Research Article Multisensor Network System for Wildfire Detection Using Infrared Image Processing

Copyright © 2013 I. Bosch et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper presents the next step in the evolution ofmulti-sensor wireless network systems in the early automatic detection of forest fires. This network allows remote monitoring of each of the locations as well as communication between each of the sensors and with the control stations. The result is an increased coverage area, with quicker and safer responses. To determine the presence of a forest wildfire, the system employs decision fusion in thermal imaging, which can exploit various expected characteristics of a real fire, including short-term persistence and long-term increases over time. Results from testing in the laboratory and in a real environment are presented to authenticate and verify the accuracy of the operation of the proposed system.The systemperformance is gauged by the number of alarms and the time to the first alarm (corresponding to a real fire), for different probability of false alarm (PFA). The necessity of including decision fusion is thereby demonstrated. 1