The project FOGO (FIRE, Early detection of forest fires by analysis of retroreflected laser radiation - lidar), supported by the Program POSI/Measure 1.3, was aimed at the lidar instrumentation specially designed for forest-fire detection, operating with the eye-safe laser radiation and relying on neural-network and fuzzy logic algorithms for automatic alarming and rejection of spurious signals.

The project included tasks of modelling and design, field tests, development of algorithms for rapid lidar-signal inversion, construction and training of neural networks as well as development and testing of a laboratory prototype of the smoke detector.

Several field tests of the lidar instrument were carried out in order to optimise the detector and software operation. Training sets were recorded and the artificial-intelligence algorithms maximising the detection efficiency and minimising the false alarm rate were introduced into the command unit software. The results obtained were widely disseminated through technical and scientific publications and participation in national and international exhibitions.


The lidar technology of forest-fire detection is patented by INOV.