From more intense wildfires to prolonged droughts, climate change is impacting the ecology of the American West. And unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones, may help scientists better understand the impact of wildfires on our environment.
Adam Watts of the Desert Research Institute in Nevada is using drones to study the behavior of wildfires. Initial tests have been conducted over prescribed burns under controlled conditions. This has demonstrated the feasibility of using drones, but Watts is looking for more real-world fire situations.
"We want some really big fires that are kind of like simulated wildfires," Watts says. "We don’t want a little tiny prescribed burn, because if we study those prescribed burns, we don’t get the kind of fire behavior and smoke movement that we see in wildfires. And that’s what we’re after the understanding of."