Fire Detection by Microwave Radiometric Sensors: Modeling a Scenario in the Presence of Obstacles

This paper deals with the problem of fire detection in the presence of obstacles that are nontransparent to visible or infrared wavelengths. Exploiting the obstacle penetration capability of microwaves, a solution based on passive microwave radiometry has been proposed. To investigate such a solution, a theoretical model of the scene sensed by a microwave radiometer is developed, accounting for the presence of both fire spot and wall-like obstacles. By reversing the model's equations, it is possible to directly relate the obstacle emissivity, reflectivity, and transmissivity to the antenna noise temperatures measured in several conditions. These temperatures have been sensed with a portable low-cost instrument. The selected 12.65-GHz operation frequency features good wall penetration capability to be balanced with a reasonable antenna size. In order to verify the aforementioned model, several fire experiments have been carried out, resulting in an overall good agreement between measurements and developed theory. In particular, a 2-cm-thick plasterboard wall, typically used for indoor building construction, shows a transmissivity equal to 0.86 and can easily be penetrated by a microwave radiometer in the X-band.