An Early Warning System for Forest Fires, successfully in the global use

FireWatch is a terrestrial, digital, remote surveillance system which is capable of observing

larger wooded regions, and to analyse, evaluate, link and store the collective data.
Due to its sensitivity, accuracy and reliability the system enables an early recognition of forest
fires.
FireWatch is able to evaluate and classify the incoming data in multiple ways, connected to a
central station. In the event of a recognized source of fire, it automatically sends out an alarm.
FireWatch protects entire eco-systems and cultural landscapes.
FireWatch takes care of the economic resources of the endangered areas, was tested successfully
and has been commercially installed in Germany, in the states of Brandenburg, MecklenburgWestern Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony for several years. The technical performance of
the system allows the usage in other states and / or countries.
PARTICULARS:
Tower-based automated & reliable early recognition of forest fire
Automated detection of smoke clouds by day and night

Local online data processing with broadband radio or cable transmission

Fast supervision of an area of more then 70,000 hectares by one sensor

High image quality from the beginning of the image pickup right up to the control
station's computer

FireWatch is a registered trademark of IQ Wireless GmbH

OSS - Optical Sensor System

Optical Sensor System (no CCTV or Still Video Camera)

High resolution 1,360 x 1,024 pixel (total used for detection)

Dynamics 16,384 grayscales

Night mode with increased sensitivity in NIR

Increased contrast for smoke detection

Night filter blods out artificial lights

Quick response times even under night vision

Same resolution by the day and by the night

All-weather protected head unit with OSS for monitoring the forest with a rotating, computer
controlled pan-tilt-unit.

Working Place
During a 360 rotation, the sensor takes 3 images every 10.
For a better presentation of the smoke clouds, 36 images are combined to form a
panorama view in the control office.
Reported smoke areas are marked on electronic maps.
The operator evaluates all events by means of the data transferred to the Cental Office
and his experience and knowledge.

Supplement
Supplementary feature: An independent color camera for extended investigation of fires
without interrupting the automatic scan procedure (technical parametres of this color camera: 32
x zoom, resolution 704 x 576 pix / PAL).
The initial camera direction and zoom factor are automatically controlled by the FireWatch
Office application. After activating the camera by an alert, the camera turns into direction of the
fire source and sets the zoom according to the fire distance.
The control software has a built-in video recorder with playback functionality.
After initial activation, the control software operates inpedendently of the FireWatch Office
application