Seminar “Rural Fires: Innovation in Decision Support” Highlights Innovative Solutions in the Fight Against Rural Fires

The seminar “Rural Fires: Innovation in Decision Support” Highlights Innovative Solutions in the Fight Against Rural Fires

The seminar “Rural Fires: Innovation in Decision Support,” organized by Natureye, a partnership between REN and ADAI – Association for the Development of Industrial Aerodynamics at the University of Coimbra, took place on December 5 at the Pedro Nunes Institute in Coimbra. The event gathered 136 participants from across mainland Portugal and the Madeira archipelago.

Raquel Costa, Innovation Officer at REN, and Carlos Fonseca, CTO of CoLAB ForestWISE, opened the session by highlighting the importance of these topics for society, explaining the significant turnout at the event, and emphasizing that the technological tools developed by various entities can substantially aid in fire prevention and combat.

The morning session was divided into two parts. The first focused on “Monitoring and Decision Support,” with presentations from Miguel Almeida, ADAI – University of Coimbra, on the “Eye in the Sky” project, which involves the use of High-Altitude Balloons to collect images and enhance communications in support of decision-making during rural fire-fighting operations; Carlos Viegas, from ADAI/University of Coimbra, presenting the “MC Fire – Measuring the moisture content of forest fuels and evaluating their behavior in relation to new climate realities” and “IM Fire – Intelligent Fire Management”; and João Fernandes, from OneSource, with the “Mobitrust” project, a platform for Situational Awareness integrating various sensor and data systems for decision support.

The second part of the morning session addressed “Tools for Impact Assessment,” featuring Lígia Pinto from the University of Minho with “Eco.Fire: economic incentives and preventive behaviors,” Dalila Serpa from the University of Aveiro with the “FEMME – tool to model post-fire erosion risk for decision support in forest management, particularly in the application of emergency stabilization measures,” and Hugo Almeida from Razão D’Igualdade, with “Remote Sensing in Sustainable Forest Management.”

In the afternoon, Domingos Xavier Viegas delivered a presentation on Fire Behavior. According to the speaker, “The study of fire behavior is one of the key themes in understanding how to manage the risk of wildfires in their various forms. This knowledge comes from scientific research and practical experience. Data collection, such as that done by the system developed in Fireye, is essential for improving knowledge, validating results, and incorporating new insights into operational support.” He then moderated a debate on the topic “Innovation in Service of the Forest: From Theory to Practice,” which brought together Pedro Marques, Head of Sustainable Networks at REN, Arlindo Santos, Assistant for Knowledge and Innovation at AGIF, and Carlos Tavares, Sub-Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Commander of the Coimbra Region.

In his remarks, Pedro Marques emphasized that the Natureye project “is a project that REN felt the need to have to help manage the electrical distribution system. This project increases the resilience of our structures to ensure reliable and high-quality energy distribution, as that is our mission.” He also talked about the need to assess the results and their value to entities, companies, and society in general, and the importance of involving communities in finding solutions and implementing projects, citing REN’s experience managing structures in mostly forested areas, with thousands of landowners.

Speaking about the project requirements for ensuring their application by operational entities, Carlos Tavares highlighted: “It is necessary to identify the needs of users, develop simple and effective projects focused on applications, and communicate and listen to all entities from the beginning to the end of the project.” He also pointed out the importance of addressing the urban-forest interface issue and the need to protect people and their property from the threat of wildfires.

Arlindo Santos added, “It is essential to involve end-users in the project because the focus should be on the impact of the project. We should not work in silos, and the role of linking entities, such as Forestwise, which is one of the promoters of Agenda transForm, in which the Centrodec project is included, is crucial.”

Natureye is a decision support center based on multisensory data, designed to prevent, anticipate, and mitigate natural risks, with an emphasis on wildfires. The project uses technological solutions originally developed within the rePLANT project, such as monitoring systems with optical and thermal sensors installed on REN’s ultra-high-voltage towers, complemented by fire behavior forecasting systems, which are improved and applied on a national scale.