hy can't this be implemented immediately:
Detect a wildfire / bushfire almost as soon as the first sparks occur. My understanding is that satellites that can do this are already in place. It should not be too difficult to apply this available realtime data to stopping fires very quickly after they are detected, while they are very small.
Automatically generate alerts and trigger launch of firefighting helicopters / drones to douse within a few minutes of detection ... Use chemical fire-stopping bombs to kill every wildfire while it is still very small
AI to predict rate and direction of expansion of fire based on weather-station data [ambient temperatures, humidity, wind speed and direction, and realtime satellite thermographic analysis - to predict rate and direction of fire growth).
Ask HN: Why can't wildfires be stopped small?
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Re: Ask HN: Why can't wildfires be stopped small?
#2One question I have about your idea is how small is small ?
If your detection threshold is too low you'll be dispatching drones to people's campfires or grills. If it's much larger than that the fire will be too big for any drones that currently exist and/or are approved for use in the airspace to extinguish.
There's also the issue of how quickly a fire can spread. Unless you have a very dense network of firefighting assets ready to deploy at a moment's notice the fire may be too big for them to put out by the time they arrive at the scene.
Re: Ask HN: Why can't wildfires be stopped small?
#3This is done since 80 years. People doing that are called
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokejumper
Of course it would be nice to have robots doing the job, being faster, stronger and more fire proof then humans.
Re: Ask HN: Why can't wildfires be stopped small?
#4High wind speeds can make it spread over acres in minutes - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Fire_(2018)
Also air units had to wait around till sunrise.
Re: Ask HN: Why can't wildfires be stopped small?
#5Example for wildfire detection using ML https://samsammurphy.users.earthengine.app/view/hotmap by https://twitter.com/samsammurphy His startup is http://www.earthscope.io/
Re: Ask HN: Why can't wildfires be stopped small?
#6One question I have about your idea is how small is small ? If your detection threshold is too low you'll be dispatching drones to people's campfires or grills. If it's much larger than that the fire will be too big for any drones that currently exist and/or are approved for use in the airspace to extinguish. There's also the issue of how quickly a fire can spread. Unless you have a very dense network of firefighting…
They should have banned campfires and open grill cooking in known fire-prone areas, during fire-risk seasons.
System design WILL require determination of 1] Smallest satellite-detectable fire sizes; 2] Size of fire-stopper bombs needed for various fire sizes; 3] system processing times for fire location, size, direction detection; 4] system response time to launch firefighting drone/s; 5] drone travel time. ... These delays can be estimated right now, and then established empirically in a short time. ... Fire-prone areas are probably known already. These system response time estimates, verified by trials, will determine how many drones / drone-stations will be needed
Re: Ask HN: Why can't wildfires be stopped small?
#7This is done since 80 years. People doing that are called https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokejumper Of course it would be nice to have robots doing the job, being faster, stronger and more fire proof then humans.
It would have to be done by an automated drone firefighting systems. ... Wildfires cannot wait for offices to open