IoT and cloud analytics network to preemptively mitigate wildfires

Dryad Networks (Dryad), an environmental IoT startup based in Berlin, has launched its Silvanet, a solar-powered, cloud analytics-incorporated sensor network aimed at delivering ultra-early detection and forest monitoring for wildfires.

Over the summer, record temperatures and droughts have caused large-scale wildfires to sweep across the Northern Hemisphere, as the impact of climate change makes wildfire events more frequent and severe. According to the United Nations (UN), wildfires are likely to increase by a third by 2050.

The startup’s solar-powered network aims to mitigate fires by detecting during the smoldering stage, between 0-60 minutes, enabling firefighters to be alerted quickly and subsequently extinguish a fire before it has spread.

The monitoring system incorporates solar-powered sensors, a LoRaWAN-based mesh networking infrastructure and a cloud analytics platform.

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Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO, Dryad, said: “Time is everything when it comes to managing wildfires and our technology gives firefighters the earliest, most reliable warning coupled with an exact location. Therefore, our aim is to give firefighters the best chance of extinguishing a blaze before it gets out of control and subsequently protect every hectare of the world’s forests, making wildfires and their devasting effects a thing of the past.

“We’ve seen an increasing interest in our technology and we’re already working with partners from across the globe… By 2030, we aim to deploy 120 million sensors across the world’s forests, all of which will be manufactured right here in Germany.”

According to Dryad, current techniques and technologies used to detect wildfires rely on firefighters or cameras stationed on watch towers, or satellites that are thousands of kilometers away.

The German IoT company also cites the costs and emissions associated with wildfires; global financial cost of wildfires is predicted to reach up to $200 billion annually if one or more countries have bad fire seasons, according to Chuck Watson, a disaster modeller for Enki Research.

Additionally, wildfires contribute up to 20% of global CO2 emissions – as much as all global transport sectors combined, the company states.