new early-warning system using drones and artificial intelligence will be developed to detect a selection of natural disasters in a project led by Manchester Metropolitan University.
Natural disasters – including earthquakes, floods and fires – not only pose a threat to human life and safety, but also threaten global economies and the climate.
Around 1.7 billion people have been affected by a natural disaster over the past decade, resulting in more than 400,000 deaths, according to a recent report published by the British Red Cross.
As most natural disasters occur suddenly, early-warning systems (EWSs) are designed to predict or detect them, helping responders to act quickly and minimise the impact.
However, for events such as flash flooding, wildfires and frost damage – which are not always considered to be as major as disasters like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes – such systems aren’t as readily available.
This is despite these weather events causing significant impacts to public safety, the economy and the climate – with flooding affecting more people globally than any other natural disaster.
But a new project, funded by NATO’s Emerging Security Challenges Division, aims to change this, focusing on developing a system that can predict this set of extreme-weather events.
Dr Khaled Rabie, Reader in the Department of Engineering at Manchester Met and the academic lead for the project, said: “Flash flooding, wildfires and frost damage are natural disasters, which can often be overlooked for more catastrophic events. However, they cause immeasurable amounts of damage.
“Here in the UK, flooding is the most common natural disaster we encounter, but we have also been confronted with wildfires and land damage from frost.
“And as the world continues to warm as a result of climate change, these extreme weather events will only become more common, which is why it is vital we have systems in place that can help us detect these events and be more prepared.”
