Providing satellite-based early warnings of fires to reduce fire flashovers on South Africa’s transmission lines

Abstract

The Advanced Fire Information System (AFIS) is the first near real time operational satellite-based fire monitoring system of its kind in Africa. The main aim of AFIS is to provide information regarding the prediction, detection and assessment of fires using detections made by satellite sensors. The main funding for the development and implementation of AFIS came from South Africa’s biggest power company – Eskom. Wild land fires underneath power lines can cause flashovers which severely affect industries electricity supply. Eskom and the CSIR commenced research to investigate the affectivity of the MODIS and MSG satellite sensors to detect fires that could cause flashovers on the 28 000 km of transmission lines of South Africa. During the 2004 fire season, Eskom began using the fire information in the form of SMS text messages that were distributed to line managers as soon as fire was detected close to any transmission line. This information enabled managers to reduce fire flashovers due to early fire detection. Lines could be shut down or fires extinguished before it caused flashovers to occur. The comparisons between fires detected and flashovers recorded showed some very interesting results that confirmed AFIS as a valuable management tool for Eskom