Intelligent sensor identifies and prevents forest fires

The startup iNeeds provides a sensor to identify and prevent forest fires. The equipment evaluates several indicators, such as temperature, humidity, and air pressure, among others, and, thus, can avoid great social, economic, and environmental damages.

Pedro Curcio, the founder at iNeeds, points out that because fires happen frequently, whether natural, such as lightning strikes, or for clearing pastures, it is extremely important to take initiatives so that the fire does not spread.

Curcio explains that the DIF, Ineeds Forest Fire Detector, can be prepared to be able to detect forest fires during the early stages using artificial intelligence.

Such resources allow the identification of fire outbreaks even during the slow combustion phase, in the first minutes, as they monitor the microclimate, measuring temperature, humidity, and air pressure.

“The sensor combines air quality detection and gas detection, namely fire, carbon monoxide, and other gases at the ppm level with built-in artificial intelligence to reliably detect a fire and avoid false positives.”

Although 60% of fire outbreaks occurred on private properties, where there are energy networks, many forests are far from urban centers, and the sensor can be fundamental in these cases.

That’s because the equipment uses IoT communication platforms for wireless data transmission and can run maintenance-free for years even using clean energy, through a solar panel.

“The sensor can also be used as a security system for water sources, helping to prevent criminal fires, as well as on private properties”, says Ineeds CTO Luiz Sourient.

Damage from forest fires

Fires bring great damage to the environment, affecting the air, soil, water, loss of trees, and causing the death of thousands of animals, which can take around 50 years to regenerate.

This was the case of the fire that hit the Pantanal in 2020, according to Cátia Nunes de Cunha, Professor and Associate Researcher at the Graduate Program in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation at the Federal University of Mato Grosso (PPG-ECB/IB-UFMT).

Between 1985 and 2020, Brazil suffered from large-scale fires, 1 million and 600 thousand km², representing 20% ​​of the total land area. Within this percentage, 65% of fires occurred in the states of Mato Grosso, Tocantins, and Pará, according to the MapBiomas Project, released in August 2021.

The research also points out that despite the Cerrado and Amazon biomes representing 85% of the burned areas, the Pantanal suffered the most, with 57% of the territory burned at least once, in the same period.