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Forest fires are an ever-increasing risk, and even our German neighbors are suffering. The consequences of climate change, drought and carelessness sometimes trigger fires of extreme intensity, capable of wiping out huge areas of vegetation. 

We have seen this once again this year with the fires that have been multiplying in France since July, in particular those at Landiras (Gironde) and La Teste-de-Buch (Gironde), which alone ravaged more than 20,000 hectares of forest. 

🧑🏼‍🚒Today, we look at the methods used by our German neighbors to deal with increasingly frequent fires, and at their future needs.

🔎Today, we look at the methods used by our German neighbors to deal with increasingly frequent fires, and at their future needs. 

• the access roads in the event of an intervention ( Reserved path for emergency vehicles), 
• the topography and hiking trails,
• natural areas to be protected and their boundaries.

As illustrated by a recent ARTE documentary, we can see that there is a real lack of information sharing and knowledge of digital solutions, as well as difficulties in reacting quickly to a risky situation. 

🚨The requirement: 

A virtual space on a smartphone to alert, mobilize, distribute tasks and monitor operations in real time, against a map backdrop integrating fire-prone areas, areas to be protected, water reserves and weather information. Our Akt'n'Map solution, which has already proved its worth to the SDIS 32 and 47 emergency services, can meet this need.

👉🏼 Link to ARTE Regards documentary - “Forest fires in Germany” : 

Forest fires in Germany | ARTE Regards - Youtube

📣 We are delighted to announce that we have won a new call for tenders from the Institut de Radioprotection et Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN). It concerns the overhaul of the CRITER system, the national tool for managing environmental measurements in radiological emergency situations. 

What are IRSN's missions? 🔍

The Institut de Radioprotection et Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) advises public authorities in their decision-making on actions to protect the population and the environment in the event of situations involving radioactive materials.

🚨 CRITER is regularly used during national crisis exercises. However, it is now showing signs of obsolescence (obsolete technologies, maintenance difficulties, limited scalability, etc.), leading the Service d'Intervention Radiologique et de Surveillance de l'Environnement (SIRSE) to launch an overhaul. 

👏🏼 Kalisio is already responsible for the development and maintenance of the IRSN Planet platform, on which the new version of the CRITER system will be based.

Thanks to its recognized expertise in geospatial data flows, Open Source and knowledge of IRSN's business, and SIRSE in particular, Kaliso is highly qualified to take on this new opportunity.

📣 The summer period is often a good time to improve our tools, and the latest risk news sometimes brings us subjects of interest.

We have also recently developed a new method of processing open-source process using our ETL. Krawler for ingesting free data from the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) from NASA. This system, particularly useful for fighting forest fires, uses satellite sensors to detect “hot spots” on the earth's surface. Using algorithms, it also provides various indicators linked to each hotspot, including Fire Radiative Power (FRP), which estimates the thermal power released.

The video below illustrates the spatio-temporal coupling of hotspots detected by FIRMS and current weather forecasts from Météo France (ARPEGE) at Kano. It provides a better understanding of the evolution of two major fires still in progress in Gironde, in particular the correlation between wind direction and intensity and those of the fires (the color of the representation of hot spots is linked to the FRP).

👉🏼 See the video