PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Wildfire detection takes flight

2021-07-06
(Press-News.org) Networks of ground-based sensors paired with airborne drones could give firefighters a critical edge when battling wildfires, KAUST researchers have found. The sensor/unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) network could significantly shorten the time taken to detect a wildfire, giving firefighters a better chance to contain the fire before it grows too large to control.

Wildfire detection is currently performed mainly by satellite imaging and remote cameras, but these technologies can be impeded by cloudy weather and fires can grow to a considerable size before they are spotted. With the recent significant global increase in wildfire frequency and severity, technologies that can aid wildfire management are in demand. One possibility is Internet of things (IoT) sensors, which could monitor the forest for the first signs of smoke and heat.

"Deploying a massive number of low-cost IoT sensors through the forest allows for early wildfire detection at the sensor level," says Osama Bushnaq, a former Ph.D. student at KAUST. However, inexpensive sensors do not have the battery or computational power to communicate a fire detection event across a massive IoT network to the fire control center. "To guarantee that IoT devices are low cost and have a simple structure, UAVs can be utilized," Bushnaq says. The UAVs could fly over the forest to wirelessly gather data from each sensor, returning to base to report a fire or to recharge their depleted batteries.

"UAV-IoT networks are rapidly advancing, allowing for ubiquitous application at declining deployment cost," Al-Naffouri says. To assess the potential of the technology for wildfire detection, Al-Naffouri and his team simulated how a wildfire detection IoT/UAV network might perform.

The team showed that the more UAVs that are deployed, the faster a fire could be detected. "However, surprisingly, our analysis shows that increasing IoT devices' density beyond a threshold does not improve wildfire detection probability," Bushnaq says. Beyond a certain sensor density, the extra time UAVs had to spend gathering data in each location compromised their capability to monitor the whole forest.

"We also show that, given optimal UAVs and IoT device densities, the wildfire can be detected in a much shorter time when compared with satellite imaging," Bushnaq says. However, UAV-IoT networks could only cover relatively small areas of forest compared to satellite imaging. "UAV-IoT networks will be complementary to satellite imaging," Al-Naffouri says. "The UAV-IoT network would be particularly suitable for wildfire detection in high-risk regions, such as near human settlements and national parks."

INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Leonardo Da Vinci: New family tree spans 21 generations, 690 years, finds 14 living male descendants

Leonardo Da Vinci: New family tree spans 21 generations, 690 years, finds 14 living male descendants
2021-07-06
The surprising results of a decade-long investigation by Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato provide a strong basis for advancing a project researching Leonardo da Vinci's DNA. Their extensive study, published by the journal "Human Evolution" (Pontecorboli Editore, Florence), documents with new certainty the continuous male line, from father to son, of the Da Vinci family (later Vinci), from progenitor Michele (born 1331) to grandson Leonardo (6th generation, born 1452) through to today -- 21 generations in all, including five family branches -- and identifies 14 living descendants. The work fills gaps and corrects errors in previous genealogical research into Leonardo's family, while ...

Long-term urban emissions data show a decrease in high-income countries

2021-07-06
A new study shows how urbanisation has influenced anthropogenic CO2 and air pollutant emissions across all world regions, by making use of the latest developments in the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR, https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) developed by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The results show that by 2015 urban centres were the source of a third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gases, and the majority of air pollutant emissions. The authors, from institutions in France and Italy, used the EDGAR database to provide a country-to-global ...

New cancer findings can give wider access to immunotherapy

2021-07-06
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden publish new findings in the journal Cancer Discovery showing how pharmacological activation of the protein p53 boosts the immune response against tumours. The results can be of significance to the development of new combination therapies that will give more cancer patients access to immunotherapy. Given its ability to react to damage to cellular DNA and the key part it is thought to play in preventing tumour growth, the protein p53 has been dubbed the "guardian of the genome". Half of all tumours have mutations in the gene that codes for the protein, and in many other tumours, p53 is disabled by another protein, MDM2. It has long been known ...

New method to identify dirt on criminals can lead to prosecution

New method to identify dirt on criminals can lead to prosecution
2021-07-06
Scientists have taken the first steps in developing a new method of identifying the movements of criminals using chemical analysis of soil and dust found on equipment, clothing and cars. The locating system allows police or security services to match soil remnants found on personal items to regional soil samples, to either implicate or eliminate presence at a crime scene. The work is presented as a Keynote Lecture at the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference, after recent publication. Dr Patrice de Caritat, Principal Research Scientist at Geoscience Australia, Australia's public sector geoscience organisation, said: "We've ...

Ancient diamonds show Earth was primed for life's explosion at least 2.7 billion years ago

Ancient diamonds show Earth was primed for lifes explosion at least 2.7 billion years ago
2021-07-06
A unique study of ancient diamonds has shown that the basic chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere which makes it suitable for life's explosion of diversity was laid down at least 2.7 billion years ago. Volatile gases conserved in diamonds found in ancient rocks were present in similar proportions to those found in today's mantle, which in turn indicates that there has been no fundamental change in the proportions of volatiles in the atmosphere over the last few billion years. This shows that one of the basic conditions necessary to support life, the presence of life-giving elements in sufficient quantity, appeared soon after Earth formed, and has remained fairly constant ever since. Presenting the work at the Goldschmidt ...

Infusion centers associated with substantially better outcomes than the ER for patients with acute pain events and sickle cell disease

2021-07-06
Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent. 1. Infusion centers associated with substantially better outcomes than the ER for patients with acute pain events and sickle cell disease Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-7171 Editorial: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M21-2650 Summary: ...

Study: constructed wetlands are best protection for agricultural runoff into waterways

Study: constructed wetlands are best protection for agricultural runoff into waterways
2021-07-05
LAWRENCE -- A new paper from a lead author based at the University of Kansas finds wetlands constructed along waterways are the most cost-effective way to reduce nitrate and sediment loads in large streams and rivers. Rather than focusing on individual farms, the research suggests conservation efforts using wetlands should be implemented at the watershed scale. The paper, just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, relied on computer modeling to examine the Le Sueur River Basin in southern Minnesota, a watershed subject to runoff from intense agricultural production of corn and soybeans -- crops characteristic of the entire ...

How fish got their spines

How fish got their spines
2021-07-05
In the movie "A Fish Called Wanda", the villain Otto effortlessly gobbles up all the occupants of Ken`s fish tank. Reality, however, is more daunting. At least one unfortunate fan who re-enacted this scene was hospitalized with a fish stuck in the throat. At the same time this also was a painful lesson in ichthyology (the scientific study of fishes), namely that the defense of some fishes consists of needle-sharp fin spines. Two types of fin elements Indeed, many fish species possess two types of fin elements, "ordinary" soft fin rays, which are blunt and flexible and primarily serve locomotion, and fin spines, which are sharp and heavily ossified. As fin spines serve the ...

How can 'shark dandruff' contribute to coral reef conservation?

2021-07-05
For 400 million years, shark-like fishes have prowled the oceans as predators, but now humans kill 100 million sharks per year, radically disrupting ocean food chains. Based on microscopic shark scales found on fossil- and modern coral reefs in Caribbean Panama, Smithsonian scientists reveal the changing roles of sharks during the last 7000 years, both before and after sharks in this region were hunted. They hope this new use for dermal denticles will provide context for innovative reef conservation strategies. Microscopic scales covering a shark's body--dermal ...

Male dragonflies lose their 'bling' in hotter climates

2021-07-05
A study published the week of July 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences led by Michael Moore at Washington University in St. Louis finds that dragonfly males have consistently evolved less breeding coloration in regions with hotter climates. "Our study shows that the wing pigmentation of dragonfly males evolves so consistently in response to the climate that it's among the most predictable evolutionary responses ever observed for a mating-related trait," said Moore, who is a postdoctoral fellow with the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University. "This work reveals that mating-related traits can be just as important to how organisms ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Grant to support new research to address alcohol-related partner violence among sexual minorities

Biodiversity change amidst disappearing human traditions

New approaches to synthesize compounds for pharmaceutical research

Cohesion through resilient democratic communities

UC Santa Cruz chemists discover new process to make biodiesel production easier, less energy intensive

MD Anderson launches Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation to deliver transformational new therapies

New quantum encoding methods slash circuit complexity in machine learning

New research promises an unprecedented look at how psychosocial stress affects military service members’ heart health

Faster measurement of response to antibiotic treatment in sepsis patients using Dimeric HNL

Cleveland Clinic announces updated findings in preventive breast cancer vaccine study

Intergenerational effects of adversity on mind-body health: Pathways through the gut-brain axis

Watch this elephant turn a hose into a sophisticated showering tool

Chimpanzees perform better on challenging computer tasks when they have an audience

New medical AI tool identifies more cases of long COVID from patient health records

Heat waves and adverse health events among dually eligible individuals 65 years and older

Catastrophic health expenditures for in-state and out-of-state abortion care

State divorce laws, reproductive care policies, and pregnancy-associated homicide rates

Emerging roles of high-mobility group box-1 in liver disease

Exploring the systematic anticancer mechanism in selected medicinal plants

University of Cincinnati researchers pen editorial analyzing present, future of emergency consent in stroke trials

Scarlet Macaw parents ‘play favorites,’ purposefully neglect younger chicks

One gene provides diagnoses for 30 patients whose condition was unexplained for years

Current practice and emerging endoscopic technology in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer

Decoding 17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 13: A multifaceted perspective on its role in hepatic steatosis and associated disorders

Key pathway leading to neurodegeneration in early stages of ALS identified

Ferroptosis in regulating treatment tolerance of digestive system tumors

A promising future in pancreatic incidentaloma detection

Stabilizing lithium-ion batteries: The vanadium touch

Innovative approaches to the surgical challenges in the management of gastroschisis

Mouse models for the study of liver fibrosis regression in vivo and ex vivo

[Press-News.org] Wildfire detection takes flight