A team of scientists from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is proposing that a network of wireless internet of things (IoT) sensors and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could reduce the time it takes to detect and contain wildfires.

The network of ground IoT sensors could potentially be used to detect signs of fire such as smoke and heat ahead of currently employed wildfire detection tools like satellite imaging, which can be hampered by weather.

According to the KAUST team, UAVs that fly above forests, wirelessly collecting data from the IoT sensors deployed throughout those forests, will improve the speed of fire detection and thus containment relative to ground sensors or satellite imaging alone.

However, the KAUST team also suggests that the combined UAV-IoT networks could cover only small regions of forest compared to satellite imaging and should, consequently, be used as a complement to satellite imaging.

Additionally, the team believes that the UAV-IoT networks could prove especially appropriate for wildfire detection in high-risk locations such as national parks.

The research is detailed in the IEEE Internet of Things Journal.