A forest fire monitoring and detection system based on wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Global climate change is affecting Earth in various ways, including glacial detachment, sea-level rise, and more intense heat waves, which in turn contribute to fires in areas rich in flora and fauna, causing erosion and changes in plant and animal ranges. Despite international efforts to mitigate climate change, the problem remains uncontrolled in many areas. In this study, a forest fire monitoring and early warning system is proposed. It is based on a wireless sensor network (WSN) that measures the environment to detect and prevent fires in rural areas. The WSN uses open-access technologies and the Zigbee standard for radiofrequency communication and sends collected data to a web server via GPRS and TCP/IP protocol. The WSN's performance is evaluated using two metrics: data transmission rate and time delay. The WSN achieved an average success rate of data transmission greater than 86% with an average time delay of less than 500 milliseconds in all tests, demonstrating the potential of WSNs as near real-time forest fire detection systems.