| Fire safety
Smart vegetation satellite monitoring for wildfire
A number of recent wildfires have been attributable to poor vegetation management along power line routes. Smart monitoring using high resolution satellite images, based on a combination of aerospace engineering, computer science and remote sensing looks like a promising way of addressing the problem
Clara Hübinger Spacept
The year 2021 marked one of the worst fire seasons in Europe to date. With around 0.5 million hectares lost to the flames many regions suffered detrimental losses to biodiversity and wildlife. In addition to the destruction of natural habitats, wildfires lead to billions of euros in property and utility damage yearly. A report from the European Environmental Agency shows that climate change driven natural events incurred a total economic loss of 487 billion euro across the EU member states between the years 1980-2017. Though wildfires have historically been a common phenomenon in southern Europe, increased incidence of extreme heat and drought in recent years has given rise to more frequent wildfire events in central and northern Europe. The causes of these fires are manifold and range from lightning strikes to human error.
The 2020 Dixie fire in California and the large scale investigation of its causes has turned the spotlight on power lines and other infrastructure
in forests and the increased risk of electrically generated sparks coming into contact with surrounding vegetation.
Wildfires and Infrastructure The 2017 Pedrógão fire in Portugal may have been caused by such an electrical spark. Following a period of droughts and heat waves during the early summer months of 2017 a number of fires erupted during the night of 17/18 June in the Pedrógão region in central Portugal. Strong winds and dry vegetation acting as fuel contributed to rapid spread of the fires throughout the region. With 66 lives lost to the flames, more than 45 000 ha of land affected and damage amounting to more than €500 million, the Pedrógão fire remains one of the most devastating wildfires in the history of Portugal. Initial investigations into the origin of the fire suggested a lightning strike during a dry thunderstorm as the cause. An in-depth examination, however, suggested that electrically
The summers of 2020 and 2021 saw a rapid increase in wildfires in both the United States and Europe. Investigations into the causes find poor vegetation management practices along power lines as a potential source of a number of these fires
Above: Spacept’s vegetation monitoring systems combine high resolution satellite imagery with state of the art AI-powered algorithms for tree encroachment monitoring. The automated detection models allow the risk screening of hundreds of km of power line land within seconds
www.modernpowersystems.com | April 2022 | 37
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