AI system can differentiate between smoke and clouds, thus minimising false alarms and ensuring that alerts are accurate & reliable
A tigress in Pench. iStock photo for representation
The Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra has launched an advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) system for early detection of forest fires, according to a statement on June 26, 2024.
This state-of-the-art system features a high-resolution camera, with a visual range of 15 kilometres. This means it can effectively cover more than 350 sq km of the tiger reserve.
The pan-tilt-zoom or PTZ camera has been installed on an already existing tower which is situated on one of the highest hills of Pench (around 540 mean sea level in height).
The hill, on which the tower is located, is near the Kirringisarra village. The settlement lies almost at the centre of Pench. The other component of the system is a control room, located in the West Pench range office in Kolitmara.
Fifteen commercial satellite services are integrated into the system, which the Pench authorities claim is “a pioneering approach in forest fire management”. Alerts received from several satellites will add to the alerts detected by the camera.
“The AI-powered platform, known as Pantera, leverages both the camera feed and satellite-based data to provide real-time alerts of forest fires within 3 minutes,” the statement noted.
How it will help
Traditionally, the forest department has relied solely on satellite-based alerts for fire detection.
The AI system, according to the statement by Pench, can differentiate between smoke and clouds. “It has inbuilt features of Infra-Red which works day and night (24×7) enabling night time detection also. This advanced differentiation ability minimises false alarms and ensures that alerts are both accurate and reliable,” according to the statement.
The system will also receive data related to temperature, precipitation, wind, etc. Analysing these data with past fire incidence, the system will forecast the probable future fire incidences in short term. This, according to Pench authorities, will help in planning fire control in advance.
The system can also be integrated with water tanks, forest vehicles, etc which have integrated GPS system attached.
It will thus be able to trace real time locations of these resources with respect to location of fire incidence. This will help in the real time management of fire incidences.
“With the successful deployment of this system, the forest department anticipates a substantial improvement in its forest fire management practices. The swift detection and alert mechanism will enable rapid response efforts, potentially saving vast areas of forest land and protecting the diverse wildlife that inhabits the reserve,” the statement said.
The statement noted that the project had been successfully implemented through joint collaboration between Pench Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra; Satpuda Foundation; Umgrameio (Brazil) and Forest Fire Tech, a division of Scaale Inc, USA.
Part of the project was funded by Solar Industries India Ltd, Nagpur and the rest by the Maharashtra government.
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