Forestwatch® groundbreaking software was developed by Dr. Gavin Hough over a period of nearly 10 years. Using motion algorithms it compares live images from remote cameras with images from previous rotations to automatically determine the presence of smoke. ForestWatch® will automatically create an alarm if smoke is detected, alerting the control room operator and any other operator connected to the web application.

> Up to 8 cameras can be connected to a single ForestWatch® processor. Each camera can monitor smoke alarms and identify smoke locations up to 40km away, depending on weather conditions and surface morphology.
> Integrated weather system flags up high temperatures and dry conditions, i.e. days when the wildfire risk is at its highest.
>The software has a learning mode to identify regular and “non-threatening” smoke and light features within the camera’s view, and each camera can also be manually controlled from the control centre.

> Digital elevation data is integrated with other spatial data to identify smoke coordinates from a single camera.
> ForestWatch® records all data associated with an incident. Date and time stamped images give a permanent record of the event in case of litigation. In addition this archived footage is an invaluable tool for both operators and fire authorities for learning about the causes of forest fires and using this information to develop prevention and fire-fighting strategies.
> The ForestWatch® System also gives a fire control officer the ability to monitor the development of a forest fire incident in real time. This “dynamic firefighting” dramatically enhances the speed and efficiency of both controlling and putting out a fire.
> Post-sales technical support guarantees service and maintenance across the world.

DESKTOP COMPUTER

A high-end off the shelf desktop PC equipped with a network card and Windows operating system is used. Image processing is computationally intensive so fast processors and lots of RAM memory is recommended. While ForestWatch® software can be tailored to clients’ requirements, our recommended specification is:
> Processor Type: AMD or Intel Processor, Core 2 Duo, 1.8GHz or above.
> Ram: 2GB DDR2 -800
> Hard disk: 300 GB (7200rpm, 16 MB Cache, SATA 2)
> Graphics card: nVidia card/s with 4 outputs (1x quadro or 2x dual)
> External Monitor: 4 x Min 17inch
> UPS: 3000 VA
> Switching Hub: 10 port gigabit
> Operating System: Windows XP Pro English/2000 NT (MS Vista version currently in development).