New unmanned aerial vehicles help CSIRO fire research

23/07/2013 Categories: Press Releases

The CSIRO’s Land & Water Division has commenced the first UAV training session with researchers from the Bushfire Dynamics and Applications group, to allow them to use the CSIRO’s new unmanned aerial vehicles.

Ericsson has donated four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to CSIRO to support research.
CSIRO has commenced the first UAV training with researchers from the Bushfire Dynamics and Applications group.
The UAVs will be first used for bushfire research to better understand bushfire behaviour and to protect lives and property.

The CSIRO’s Land & Water Division has commenced the first UAV training session with researchers from the Bushfire Dynamics and Applications group, to allow them to use the CSIRO’s new unmanned aerial vehicles.

“One of the main objectives of our fire studies is to understand the spread of fires within natural and man-made environments,” Dr Miguel Gomes Da Cruz, CSIRO researcher said.

Working in conjunction with local fire authorities, researchers will use the UAV’s to track progress of experimental and controlled burns. Time lapse images or high resolution video with thermal cameras can be used to measure changes in fire intensity as the fire front spreads across an area. Additionally, laser scanning sensors can be mounted on the UAV’s to provide a highly detailed picture of the distribution of all the features that affect the progress and intensity of fires.

“The data gained from UAV images will be extremely valuable to our research and the findings we share with fire authorities will result in more accurate predictions of fire propagation” said Dr Gomes Da Cruz.

“The UAV’s are extremely nimble and can provide images that are often not available using satellites, small planes or investigations by foot,” said Dr Sims, “we would like to thank Ericsson for this important donation.”

“The value for us is increased scope and improved efficiency provided by the UAV’s, it will also be seen in the contributions that our research makes to important national issues,” Dr Sims said.

“Ericsson donated four UAVs to CSIRO to support and advance research initiatives,” Selina O’Connor, Communications Manager, Ericsson Australia and New Zealand said.

“We are pleased to see the UAV’s will be used for important projects such as fire monitoring, water resource management and forestry management. For us this confirms the important role that technology plays in providing solutions to critical social and economic issues,” Ms O’Connor said.

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