News on the project

On October 19th, the Centre for Remote Sensing of the Federal University of Minas Gerais will hold live on YouTube 9:30 am the Launch Ceremony of the Fire Spreading Model Platform for the Cerrado Biome. The event will present the results of the work developed by the laboratory over the last five years within the Forest Invest Program – Forest Fire Prevention Systems and Monitoring of Vegetal Coverage in the Brazilian Cerrado.

During these years, CSR developed an innovative platform that provides online and free of charge information on the risk of fire propagation three times a day, plus a series of data and maps capable of assisting in prevention, management and combat of forest fires. In addition, always paying attention to the needs of the Conservation Unit’s managers, employees and firefighters, the laboratory also developed an offline tool to predict the fire spread to be used in the field in integrated fire management activities.

The event will be divided in three parts. The opening session, under the command of Professor Britaldo Soares Filho, will start at 9:30 am and continue until 10:00 am with the presence of the General Coordinator of Biomes of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Luiz Henrique Mourão do Canto Pereira, the Senior Environmental Specialist at the World Bank, Bernadete Lange, the Director of the Institute of Geosciences, Professor Vilma Lúcia Macagnan Carvalho and the Deputy Pro-Rector of Research at UFMG, Professor André Massensini.

In sequence, from 10 am to 12 pm, the researchers Luiz Aragão (INPE), Mercedes Bustamante (UnB) and Christian Berlinck (ICMBIO) will lecture on different topics, such as research for the sustainable use of the Cerrado, contributions of modeling to prevent and fight fires and more. At the end of this session, Professor Britaldo will make a brief presentation with a video produced by the CSR team.

In the afternoon, at 2 pm, the CSR researcher and one of the creators of the model, Ubirajara Oliveira, will give a training on the Fire Spreading Model Platform for the Cerrado Biome and its latest updates.

Interested people can apply through the link https://forms.gle/tEf7A76KAbKaN7eJ9.

On August 9th, 2021, researcher Ubirajara Oliveira, from CSR-UFMG, participated in a meeting with representatives of the Directorate of Real Estate and Environment of the Brazilian Army (DPIMA/EB) in which he presented results of the FIP- Cerrado Monitoring Project.

The meeting was requested by DPIMA and was attended by Gen Div Paulo Alípio Branco Valença, director of the agency, Col Helder Barros Guimarães, head of the Environment Section, Col R1 Paulo Silas Gomes Moreira, special advisor of the Environment Section, and Cap QEM Cart Bruno Silva Araújo, head of the Geoinformation Subsection. In addition to those already mentioned, researchers Raoni Rajão, coordinator of the Environmental Services Management Laboratory at UFMG, and Laercio Namkawua, from INPE, also presented the results of their ongoing research.

On the occasion, Gen Div Paulo Alípio Branco Valença showed interest in collaborate with INPE and UFMG to support the Brazilian Army in monitoring the training camps, focusing on the risks of invasion and fire. Researcher Ubirajara demonstrated the applicability of the Fire Spreading Model for the Cerrado Biome in preventing fires within these areas and other Military Areas within the biome.

The meeting had a positive conclusion with the possibility of establishing a Cooperation Agreement involving the Brazilian Army, UFMG, INPE and other institutions.

On July 21st, 2021, at 2 pm, the Centre for Remote Sensing of UFMG promoted the Training on the Offline Fire Spreading Model for the Brazilian Cerrado.

Designed for employees, managers of ICMBIO’s Conservation Units and firefighters, the event had 200 subscribers and was broadcasted at YouTube.

A faster and simpler version of the platform created to assist in planning the prevention and combat of forest fires in the CUs was presented on the occasion.

Check out the recording of the training below:

On July 20th, 2021, the Centre for Remote Sensing (CSR) of UFMG promoted training on the Fire Spreading Model for the Cerrado Biome aimed at media professionals.

At the event, researcher Ubirajara Oliveira presented the model’s online tool with a focus on its use in journalistic investigation, as the platform offers information that can be useful in the journalistic routine.

The event had 51 subscribers and was broadcasted via Zoom.

Check out the recording below: