equipped to efficiently detect wildfires, to prevent their expansion, and to extinguish them as soon as possible.
As it’s shown, Pennypacker is a defender of the planet’s life but he has not only worked in that field. He has also studied other galaxies and the acceleration of the universe’s expansion.
What Is His Plan About?
The astrophysicist, along with the researches that are on his team, has created aerial drones, fire towers, satellites, and aircrafts specially programmed to detect wildfires almost at the exact moment when they start.
They take actions in order to keep them from growing uncontrollably and to alert firefighters of these threats. The system created by Pennypacker will shorten the respective authorities’ response time because they will not have to wait for witnesses to phone them alerting them of the wildfire.
These alerts help a lot, but they are not as fast as they should be. When this system is applied, it is possible to save more lives and take better care of wildlife and vegetation.
An Incredibly Well Planned System
One of the doubts that concern most of the people that hear about this system is how will it function effectively enough to know when it is a real fire and not something else, like a simple bonfire, a flash produced by a metal tool, or something like that.
It turns out that these scientists have thought about everything in order to create a flawless system. It will use computer algorithms specially programmed to scan photos of the ground and to send an alert only if it gets images with the specific colors and movements that a wildfire will produce.
Response Time
Another common concern about the system is how it will manage to alert the authorities in time, but that doesn’t concern its creator. The system is programmed to alert them as soon as it gets the specific images of a wildfire.
The whole process will only take exactly two minutes, starting when the wildfire starts, the devices take the images, select the important ones, send them to the satellite, and lastly, it sends the alert to the firefighters. Just like that, the fire consequences will be less and they will not be as tragic as previous wildfires have been.
In ReProtect, we know that climate change may be out of our hands by now, but wildfires will not be a headache for us anymore. The advances in the area of technology will certainly help us to take care of our forests and maybe, in the end, of our whole planet!