Students test wildfire prevention device in Santa Cruz mountains

Two Bay Area high schoolers chose a tree somewhere in the Santa Cruz mountains as their test site for a tool that may someday help predict and prevent wildfires.

They’re looking at the data now.

KPIX San Francisco reports that Aditya and Sanjana Shah (same surname, not related) are seniors at Monte Vista High School in Cupertino who got the idea for a smart wildfire sensor during science club.

Their device uses weather data, cameras and machine learning technology to predict where a fire is most likely to occur. They strapped it to a tree in the Santa Cruz mountains for tests.

The sensor collects and transmits weather data, including wind speed, temperature and humidity, to the cloud, where it can be downloaded and analyzed by fire departments.

A built-in camera takes real-time images of forest fuel sources. The data is analyzed by artificial intelligence to develop models that could identify potential fire danger.

The students say they’re using technology that has been around their entire lives.

“In the last decade we have had a tremendous amount of technology at our fingertips. But we are not effectively using it in order to solve the problems that have been occurring for millions and millions of years,” said Sanjana Shah.

“I want to help solve people’s issues by using a product, and I really feel deeply touched by the wildfires. It hit so close to home,” said Aditya Shah.

In practice, many sensors would be pre-installed throughout forest lands, each collecting and transmitting data for analysis.

The students say testing has proven the sensor to be 92% accurate. They plan additional tests as soon as this year’s fire season ends.