How high speed wireless transformed fire monitoring
Each year, fires damage around 300 hectares of forest across Lithuania. As the number of visitors to its forests increases annually, the threat of fires keeps rising.
To improve the prevention and detection of forest fires, Lithuania's Ministry of the Environment has undertaken a nationwide project that includes an automated early fire warning and monitoring system, running on a Zebra wireless broadband network.
Powered by point-to-point wireless Ethernet bridges, the network supports realtime surveillance using IP video cameras. It enables the Directorate General of State Forests to monitor and protect some 30.000 square kilometres of publicly- and privately-owned forest area which envelops almost half the country.
"The ability to monitor such an extensive area remotely, receive alerts and even images of fires at an early stage can contribute enormously to reducing forest fires, protecting our heritage and improving safety for forest owners and visitors," Gintaras Visalga, Deputy General Director, Directorate General of State Forests.The Challenge
Managing such a vast and often remote area effectively requires the ability to monitor numerous automated surveillance towers equipped with video cameras, using limited human resources and to co-ordinate operations between multiple forestry control centres.
A wired solution would have been too costly and impractical, considering the size and geography of the terrain. The challenge with implementing a wireless network lay in being able to use the existing observation towers while overcoming line of sight problems in certain areas. In addition, the high density of foliage and varying weather patterns could interfere with transmissions, making the system unreliable.
The Directorate General of State Forests investigated a variety of solutions and chose Zebra's PTP 300 and PTP 500 Series wireless Ethernet bridges. The network was configured by local partner Telekonta UAB, who had to make provision for future degradation of the available capacity due to vegetation growth and changing weather conditions.
The Solution
The system supports high speed data transfer and real-time video surveillance across 25 forestry's and 84 observation towers at remote sites. Fire Watch, an automated forest fire detection system, combines smoke detectors and video surveillance cameras mounted on observation towers to survey areas within a radius of 15 kilometres. If an event occurs, an alert is sent immediately, together with several images across the wireless bridge to the control centre.
Designed to deliver high throughput across long distances in virtually any environment, the PTP 500 and PTP 300 wireless Ethernet bridges provide reliable connectivity for the forestry's data and video communications. They operate in the unlicensed 5.4 and 5.8 GHz frequency band, which alleviates costly license fees and enables rapid installation. Built-in audio and graphical assistance further simplified deployment, with the complete installation and set up for a single tower and up to four links taking between two and three days.
The Benefits
"The ability to monitor such an extensive area remotely, receive alerts and even images of fires at an early stage can contribute enormously to reducing forest fires, protecting our heritage and improving safety for forest owners and visitors," said Gintaras Visalga, Deputy General Director, Directorate General of State Forests.
The network can also ease the strain on limited human resources by automating communications for fire surveillance. This allows staff to focus on prevention initiatives and to react more quickly and efficiently when smoke is detected.
The wireless bridges' inherent intelligence and durability allows them to be easily powered up and to keep operating for years in severe conditions. High availability and dependable performance is key to maintaining critical communications in emergency situations.
Key Facts
• Fire Watch, an automated forest fire detection system, combines smoke detectors and video surveillance cameras. Monitoring and protecting some 30.000 square kilometres of forest area
• The system supports high speed data transfer and real-time video surveillance across 25 forestry's and 84 observation towers
• Broadband connectivity was delivered through Zebra's PTP 300 and PTP 500 Series wireless Ethernet bridges, designed to deliver high throughput across long distances in virtually any environment
Customer Profile
Company
Directorate General of State Forests, Ministry of the Environment, Republic of Lithuania
Technology Partner
Telekonta UAB
Industry
Government / Forestry
Product Name
• PTP 300 Series
• PTP 500 Series
• One Point – LINKPlanner
• Zebra Extended Warranty
Solution Features
• High performance wireless broadband across long distances
• Non-line-of-sight environments
• Resilient to severe weather conditions
• Efficient use of frequency spectrum
Benefits Features
• Reliable, wide area connectivity
• Real-time video and data transmission
• Easy to install and maintain
• Secure communications
