Drone system developed for early warning of natural disasters

A researcher at Queen's University Belfast has developed a low-cost drone system to give signals and an early warning from natural disasters.

The drone shall work as a WiFi hotspot, despite disrupted phone signal even during extreme weather conditions like earthquakes, tsunamis or hurricanes.

The Catastrophe-Tolerant Telecommunications Network uses drones to fly over large areas, taking real-time measurements and providing information on weather conditions.

It also aims to provide seamless connectivity in a crisis situation if networks are destroyed or compromised.

While amateur drones can last for around 30 minutes when flying over a large area, the system lasts up to five times longer but is not as expensive as professional drones.

Dr Trung Duong, who developed the system, said, "Currently warning systems for natural disasters are very expensive, not always effective and are often easily damaged.

"In Vietnam, monitoring stations are placed alongside the river, which cover a small area. Twenty-five of these stations would take around six months to build and cost nearly £500,000. They only last four years but if extreme weather strikes, they are almost always damaged as they are so close to the water. An added complication is that when a natural disaster hits, people in the affected communities find it very difficult to communicate with emergency services and their families as phone signal and WiFi is often disrupted due to the weather and also because so many people are using the system at one time."

The research was supported by the Newtown Fund under the Newton Institutional Link programme with Nong Lam University and Newton Prize with Duy Tan University.

Dr Le Quang Tuan of Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said the research will have a "very positive impact for the people of Vietnam when they face difficult and extreme weather".

It has already been adopted by disaster management authorities in Vietnam.