Agnidrishti - Low Cost Forest Fire Detection and Weather Station Kit

According to this paper and research, on average 3,098 fire incidents are recorded annually in Nepal and 425,333 acres of forest land is burned. The same paper also states 7.07 million tons of biomass loss and 3.30 million tons of carbon emissions annually. The year 2023 already saw the rapid increase in the forest fire incidents compared to 2022 due to dry winter and minimal rainfall.

While there has been increase in the forest coverage of Nepal from 26% to 45% in two-and-a-half-decades which has somewhat alleviated the environmental crisis of Nepal. This also explains the recent rise in the incidents of forest fire incidents as stated above.

This project is a transformation of the protytpe that we were building for remote and rural farms. The underlying main technology behind the project is LoRa or LoRaWAN technology. The LoRa (Long Range) technology can be used to transmit data, information, and sensor values over long distances without the need for internet connection or the Cellular Network. This works as long as there is a clear line of sight between the two antennas and it requires less power and energy to operate. 

Our solution builds on this technology to build low cost forest fires detection kit for community forest in rural and remote areas of Nepal. The cluster of such kit can cover the area of 2 to 3 sq. km and can act as a weather station to collect weather information as well as forest fire incidents in the region. It runs on Solar Cells and Battery. In the low cost prototype phase, we are able to build this for $80 approx. Each of the individual kits communicates and pings eachother to transmit data and sensor values to the central LoRa system which then can upload the data to Internet portal for remote monitoring. As a weather station it can record moisture values, rain water detection, and the presence of Green House Gases and pollutants in the region.

In the next phase of this prototype we are trying to introduce communication system through this kit so that they can be used as a communication relaying using our phones in case of emergency communication or Disaster information disemination due to network issues. Utilising these relay as two way communication for HAM radio is the priority for the next phase.

It is estimated that the community forest covers 37.5% of the total forest area which accounts for the 2.3 million hectares. 22,000 registered Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) exists in Nepal which accounts for 50% of the rural population involved in this area. This shows the potential of the technological implementation that can be used.

While our prototype has not been deployed in the field or ground use, we expect to utilise our solution in the community forest of Banke, Dang, and Bardiya. This is due to our previous non-profit work and activites as well as goodwill and connection built in the municipality offices in the region.

Our non-profit team has quite a significant presence in the region of Dang due to our past work. We have built partnerships with multiple INGOs, NGOs, as well as Government Municipality Offices as a part of our outreach and scoping program. Some of our members represent significant youth groups in the region as well.

The initial prototype of this project was built for a slightly different project to empower the farmers from remote and rural farms to automate the entire system. Our initial protytpe video linked below emphasizes on that.

We saw a greater potential of this idea being repurposed for building Low Cost Forest Fire and Weather Station kit. The underlying core technology and working principle of LoRa and LoRaWAN remains the same and with just a few modifications of sensors and usecases the kit is developed without requiring investments or research from zero. The prototype has only been used for the in house use and has been not tested on the ground or community.

We are looking to expand the early prototype of our product for ground testing and visibility within Nepal. We are also seeking to onboard a few more members through this platform in our team to further expand the scope of our work and increase the development speed. Mentorship and guidance from the people from similar sector will also be helpful to push this project forward.

The technology and tools behind IoT and LoRaWAN has grown over the past decade in other countries, Nepal has failed to implement it in any visible scale. The divide hence left behind between the issue of community and technological innovation and its implementation seems to be ever widening. The underlying technology has multitudes of implementation and not just limited to Forest Fires detection or Weather Station. It has propsects of automating large scale remote and rural farms as well. The scalability and implementation are endless.

There are two aspects to our innovation:

Short Term: 

1. Building a robust system for Data Collection, Analyzing sensor values, and developing a quick alert system.
2. Capacity building and training of Community Forest Members to utilise the forest fire detection system and monitor it remotely without significant involvement through physical travel or presence.

Long Term:

1. Reducing and minimizing the forest fire incidents in the longterm.

2. Quick response team and action to resolve the forest fire early on to minimise the damage and destruction caused by the forest fire incidents.

3. Utilising data and pattern to predict the probability of forest fires.

Our long term impact goal is to reduce forest fire incidences. Calibrating and building a final product which is accurate and precise to withstand the weather and effects of nature to be durable and rugged. The data and values generated through the platform should help the prediction and pattern recognition of forest fire in the region.

The core technology behind our solution is LoRa and LoRaWAN, IoT (Internet of Things), and online monitoring portal. The data and information sent from individual kits are recorded and used for monitoring purpose using the online webportal which can also be used via a mobile app. It can also be used to track weather related data and information.

1 year

The most sustainable business practice for our innovative solution is through building partnerships with iNGOs, governments, and Philanthropic efforts. Community Forests and the User Groups are already limited by the access of resources and infrastructures. Wider and large scale implementation may still not be feasible for these groups on their own. This can be done through collaborative efforts and strategic partnership between private and public sector.

The revenue model for this product can be through licensing the data and information collected in the long term. Access to weather station data can also be monetised. Another aspect is through lease and renting through the subscription system of the final product and devices. Giving academic access to university students and researchers to utilise the system for their research on community forest and system is also another revenue generation aspect of this project.