Research Background: The Global Forest Fire Crisis

Understanding the magnitude and urgency of the wildfire challenge

The Context

350 Million Hectares

Of forest are destroyed by forest fires annually

$82+ Billion USD

Global direct wildfire losses annually

Critical Need

Rapid monitoring and detection of forest fires are crucial for minimizing losses and improving success rates of firefighting

Global Fire Distribution Map - showing fire hotspots across continents

Source: GeaMap 2025 - https://www.geamap.com/zh/%E7%81%AB%E7%81%BE

Wildfires: An Intensifying Global Systemic Crisis

Environmental & Ecology

Core Consequences

Exacerbates climate change, sharp decline in biodiversity, land degradation

Key Evidence / Examples

  • Massive direct losses, disruption of industrial chains, arduous reconstruction
  • Accounts for 8-15% of global greenhouse gas emissions annually
  • Threatens the survival of over 1,500 species

Economic & Social

Core Consequences

Massive direct losses, disruption of industrial chains, arduous reconstruction

Key Evidence / Examples

  • Causes over $80 billion in annual direct losses
  • Tourism revenue contracts by 23%
  • Recovery takes 3-7 years on average

Human Health

Core Consequences

Surge in respiratory illnesses, heightened risk for vulnerable groups, mental health crisis

Key Evidence / Examples

  • Directly affects over 3 billion people globally
  • Hospital visits for respiratory diseases surge by 51% (e.g., Sydney, 2020; Western US, 2020)

Current Monitoring Solutions

While several technologies exist for forest fire monitoring, each comes with significant limitations that prevent effective, large-scale deployment.

Satellite-Based Monitoring

Satellite monitoring forest fires

Advantages

  • High monitoring accuracy
  • Broad coverage
  • Monitoring of inaccessible regions

Limitations

  • Inefficiency of detecting smaller fires
  • Dependency on thermal signatures
  • Blind spots for small fires
  • Delays in response due to long revisit time
  • Extremely high cost (10 million to 400 million USD per unit)

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Monitoring

Image: Drone flying over forest monitoring fires

Advantages

  • Precise and timely information
  • High mobility in variable terrain
  • Enhanced spatial resolution and flexibility
  • High resolution

Limitations

  • Vulnerable to atmospheric disturbances and signal disruption
  • Limited by flight range and time
  • Short endurance
  • Limited coverage
  • Reliance on skilled operators
  • High operational cost (5,000 to 20,000 USD per unit)

Internet of Things (IoT) Ground Monitoring

IoT sensors deployed in forest

Advantages

  • Accuracy of detection
  • Early detection of chemical fire signatures
  • Superior localized precision
  • Real-time data
  • Localized accuracy

Limitations

  • Dependency on unsustainable battery-swapping regimes
  • High capital expenditure required for large-scale implementation
  • Maintenance inefficiencies
  • Power dilemma: batteries are unsustainable
  • Solar power is intermittent
  • Deployment complexity

Gap Analysis: The Need for Low-Cost Reliable Ground-Based Monitoring

The Need: Real-time, Accurate, and Localized Data

A solution requires real-time data that could detect localized changes. The accuracy, reliability, and speed of detection are crucial for an efficient response to a fire. Ground-based monitoring is required for this purpose.

Core Challenges of Ground-Based Monitoring

1. The Power Barrier

Existing solutions lack a reliable, sustainable power source for remote, continuous operation.

Battery-dependent systems have exorbitant logistical and maintenance costs, while standalone solar power is inherently intermittent, failing at night or during poor weather. This makes uninterrupted, 24/7 surveillance operationally impossible, creating dangerous monitoring gaps.

2. The Cost Barrier

Prohibitive costs prevent scalable deployment.

Most current ground-based systems are too expensive for the dense network coverage required for true early detection, leaving vast areas unmonitored. Reliance on sparse satellite imagery or aerial patrols results in a critical detection lag.

What's Needed

A reliable, sustainable, low-cost power supply that enables continuous 24/7 operation for ground-based sensors, combined with affordable deployment at scale.