New sensor can ‘smell’ wildfires earlier than people can see them

Rising global temperatures are also raising worldwide concerns about wildfires like the ones surrounding Los Angeles this week. While the most common way to detect forest fires are visual — often the naked eye — the concern has driven advances in technology that can detect them early. One of the systems being piloted internationally is the Silvanet Wildfire Sensor that “smells” fires when they’re just a smolder. Carsten Brinkschulte is the CEO of Dryad Networks, a German environmental technology company that created the sensor. He explained to The World’s Carol Hills how the technology works.