2020年将有许多突出的原因，首当其冲的是全球大流行. But in the U.S.它也将被人们铭记，因为野火在西部造成了可怕的伤亡.
In all, more than 58,000 wildfires burned 10.1 million acres 全国范围内，大部分在加州、俄勒冈州、华盛顿州、爱达荷州、犹他州、怀俄明州和科罗拉多州. California alone saw almost 40% of that, with approximately 4.200万英亩的土地被炎热干燥的天气和大风引发的大火烧毁. 火势迅速蔓延，地面的救援人员和空中的加油机不堪重负. 科罗拉多州落基山国家公园的东麻烦大火以惊人的速度燃烧 6,000 acres per hour at times, once destroying 100,000 acres in a single day, because of extremely low humidity and winds above 35 mph.
And 2021 isn’t shaping up to be much better, 像加州的迪克西大火和俄勒冈州的私酒大火这样的巨大火灾只是其中的两起 47,525 wildfires across the U.S. that have burned 6,494,054 acres as of mid October.
With increasingly dry conditions across the West, 在大火变成地狱之前控制住它几乎是不可能的, especially with traditional firefighting methods. Until recently, fighting rapidly spreading fires hadn’t changed much since the 1950s, when converted WWII aircraft were used to spot fire size and direction. They relayed that information via radio to the ground, and fire crews were deployed based on the pilot’s observations. 飞机上的摄影师拍摄的照片后来被冲洗和仔细检查.
Efficiency increased with the advent of digital photos, 但从拍摄照片到地勤人员分析照片之间仍然存在滞后时间, make decisions, and mobilize to the burn site. In the meantime, fires continued to spread.
But that reality is swiftly changing. Technology used in other arenas is now being applied to fighting wildfires, 消防队员正在使用通信链路来精确定位地面上的实时活动.
Technology is key
Firefighters’ situational awareness is beginning to improve thanks to fast, modern broadband technology. Now, 由AEVEX Aerospace公司与钱柜qg111官网的高速卫星连接技术共同开发的一架配备GeoFOCIS特殊技术的固定翼飞机正在改变通信方式, data, and the overall ability to contain fires. 让地勤消防员能够实时看到方向和蔓延，节省了时间, property, and – most importantly – lives.
“Obviously, the faster you can assign resources when a fire is at a smaller state, 它就越容易管理，也越容易防止它失控,” said Garrett Hogan, Program Manager with the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) group at Viasat.
AEVEX’s GeoFOCIS software suite provides a moving map display, utilizing sources such as full motion video (color and infrared data), photogrammetry, communications, reports/mission data, and more. 这意味着，在燃烧区域上空飞行的飞机可以向地面上的火灾管理人员发送火灾范围和即时高清视频.
“With this, firefighters can not only see the fire’s location, they can also see the fire’s intensity. And then, utilizing weather, atmospheric information, and current wind data, 他们可以将人员和资源安排在最佳位置来灭火,” said Jim Herren, Director of Aircraft Innovation and Integration for Viasat.
This technology was put to good use during a fire in a residential area of Carlsbad, CA. 地面上的救援人员发现棕榈树爆炸，火花和余烬洒向附近的房屋. 消防队员随后找到了受影响的街道，并在火势失控前将其扑灭. Just three acres were burned, 卡尔斯巴德消防局将快速反应归功于这项技术.
The GeoFOCIS suite is a complex 3D geo-mapping service, using a moving-map display with a geospatial database. To function successfully, it must have access to reliable, high-speed, high-capacity satellite connectivity.
“AEVEX技术将多个传感器信息集成到可用的产品中，以帮助野火管理人员更好地进行管理, more efficient, 以及更有效的决策，以减少生命损失和财产或基础设施的破坏,” said Ron Trosclair, Program Manager at AEVEX Aerospace.
处理所有这些数据所需的连接是由Viasat的高容量卫星提供的. 这种技术也提升了军用飞机人员的效率, 谁能在执行任务时发送和接收实时态势感知, as well as user experience for airline passengers, who can stream video, shop online, or watch the news in real time while travelling.
The company’s upcoming global satellite constellation, ViaSat-3, 将为像GeoFOCIS这样的应用提供更大的容量和覆盖范围.
A more affordable solution
随着卫星容量的增长和可用性的提高，这项新技术的成本降低了.
“这些能力在过去的标准卫星上可能成本过高,” Herren said. “但是钱柜qg111官网的现代高容量卫星使钱柜qg111官网能够降低每比特的成本，这样钱柜qg111官网就可以完成过去由于低容量卫星的高成本而无法完成的任务.”
这种高带宽能力也使飞机飞得更高，同时仍能获得高质量, high-resolution data. AEVEX解决方案中的高分辨率摄像头使飞行员能够避开火灾和相关湍流空气产生的极端温度, which can make it difficult to capture a clear picture from directly above.
A growing problem
西海岸和西南部创纪录的气温和降水不足为野火创造了成熟的条件. 尽管如此，这些火灾易发地区的发展需求很高. The National Fire Protection Journal 加州有200万户家庭位于野火高风险或极端风险地区.
“Of course living by or in a forest sounds great, but obviously when a fire comes that is the worst place to have your house,” says Cristina Santin Nuno, 他是威尔士斯旺西大学生物科学副教授，专门从事野火研究.
随着气候变化增加了野火的严重程度和野火季节本身的长度，用于灭火和迅速减轻火灾造成的危险情况的技术变得越来越重要. While lives and property suffer great losses in fires, there are other lasting negative effects as well. The EPA has estimated that long-term health issues due to toxic debris in the air, soil, 2008年至2012年间，燃烧地区遗留的水造成了4500亿美元的医疗费用——这是可获得的最新数据. 这包括过早死亡、住院和慢性呼吸道疾病. And the weather-forecasting website AccuWeather 据预测，2020年火灾季节仅财产损失和灭火工作的成本就可能达到1300亿至1500亿美元.
Vic Farah, Vice President of Viasat’s Assured Mobility Solutions (AMS) business, expressed optimism for addressing this immense and costly challenge.
“The bipartisan infrastructure bill recently passed in the U.S. 参议院明确概述了将资源集中在预防野火上的雄心，包括 substantial funding for wildfire risk reduction. Looking ahead, ViaSat-3固有的效应驱动功能为野火缓解提供了一种经济的解决方案，针对的是这一利基作业区域，而不是更大的作业区域, more cost-prohibitive models that exist within industry today.”
您可以在钱柜qg111官网的网站上找到Viasat和AEVEX的官方联合声明.
