A team of engineers and scientists at the University of Minnesota deployed a custom-built drone swarm during a prescribed burn at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in East Bethel, Minnesota, reports Tech Xplore. Their objective is to collect real-time 3D data on smoke plumes and ember transport during a fire, with the aim of improving understanding of how wildfires spread under changing conditions. The swarm consisted of five drones flying at different altitudes around smoke columns, autonomously gathering particle data and transmitting it to ground computers for analysis.
The drones weigh about 11 lbs each and fly roughly 25 minutes per mission in current tests; battery life in cold or smoke-dense conditions remains a limitation. According to lead researcher Nikil Krishnakumar, the system is fully autonomous: the human operator only launches the mission; thereafter, the swarm coordinates its movements and data collection.
By mapping smoke particle morphology and vertical/horizontal dispersion, the research team hopes to fill gaps left by traditional lab-based fire studies. Professor Jiarong Hong points out that these field-scale experiments reflect real-world complexity that lab setups cannot replicate. In parallel, the drone technology could assist with prescribed‐burn management and fire-spread prediction models, important when wildfires are becoming larger and more frequent due to climate change.
Still, the system is early stage. Challenges remain in extending endurance, improving robust sensors in extreme conditions, and scaling operations for large wildfire events. Yet as fire seasons intensify, such autonomous drone systems may become a crucial tool in both research and emergency response.