Utilisation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Mesh in the Sky Wireless Communication System in Wildfire Management

This paper provides an overview of the deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), more commonly known as drones, in wildfire management, particularly in wildfire detection, prevention and quick and efficient response. UAVs are one of the user products of the SILVANUS project, a Horizon 2020 project which proposes the implementation of an environmentally sustainable, integrated technological and information platform for wildfire management. One of the integral parts of the SILVANUS platform is the Mesh in the Sky, which is a communication system that allows drones to collect and transfer up-to-date information on wildfire threats in areas with no cellular or long-range network coverage. On the basis of this technical example, the paper shows how new technologies can provide reliable input in order to detect, prevent or efficiently respond to cases of dangerous wildfire.