Kerlink and NetOP Technology partnering on world’s-first, IoT-based wildfire prediction and prevention system

The LoRaWAN-based system warns public officials when weather conditions increase the risk of fires and helps them pinpoint high-risk areas even in remote locations by combining Kerlink Wirnet gateways with NetOP Technology Forest Capsules.

The capsules, whose AI capabilities identify likely fire outbreaks and their exact GPS location, measure meteorological conditions such as humidity, temperature, CO2 and the concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOC). The system’s intelligent dashboard features an integrated AI layer, sensors with machine-learning functions, forest fire prediction, on-line risk calculation, smart live maps of terrain, real-time heat maps and alarm scenarios.

So far during the summer of 2021, a record number of more than 187,000 fires have been recorded across the globe, further underlining the urgency of acting on global warming. The previous record was set in September 2020 with 138,680 fires.

Based in Amsterdam, NetOP Technology designs and produces tailor-made IoT solutions for multiple verticals and applications. Kerlink Group is a leading global provider of end-to-end connectivity solutions for designing, deploying, and operating public & private low power/wide area (LPWA) Internet of Things (IoT) networks. Its comprehensive product portfolio includes industrial-grade network equipment, best-of-breed network core, operations and management software, value-added applications and expert professional services, backed by strong R&D capabilities.

“This solution delivers on the global scale by helping to anticipate climate change consequences potentially resulting in vast fires, and locally it protects wildlife and enables organizations to conserve water and other resources used in fighting fires,” said Romain Weryk, Kerlink key account manager. “Kerlink’s expertise on gateways and communication management is widely recognized for the robust performance those features deliver in diverse and challenging environments, and they make Kerlink an obvious partner for this world’s-first, IoT wildfire-prevention application.”

“Our technology and Kerlink’s very wide LoRaWAN coverage allow forest and wildlands managers to expand their monitoring far beyond traditional capabilities of smoke detection and early fire observation. By predicting where fires are likely to start, the Forest Capsule system helps officials spend their monitoring and surveillance activities more effectively.”

Olcay Taysi, co-founder of NetOP Technology