Forest fires are increasingly becoming a threat to the climate. BAM is conducting research in a major European project to prevent and contain the fires.
Source: Adobe Stock/JAH
Forest fires are a threat to the climate. They release enormous amounts of CO₂ and destroy the natural protective effect of forests against global warming.
Forest fires have increased sharply worldwide in recent decades. In 2021 alone, devastating fires raged in the Mediterranean, the United States, Canada and Siberia, destroying many millions of hectares of forest. There have even been fires in the Arctic Circle. In Germany, Brandenburg has been particularly affected by the increase in fires. Scientists assume that climate change will continue to increase the risk of such environmental disasters dramatically. This is because periods of heat and drought also increase as global warming progresses and they are ideal catalysts for fires.
Not only do they threaten the lives of many people, but they also release enormous amounts of carbon dioxide and climate-damaging substances such as methane and smoke. The European atmospheric monitoring service Copernicus estimates that fires released more CO₂ in 2021 than ever before. At the same time, fires destroy large areas of forests that are extremely significant in slowing down climat change. “Forests can absorb large amounts of CO₂ and contribute to cooling by their internal climate,” explains Anja Hofmann-Böllinghaus. “This makes it all the more important to detect fires as early as possible, limit them and, if possible, prevent them altogether by preventive measures.”
Virtual reality and drones for early detection
The fire engineer is involved in a major European project in which 46 institutions have joined their forces. The aim of the project, which is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme with almost 23 million euros, is to develop a holistic fire management system.
State-of-the-art technology will be used: training emergency personnel using virtual reality, drones for monitoring forests in real time, and an integrated on-site risk assessment system that can effectively fight fires or, if possible, prevent them altogether. Approximately 40 Copernicus satellites to be provided to the project by the European Space Agency (ESA) will feed their data into this system. The fire management system will initially be implemented in eight participating countries. In Germany, the test run will be headed by BAM, which has many years of experience in the experimental investigation of fires and their spread.
Forest soil influences the spread of fire
“We will test soil samples from Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, regions that have been particularly affected by forest fires in Germany in recent years, and determine their role in fire spread,” explains Hofmann-Böllinghaus. “It is known that moisture and the proportion of organic material are important parameters. Now we want to investigate parameters such as density, pH and the specific structure of the organic material in the forest soil in more detail. The findings are fundamental to understand how forest fires spread and also to be able to assess the effectiveness of extinguishing measures and the choice of suitable extinguishing agents.”
In addition, the scientists will use simulations and develop models to predict the spread of fires using artificial intelligence and machine learning. “We want a fire management system that will provide knowledge and effective tools to everyone involved in forest fire prevention and to emergency personnel from the fire department or disaster control,” says Anja Hofmann-Böllinghaus. “We hope that our work will limit the impact of forest fires on climate change and at the same time strengthen the protective function of forests as CO₂ reservoirs.”