And other new technology could detect carbon monoxide emitted just when flames start
CLIMATEWIRE | Right now, 12 wildfires are burning through nearly 280,000 acres in five states. Many more will burn in the months ahead, thanks to a changing climate that is resulting in widespread dryness across the U.S.
The U.S. Forest Service is preparing to use two new types of drones: one designed to spot new fires, and another that can set fires around existing wildfires to deprive them of fuel. In a normal year, the beginning of May would be just the start of what firefighters used to call “fire season.” But that era has passed, according to Jon Heggie, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection , the largest state wildfire control agency in the U.S.Cal Fire, he said, is also preparing to use more drones, which are being adapted from autonomous aircraft previously developed and used by the military.
Firefighters have traditionally been limited by what they can see and what they’re told by radio contact from headquarters. SAIC, which is based in Reston, Va., is designing computerized “operation centers” that can be trucked or airlifted to collect information around major fires. A recent study by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder examined tens of thousands of wildfires around the world. It found that nighttime fires have increased by 7.2 percent since 2003. In the U.S., the rise has been 28 percent.
Researchers first heard anecdotal evidence from Brazil that fires were burning more often at night, Mahood said. After two years of studying data from recently launched satellites, the scientists were able to quantify the change. They call the cause “vapor pressure deficit.”
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