Wildfire Management Supported by UAV Based Air Reconnaissance: Experiments and Results at the Szendro Fire Department, Hungary

Szendro Fire Department has recently carried out several real fire experiments using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for fire monitoring. The first experiment took place in August 2004, and the most comprehensive one occurred in September 2005. The aims of the first experiment were to demonstrate the tactical efficiency of using UAVs and to test control, data transmission and capacity. The objectives of the subsequent experiments were to analyse the effect of changing parameters, to predict spread of fires and to test the infrared camera system. This experiment was also a demonstration of using UAVs for fighting against wildfire to end-users. The test flights continue in the spring of 2006 too. From 14 th August 2006 as operational UAV will be in service at the Szendro Fire Department, supporting fighting against wildfires. As we know it will be 1 st of the World!