Jul 27, 2022 – Smokey Bear has a lot of great tips for preventing wildfires. But how do you stop one that has started before it gets out of control? The answer may lie in combining multi-channel detection with advanced computing technologies provided by a new platform called Sage.
Sage offers a unique combination. This combination involves multiple types of sensors with “edge” computing, as well as embedded machine learning algorithms that allow scientists to process the huge amounts of data generated in the field without having to transfer it to the lab. Computing “at the edge” means that data is processed where it is collected, in the field, while machine learning algorithms are computer programs that train themselves to recognize patterns.
Sage is funded by the National Science Foundation and developed by the Northwestern-Argonne Institute of Science and Engineering (NAISE), a partnership between Northwestern University and the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory.
Researchers using Sage recently completed a demonstration in which they successfully monitored a prescribed controlled burn, in which a piece of land is carefully burned as part of environmental management, of part of the Konza tallgrass prairie in Kansas. The advanced cyber infrastructure deployed at Sage, which enables on-the-spot detection, monitoring, and analysis of the burned area, could offer scientists and natural resource officials the ability to stay ahead of wildfires with rapidly analyzed data and multiple sources. instruments.
“When it comes to wildfires, time is absolutely of the essence,” said Rajesh (Raj) Sankaran, an Argonne computational scientist and NAISE fellow. “There is often no time to move data from the field, where high-speed connectivity can be an issue, to the lab. With Sage, we get the pertinent information we need when we need it.”
The controlled burn in the Konza prairie gave the researchers a huge collection of data, almost 60 DVDs, full of information about the progression of smoke and fire. This data can be used to train a machine learning algorithm that can make further determinations of the behavior of other fires in real time.
Following the success of the Sage network in Kansas, there are future plans for the network to be deployed in California, Colorado, Illinois, and Texas as part of a network led by the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). Eventually, the researchers hope to establish a continent-spanning network of smart sensors that can use Sage’s technology. “NEON is developing a mobile deployment platform that can complement land and water sites across the country,” said Sankaran. “Sage can play a supporting role in many different settings in the United States.”
Technologically, Sage is based on an open source wireless sensor platform called Waggle, developed and funded by Argonne. Waggle harnesses emerging technology in low-power processors, sensors, and cloud computing to create powerful and reliable sensor nodes that can actively analyze and respond to data. “Essentially, Waggle is the foundation that Sage uses,” said Argonne computer scientist and NAISE co-director Pete Beckman, who helped pioneer Waggle and Sage. “Basically, it’s like Waggle is a cell phone and Sage is the network that the phone uses to communicate plus the apps that run on it.”
According to Beckman, the team is also seeking a new research partnership with a researcher at the University of Oregon, who is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build a series of monitoring stations in the Pacific Northwest. Beckman hopes that by including Sage, these monitoring stations can have added functionality to get ahead of wildfires and other natural disasters by monitoring the environment.
The development of Sage through NAISE brings into play the scientific power of two major research institutions. “The partnership between Northwestern and Argonne has long been fruitful for pivotal discoveries, and Sage is just the latest achievement that can make a difference to so many communities,” said Beckman.
About Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. Argonne, the nation’s first national laboratory, conducts cutting-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state, and local agencies to help them solve their unique problems, advance America’s scientific leadership, and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees in more than 60 countries, Argonne is led by UChicago Argonne, LLC For him US Department of Energy Office of Science.
Font: Jared Sagoff, Argonne National Laboratory