Pilot mobile app to detect and monitor veld fires
The Faculty of Computing and Informatics (FCI) has joined forces with South Africa’s University of Fort Hare, in developing a ground-breaking integrated mobile application that detects, monitors and communicates veld fires.
The prototype uses satellite data obtained from the Advanced Fire Information System (AFIS) to detect and monitor fires in the study sites in Namibia and South Africa, Namibia University of Science and Technology, acting director, Marketing and Communication, Kuda Brandt said this week.
According to Brandt, the project is being piloted inthe Kavango East, Omaheke and Zambezi Regions and is being pioneered by Dr. Edmore Chikohora, a Senior Informatics Lecturer at the Faculty of Computing and Informatics (FCI) and prof. Amon Taruvinga, an academic from the University of Fort Hare.
“These sites were selected based on the documented high frequency of veld fires,” she added.
Brandt said to date, an inventory of the regions was created and geo-referenced to enhance region-based burning fire identification.
“The identified regions were then linked to mobile phones of five personnel from the City of Windhoek Fire Department (CoW-FD) for pilot testing. In South Africa, the project is being piloted in Matatiele Local Municipality based on the high frequency of veld fires during the past ten years,” she added.
Meanwhile, Brandt said when fully deployed, the mobile application system will alert communities of veld fires occurrences through their mobile phones as automated texts (SMS).
According to the Minisry of Environment, veld fires destroyed over 2.1 million hectares of land in the arid southwestern African nation since January, hurting livelihoods and the environment.
