Detecting Early Signs of Forest Fires with Drone-based Solutions in Greece

Greece has a Mediterranean climate characterized by a hot and dry summer and it is a mountainous country with many forests. These geographical features mean that forest fires are the most devastating natural disasters in Greece. To reduce the damage caused by forest fires and protect the lives and property of local people, Huawei collaborated with local partners to pilot an early forest fire detection solution that has integrated cutting-edge technologies such as 5G, AI, and drones in Syggrou Forest in Greece.

The solution connects carbon dioxide and temperature sensors on the ground with drones hovering over the forest, and uses AI to monitor images captured by the drones in real time to identify the location of possible forest fires. This allows local command and control centers to detect and quickly locate early signs of forest fires and take the best measures to put out the fires and evacuate personnel, reducing the damage that the fires might otherwise have caused.

The solution has generated extensive media coverage in Greece. Greek government officials, including the Minister of Investment and Development and the Minister of Rural Development and Food, have welcomed and praised Huawei's efforts to address local environmental problems using technology.

In the future, Huawei will upgrade the solution together with more ministries and partners. The upgraded solution will not only be able to quickly detect early signs of forest fires and give fire alerts and warnings, it will also immediately intervene as soon as it detects the fire in a remote area by instructing drones to deploy fire extinguishing balls and guide citizens to evacuate.

Huawei and its partners deploy the drone-based early forest fire detection solution in Greece to protect local forests and reduce damage