Before a fire is hot enough for a thermal camera to see, it already smells. A network of low-cost electronic-nose sensors detects the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of early combustion and raises the alarm in real time.
Smouldering vegetation releases a plume of volatile organic compounds — the chemical fingerprint of a fire — minutes to hours before there is enough heat or smoke for cameras and satellites to detect. An electronic nose reads that fingerprint at the source, on the ground, where the fire starts.
Need a visible plume or a heat signature — they see a fire once it is already established and line-of-sight allows.
Smells the first volatile compounds of combustion at ground level, in the dark, behind ridges — the earliest possible signal.
A gas sensor array continuously samples the air for the VOC mixture of early combustion, alongside temperature, humidity and air pressure.
An embedded machine-learning model, trained on the specific smell of a Karst wildfire, separates it from ordinary background air to keep false alarms low.
On a positive detection the node sends an alert over long-range LoRaWAN — kilometres of reach through forest, no mobile coverage needed.
The platform pinpoints the node, raises a real-time alarm to responders and drops the location onto the operational map.
Each sensor is mounted on a tree in a strategic, vulnerable zone — and is built to run unattended.
Gas-sensor array for volatile organic compounds plus a micro-climate suite — the same data also enriches the fire models.
Long-range, low-power radio — kilometres of reach, no SIM or mains, mesh-friendly across a roadless plateau.
A small photovoltaic panel and battery keep the node alive through the night and the season — no cabling, no maintenance visits.
Beyond the instant alarm, the continuous stream of on-the-ground temperature, humidity, pressure and air-chemistry feeds the Karst Firewall digital twin. Real micro-climate from inside the forest makes the fire-spread simulator more precise — and the same network doubles as a dense environmental-monitoring grid.
VOC detection before flame or plume.
Placed where hazard is highest.
Years in the field, unattended.
Trained to know wildfire smell.