Project A.S.O.F.T. - Space Apps Challenge

Project A.S.O.F.T.| Spot That Fire V3.0

Spot That Fire V3.0

Recent wildfires worldwide have demonstrated the importance of rapid wildfire detection, mitigation, and community impact assessment analysis. Your challenge is to develop and/or augment an existing application to detect, predict, and assess the economic impacts from actual or potential wildfires by leveraging high-frequency data from a new generation of geostationary satellites, data from polar-orbiting environmental satellites, and other open-source datasets.

A.S.O.F.T. | Automated System Of Fire Tracking

Summary

The project is based on the production of artificial clouds provided with the chemical AgI, it condenses the humidity of the space, forming clouds. This method can be used in different ecosystems, both arid and humid.However, cloud made with this process may not make rain by its own, but if there no rain it is possible to take different ways of action for solving it. The first one is spread liquid nitrogen (N2) from the heights which would cool the environment.The second one is implementing aircraft equipped with ultrasonic speakers.The objective of this is to perturb the molecules of water suspended in the air and join them into droplets and they fall from action of gravity

How We Addressed This Challenge

Problem.

A.S.O.F.T. aims to give a solution based in the creation of artificial clouds by chemical and physical effects. Wildfires are a big problem hard to manage, they can burn thousands of square miles of vegetation per day, making permanent damages in the ecosystem, some of them are:

- Loss of biodiversity.

- Erosion of the zone.

- Greenhouse gases production, like carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO).

- Human, material and economic losses.

It is an important idea because it is an effective solution to reduce the intentionality of forest fires.

Artificial Clouds

The project is based on the production of artificial clouds provided with the chemical reaction between Silver (Ag) and Iodine (I), which is an endothermic reaction, resulting in the compound of Silver Iodide (AgI), which rises into the atmosphere and generates ice crystals, this compound condenses the humidity of the space involved, lowering the temperature of the area considerably, and may even form clouds. If they precipitate it could probably contribute to the fight against wildfires.

This method can be used in different ecosystems, both arid and humid, the difference being that in arid environments a higher concentration of AgI crystals is needed to form the clouds unlike the humid environment, where this humidity contributes to the formation of the fog.

In other warmer areas such as India, cloud seeding is gaining popularity using hygroscopic materials, like salt. Water molecules are attracted by salt, so it serves to bind them together to create water drops.

Silver Iodide is chemistry reactive, well known for those who reveal in home their own photography, and it is highly insoluble in water and has a crystalline structure similar ice, which spread over a cloud acts as a condensation nucleus, particles around with water vapour condenses, we will encourage the formation of water droplets which, once they reach a sufficient size, they will fall by the action of gravity.

However, cloud made with this process may not make rain by its own, but if there no rain it is possible to take different ways of action for solving it.

The first one is spread liquid nitrogen (N2) from the heights, which would cool the environment. This compound has a melting point of -210°C and a boiling point of -195°C. N2 is an inert, colourless, odourless, non-flammable gas and extremely cold. It composes up 70% of the earth’s atmosphere, this gas does not produce any damage of living beings, only in close areas is prejudicial because it displaces oxygen impeding breathing, in its liquid state, which is at -195°C. If it comes into contact with a living being, in small amounts, will produce cold burns and if is big quantity the affected area will freeze and become fragile, making possible the shredding of the zone, although this a highly improbable, mainly because the closer areas to the fire would be at high temperatures, temperatures enough to boil the liquid nitrogen, this action is thought to displace oxygen from the affected area, cutting one of the three branches that produces fire, extinguishing it.

The team has done an extensive research about alternatives to perform the precipitation; the first one is implementing a UAV such as the “Flyox-1” (http://es.singularaircraft.com/flyox-i/), aircraft that satisfies the requirements of a mission like this, being fully customizable, the fuselage of the aircraft can be equipped with ultrasonic speakers. The objective of this is to perturb the molecules of water suspended in the air and join them into droplets; they fall from action of gravity, to accomplish this, the buffers must generate between 30kHz and 1.62Ghz, this threshold has a purpose, a particle of water vapour resonates at this frequency, this heat the particle until the point of evaporating it.

Objective

Our aim is to reduce the fire intensity or even extinct it, using artificial rains made by chemical compounds and physical factors, supported with modern technology.

How We Developed This Project

We choose this challenge because the wildfires are a problem that has always affected green areas, and even this phenomenon is very unfavourable to the environment, there are currently very few measures to fight with it. This project can extinguish the wildfires, decreasing the damage to the flora and fauna, as well as reducing the risk to humans. . That is why we investigated the way in which rain can be generated in an artificial way; in this way we help to suffocate forest fires.

How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project

We use NASA's database to collect information from the following examples:

First example of the working system: Brazil.

The bonfires produced in the Amazon jungle are mainly international cases, this affects the economy of the country, as well as the economy of the surrounding nationalities. Another problems are the environmental damage and pollution. Once trees have started to burn it is difficult to extinguish the fire, this is because the caloric energy produced is overwhelming.

Data: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e6hROk4qmD8YoPP8GYRKB-vkjXdrkATT/view?usp=sharing

Second example of the working system: Australia.

On January 4th 2020 severe satellite pictures were taken exposing smoke columns coming from bonfires from Australia. On the ground, there were uncontrollable wildfires scorching and destroying entire areas thousands of acres wide. The fire was spreading when the rain seasons started. The wildfires were suffocated by these rain season.

The objective of this project is to produce these precipitations to mitigate wildfires like the natural rain on Australia.

Data: https://drive.google.com/file/d/182zUr3adg04aR4aheutMMegHli6R6YFI/view?usp=sharing

Third example of the working system: Córdoba, Argentina.

One of the firsts reports of wildfires that carried to the actual situation of the country was published on the September 21th 2020 in Cordoba Argentina, it has burned more than 234,750 acres, from the efforts of the more than 520 firefighters in the province of Córdoba and other provinces of the country, the fires have been extinguished, left three active: Cruz del Eje, the south of the province, and behind the hills; being the major Cruz del Eje, with more than 60 fire brigades and 3 hydrant planes it has not been possible to stop the advance of the flames; here is where our solution comes in, cloud seeding, to humidify the area and lower temperatures, and rain, extinguishing some fires and mitigating the rest.

The process to take actions begins defining the area affected and the zone where the silver iodide will be released, this is done thanks to a helicopter or a plane full with the salt, the aircrafts flyby the area and release the compound. As this is done this, three situations are plausible, the first one is that the rain is achieved just with the injection of the salt in the atmosphere, this option would be the most effective and best one to solve the problem. The second one, the worst one, the formation of clouds is reached, but not the rain, and other action is taken, not relative to the project. The last one is an alternative the team has thought, to solve the issue of the second case, a drone equipped with ultrasonic buffers is sent inside the cloud, inducing the rain through ultrasonic beams of sound.

Data: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kgJCxKhdCj7gEjK5Z-djWvGsU9Dy-T7y/view?usp=sharing

Forth example of the working system: California, US.

In the California wildfire season in has been burned more than 16000 square kilometres, with more of 20 fire spots in the process of suppression. Now more than 17000 firefighters with more than 350 watertenders and 100 planes for use are working. They are doing their best to stop the flames that have been burning for weeks. In problems like this, our solution can be applied, as the rain can lower the temperature and wet the place.

The action process starts with the spot of the objective, then a plane, helicopter or a drone charged with silver iodide is send. Once the chemical has been sprayed, three things can happen: firstly, clouds are formed and it starts to rain, this would be the ideal situation. secondly, clouds are not formed and this would be the worst case because, there would be nothing to do. And thirdly clouds are formed but they do not precipitate, so this would be solve cold temperatures are necessary for rains, for that reason an air load of liquid nitrogen is sent, when the liquid nitrogen it is liberated is going to transform into a gas and it cools the clouds. This is made possible by the low temperature of -195°C

Worldwide data: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bLgHG4IiTPFN2rCmOtXn_PgiZtPygHj2/view?usp=sharing