Blazing new ground in forest fire prevention
iStock photo of a wildfire encroaching on a power line.
Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a “revolutionary” system to reduce the death and devastation caused by wildfires.
Wildfire Awareness and Risk Management, or WARM, is a fire-detecting and risk-mitigating system that improves the effectiveness of fire sensors while adjusting electric power grid operation — specifically those that relate to power lines and other equipment that run through remote areas, where wildfires can run rampant before anyone gets wind of them.
It has been developed as part of a collaboration between ASU and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The idea for WARM was conceived after a 2018 wildfire burned down the town of Paradise, California. The “Camp Fire,” as it is called, is still considered the deadliest in California’s history, killing 85 people and destroying more than 18,000 structures — including more than 13,000 homes — across more than 150,000 acres.
The problem behind the Camp Fire was related to the electric power grid in the form of a downed power line.
“The fact that the electric power infrastructure could do something so massive and so destructive meant that this was something we needed to look into carefully,” said Anamitra Pal, an associate professor of electrical engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, who leads the research teamElectrical engineering Professor Jennifer Blain Christen is also part of the team..
Sensing a problem
According to the latest data from Global Forest Watch, these types of wildfires are becoming more widespread and significantly more destructive, burning at least twice as much tree cover today as they did two decades ago.
It only takes the flick of a match to start a fire, but stopping one before it starts can be a complex process. Here’s where the "ounce of prevention" caveat can literally save lives.
The team examined two problems with the current approach to fire detection and risk mitigation: thermal sensor cameras and the electric power grid response.
Thermal cameras are strategically placed on high points in remote areas to detect fires.
“The fires are more likely to occur when a certain set of circumstances are in place — low humidity, dry air and strong wind, to name a few,” Pal said. “When those conditions are not present, but the thermal cameras are still on, there is a problem.”
Specific circumstances may combine to cause a fire — or not.
As Pal put it: “While thermal cameras can detect fires under these conditions, not every windy day will cause a fire.
“If you keep the thermal cameras on all the time, then you are wasting the battery life very quickly, which means that you have to frequently replace them. So it's not a very viable solution in terms of sustainability.”
The team has built a lab prototype of a layered sensor suite that detects fires quickly, with much less power consumption. These wireless sensors will monitor the condition around specific remote electric power infrastructures — to provide local data — rather than widespread weather predictions.
If the sensors in the base layer, such as humidity and wind speed sensors, detect risky conditions, they trigger the next group of sensors that check for smoke or gases from fire. If those go off, the thermal camera turns on. This method saves batteries yet still catches fires early without needing the cameras running all the time.
“This new sensor suite that we are building is revolutionary,” Pal said. “Something like this did not exist when we started this project.”
Empowering the grid
The electric grid is susceptible to increasing wildfire risks, particularly in forested and rural areas.
Related story
ASU team creates immersive images of LA fire destruction with new technology
Fires can ignite quickly when, for instance, lighting strikes or power lines come in contact with vegetation. Traditionally, utilities employ a system called PSPS, or public safety power shut off, which preemptively disconnects power if the conditions are ripe for a fire. This solves one problem while creating another.
In 2019, around 3 million people in California lost power due to a potentially life-threatening fire. While this avoided fires caused by the electric grid, it left millions without electricity for days.
Pal said, “On one side, they did turn it off — and because of that, 3 million people lost power. But the utility (PG&E) said if they hadn’t turned it off, they could have started 100 fires. What we want is somewhere in the middle. We don’t want 3 million people to lose power. Maybe we can bring that number down to less than 50,000 and ... bring the number of potential fires from 100 down to maybe one or two — and those can be nipped quickly in the bud with the sensors in place.”
By pinpointing local weather instead of sweeping weather predictions, the sensors allow utilities to know the exact conditions around specific power lines, even in remote areas. If sensors detect fire risk, utilities can reduce power on just those lines instead of shutting all of them off entirely.
This is the balance the WARM team is trying to strike: preventing unnecessary power loss while avoiding wildfire disasters.
“Power is a critical infrastructure. We want people to have electricity — especially at the peak of summer when it’s 100 degrees so they can turn on their ACs,” Pal said. “At the same time, we don’t want the grid to start a fire that devastates towns, destroys infrastructure, kills people and bankrupts the power utility.”
WARM not only reacts in real time, it can also plan ahead. For example, if a line needs to be shut off, they can set up extra power generation near the high-risk areas so electricity can be redirected via safer paths.
“Our optimization algorithms balance that risk, reducing the number of people losing electricity preemptively and cutting the chances of the power grid sparking a fire,” Pal said.
He also says the team has successfully demonstrated this balanced approach through simulations of different wildfire scenarios, showing that they can maintain grid stability while balancing costs and risks.
Next steps
WARM is supported by a $1.5 million award from the Addressing Systems Challenges through Engineering Teams, or ASCENT, a program at the National Science Foundation. ASCENT encourages collaborations among research communities devoted to devices, circuits, algorithms, systems and networks.
The sensor suites and risk management approaches developed through this project can have broader impacts in disaster mitigation, environmental monitoring and public safety. But for now, the WARM system is currently operational and ready to be commercialized and put to positive use in our communities.
“The next step is to implement this in the field,” Pal said, “so the vision we had when we started this work comes to fruition.”
About this story
There's a reason research matters. It creates technologies, medicines and other solutions to the biggest challenges we face. It touches your life in numerous ways every day, from the roads you drive on to the phone in your pocket.
The ASU research in this article was possible only because of the longstanding agreement between the U.S. government and America’s research universities. That compact provides that universities would not only undertake the research but would also build the necessary infrastructure in exchange for grants from the government.
That agreement and all the economic and societal benefits that come from such research have recently been put at risk.
Learn about more solutions to come out of ASU research at news.asu.edu/research-matters.
More Science and technology
ASU researcher creates AI athlete that’s here to help humanity
Your aging loved one is home alone.Heavy pots and pans fill high shelves. A light bulb out of easy reach needs to be changed. Outside, the overgrown lawn waves in the wind. Like 75% of Americans,…
Department of Psychology Dean’s Medalist heads to Mayo Clinic with a full-ride
Vincent Truong is graduating from Arizona State University with dual degrees in psychology and biochemistry (medical chemistry), a minor in disability studies and a drive to return to underserved…
Applying AI to microelectronics manufacturing
Rivers flow across the planet’s surface, carving deep valleys and intricate canyons. Likewise, makers of microelectronics direct plasma, an ionized gas, to travel over silicon wafers, etching…