SENSORS: Collaborative Research: Self-configuring In Situ Wireless Sensor Networks For Prescribed Fire Management

摘要：“传感器：协作研究：用于规定火灾管理的情境无线传感器网络的自配置”：无线传感器网络提供了令人兴奋的新技术，有可能彻底改变森林和公共土地火灾管理的关键过程。目前，通过消防员佩戴的便携式带式气象工具包或通过分散在森林中的偏远气象站接收到的采集天气数据粒度较粗，限制了野火管理。由于天气是影响火灾行为和消防员安全的最关键因素，因此部署火灾天气传感器网络提供了细粒度天气数据的前景，可以极大地改善火灾管理过程中的决策和安全。该项目专注于解决设计、部署和测试自配置无线火灾天气传感器网络的研究挑战，以支持规定火灾烧伤的火灾管理。在崎岖地形和树木覆盖的情况下，可靠性、能源效率和连通性是关键挑战。实时访问、定位和传感器节点的动态重编程等人机界面要求增加了问题的复杂性。具体的研究目标包括：设计和评估低维护、自适应、自动自组织的无线路由自配置系统；分析容错技术，如多路径路由，以方便消防员在崎岖地形中持续访问原位传感器读数；通过发射功率控制、时间同步占空比和能量收集技术（如太阳能）测试持续低功率运行；开发支持远程动态重编程的原位传感器节点软件。部署和测试顺序从一系列实验室和校园实验进展到合作实验森林的规定火灾。就更广泛的社会影响而言，该研究项目的目标包括改善规定的野火管理中的决策和安全，开发在崎岖地形中实现实时火灾监测的工具，生成科学数据集以改进野火行为的预测，将研究成果整合到大学课程中。并通过在网络上发布研究结果，提高公众对野外火灾行为的了解。这项研究是由科罗拉多大学博尔德分校和蒙大拿大学合作开展的。该小组在计算机科学、电子工程、林业和火灾情报方面的集体专业知识促进了协作精神，在现实世界中进行多学科研究，增强了学生和教师的创造力。

Abstract for "SENSORS: Collaborative Research: Self-configuring In SituWireless Sensor Networks For Prescribed Fire Management":Wireless sensor networks offer exciting new technology with thepotential to revolutionize the critical process of fire management inforests and public lands. At present, wildland fire management islimited by the coarse granularity of the collected weather datareceived through the portable belt weather kits worn by firefightersor through the sparsely scattered remote weather stations placed inforests. Since weather is the most critical factor affecting firebehavior and firefighter safety, then the deployment of fire weathersensor networks offers the prospect of fine-granularity weather datathat can vastly improve decision-making and safety in the fire managementprocess.This project focuses on solving the research challenges in designing,deploying, and testing a self-configuring wireless fire weather sensornetwork to support fire management in prescribed fire burns.Reliability, energy efficiency, and connectivity in rugged terrain andtree cover pose key challenges. Human interface requirements likereal-time access, localization, and dynamic reprogramming of sensornodes add complexity to the problem. Specific research objectivesinclude: design and evaluation of self-configuring wireless systemsthat are low maintenance, adaptive and automatically self-organizingin terms of their network routing; analysis of fault toleranttechniques like multipath routing to facilitate persistent firefighteraccess to in situ sensor readings in rugged terrain; testing ofsustained low power operation through transmit power control,time-synchronized duty cycles, and energy harvesting techniques suchas solar power; and development of software that supports remotedynamic reprogramming of in situ sensor nodes. The deployment andtesting sequence progresses from a series of laboratory and on-campusexperiments to a prescribed fire at a partner experimental forest.The goals of this research project in terms of broader societal impactinclude the improvement of decision-making and safety in themanagement of prescribed wildland fires, the development of tools toenable real-time fire monitoring in rugged terrain, the generation ofscientific datasets to improve forecasting of wildland fire behavior,the integration of research results into the curricula of universitycourses, and increased public understanding of fire behavior inwildlands through the release of research results via the Web. Thisresearch effort arises from a partnership between the University ofColorado at Boulder and the University of Montana. The group'scollective expertise in computer science, electrical engineering,forestry, and fire intelligence promotes the spirit of collaborative,multidisciplinary research in a real-world setting, enhancing thecreativity of students and faculty alike.