Early detection system helps to reduce area of wildfires in Kazakhstan
The automated information system of early wildfire detection has reportedly reduced areas affected by fires by 20 times in Kazakhstan, the vice minister of ecology and natural resources of Kazakhstan, Nurlan Kurmalayev, said during a press conference at the Central Communications Service, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
The system, which continuously monitors forest areas, allows to automatically detect fires at an early stage, even at long range distances in different conditions, including mountains and steppes, thanks to its specialized optical sensors and data analysis algorithms. The AI-integrated system captures data and instantaneously sends it to the command-and-control center, said Kurmalayev.
According to him, the early wildfire detection system is operational in the Yertis Ormany natural reserve and the Kokshetau national park. There are similar systems in the Medeu regional park, Burabay national park, forestry institutions of Kostanay, West Kazakhstan and North Kazakhstan regions.
In an effort to increase the efficiency of prompt response and decision-making, Kazakhstan set up a unified early wildfire detection system with a centralized video surveillance of the situation on the ground, introduced live streaming from drones, developed a model for predicting the rate of wildfire spread as well as the Fire Risk Index.
As vice minister Kurmalayev said, the early detection system has helped to reduce areas affected by wildfire by 20 times, the fire response time by 3fold and fire extinguishing costs by 15times.
The speaker added that the ecology and natural resources ministry identified priority forestries with a high risk of fire for the system’s gradual scaling.