A brush fire on a mountain approaches a road near a village in Yangyang on South Korea’s east coast on Jan. 2, 2019, after it broke out the previous day. Strong winds and drought have hampered firefighters’ efforts to bring the fire under control. (Yonhap)
DAEJEON, Feb. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The government plans to establish a comprehensive wildfire prevention system using information and communications technology (ICT) including the introduction of a 3D-based wildfire spread prediction system that can reproduce detailed three-dimensional models of mountainous terrain.
The Korea Forest Service (KFS) recently announced the launch of a comprehensive wildfire prevention initiative with a focus on the above-mentioned plan.
The existing 2D-based wildfire spread prediction system will be replaced by a 3D-based model that can reproduce an accurate replica of protected facilities such as private houses, communications towers and cultural heritage as well as mountainous terrain.
The KFS also intends to establish as many as four wildfire prevention ICT platforms that connect surveillance systems such as fume, flame, motion-detecting sensors and smart CCTV cameras with LTE broadband communication networks, mainly on the east coast of the country where large-scale wildfires commonly occur.
In addition, the KFS plans to leverage big data to strengthen mountain entry restrictions for areas that are prone to wildfires.
Last year, 620 wildfires devastated 2,920 hectares of forest. These figures represent a growth of 31 percent in terms of the number of wildfires and 161 percent in terms of the area compared to the average of the past decade.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
