Can wireless sensors detect forest fires in Quito?

In Ecuador, Quito city usually registers forest fires every year, leading the local authorities design a prototype wireless sensor network (WSN) [ 40 ]. This prototype allows the detection and monitoring of fires in the Guanguiltagua Park located in the Metropolitan District of Quito [ 41, 42 ].

How can remote sensing be used in forest fire studies?

For forest fire studies, remote sensing allows the determination of their severity [ 25 ], the plant cover loss [ 26] and plant communities’ recovery rate [ 27 ]. The application of spectral indices obtained from the different bands of the multispectral image allows the estimation of the severity of fires [ 28, 29, 30 ].

Can a forest fire evacuation route be a safe evacuation route?

A proposal for an action plan in response to forest fires in the region was carried out, making it possible to define a safe evacuation route, minimizing exposure to dangerous fire effluents, such as toxic smoke, during evacuation [ 132 ].

Can remote sensing predict forest fires?

Forest fires occur mainly in forests, disturbing biodiversity and species richness [ 21, 22 ]. Thereby, estimating forest fires’ impacts and their recovery using remote sensing is complex as the history of fires—in terms of frequency, severity and time since the last fire—is heterogeneous [ 23 ].

Which types of land use are considered combustible material in forest fire scenarios?

The land use categories that stand out in the region are native forest, moors, shrub and herbaceous vegetation and agricultural land [ 77 ]. These kinds of vegetation could be considered combustible material in forest fire scenarios [ 71 ]. Table 2 shows the change in land use in the pre-fire (2014) and post-fire (2016) scenarios.