Following a massive summer wildfire that scorched 3,300 hectares, drone pilots in the Cairngorms National Park are using thermal technology to track and extinguish stubborn underground hot spots. Conservationists are also programming the drones to fly repeated routes to monitor long-term environmental recovery.
It is 06:00, and Pete Short is walking the hillsides of the Cairngorms National Park for a dawn patrol, according to reporting by Bbc. Short has spent nearly three months scanning the landscape after a massive wildfire tore through the region in July. While the visible flames that once swept across the hills have vanished, a hidden hazard persists beneath the soil.
Hunting Hidden Hot Spots Beneath the Cairngorms
The wildfire burned across approximately 3,300 hectares, or 33 square kilometers, of land, according to data from the Cairngorms National Park Authority. At the height of the emergency, five experienced drone pilots were brought together to supply aerial information to the agencies fighting the blaze. Pete Short described the operation as one of the most challenging environments he has ever flown in, citing multiple walls of flame,
ground personnel, moving vehicles, and helicopters operating overhead.
Today, the danger is no longer the dramatic wall of flame, but invisible heat lingering underground. During a patrol, scraping away a thin layer of earth reveals rising smoke. It’s really now cooking away,
Short said, adding, Without the thermal technology we would be totally blind to this.
Each detected hot spot is reported to the land manager, guiding ground teams to precise locations where they can extinguish the remaining fire before it spreads.
Tracking Ecological Recovery and Future Prevention
Although the forest floor remains heavily charred and carries the acrid smell of fire, signs of life are breaking through. Green shoots, fungi, and a small yellow flower are emerging from the blackened soil. Dr. Sarah Henshall, head of conservation at the Cairngorms National Park Authority, notes that it is still too early to determine the full ecological impact.
Some of that will be incredibly quick, some of it will take years, decades, or even beyond our lifetime. It will recover, but we just don’t know what that’s going to look like yet.
Dr. Sarah Henshall, head of conservation at the Cairngorms National Park Authority
To document this transition, the drones used during the fire-fighting efforts have been assigned a new task. Short programs the aircraft to fly identical routes over the damaged landscape using predetermined waypoints. Capturing photographs and video from the exact same positions month after month and year after year allows conservationists to compile a visual record of recovery.
This standard drone route will have exactly the same route flown month by month, year by year and visually it’s going to give us some amazing information about how it’s recovering.
Dr. Sarah Henshall, head of conservation at the Cairngorms National Park Authority
Beyond tracking recovery, there could be another role for the tech: spotting future fires before they have a chance to spread. Short believes getting a view above the tree canopy quickly could prove critical, stating, It’s those moments before a wildfire gets out of control that could be critical to stopping it before it gets out of hand.
