Granada: decision support system for fighting forest fires

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A research group at the Higher Technical School of Computer Engineering of the University of Granada, has applied artificial intelligence techniques used by the US Pentagon, to develop a decision support system for fighting forest fires.

SIADEX is capable of automatically generating plans for extinguishing forest fires on the basis of data including, where the fire started, the nature of the local environment, what fire fighting resources are available and so on. The system is web-based, allowing fire fighters masterminding efforts to extinguish a fire to access it using a desktop computer, laptop or a handheld PDA (personal digital assistant).

SIADEX can model more than 1,000 fire extinction operations per second, allowing firefighting experts to draw up a plan of action very quickly. The system also generates alternative strategies, says project leader Luis Castillo.

A forest fire is an evolving process, and the researchers are now working to provide a feedback loop, so that plans can be updated as circumstances change.

Another feature of this system is that it can work with vagueness, allowing it to adapt to real situations. For example, it could schedule a plane spraying a fire to refuel between 10 and 10:30 am, without needing a definite time to draw up a complete plan of action.

SIADEX could also be used as a virtual training system for fire firefighters.

Andalusia has 4.3 million hectares of forest land. In 2004 9,881 hectares was destroyed by fire, while in 2005 the region was the worst in Spain for fires with 32,143 hectares of forests devastated.