Thursday, May 12, 2022: At first glance, the parking lot by the ‘Scroll of Fire’ Holocaust memorial would seem an odd choice for launching a revolutionary wildfire detection system, but in fact, the site commands a 360° panoramic view from one of the highest points of the Jerusalem Hills. It’s impossible to miss the swathes of blackened trees clinging forlornly to the neighboring slopes, casualties of the devastating megafire that raged through here last summer (August 2021). The Scroll of Fire, the burnt woodlands; both are silent testimonials to stories of destruction to which we say, “Never Again”.
The ‘Tinshemet’, a tethered camera drone powered by 4 motors and capable of hovering up to 100 meters above ground. Photo: Yoni Sheffer, KKL-JNF
As far as Haim Teperberg,head of KKL-JNF’s supervision unit, is concerned, the innovative Tinshemet-Toren fire detection system, maximized to its full potential, can make ‘never again for destructive wildfires’ a real possibility.
Teperberg and Rami Zarizky, head of KKL-JNF’s firefighting unit, were here to demonstrate the Tinshemet-Toren system to the 50 or so members of the KKL-JNF Resource Development and External Affairs Division, who had come especially from Jerusalem to learn about it first-hand. Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) in Israel employs a 1000-strong staff of professionals across the country that work every day to implement the organization’s wide-ranging fields of activity, in forestry, tourism, community relations, birding, education, fundraising, marketing, and more. Meetups between different divisions and departments on their ‘home turf’ to witness what they’re doing on the ground are an important way for KKL-JNF staff to keep abreast of the latest developments in the field and remain focused on the big picture: a better, greener Israel for everybody, now and always.
The mighty tinshemet, operating from the back of a pick-up truck. Photo: Yoni Shefer, KKL-JNF
The sun was already high overhead when Teperberg and Zarizky gathered the Jerusalem staff around a pair of dusty 4x4 pickup trucks; one parked next to a tall camera-mounted mast and the other equipped with an enormous-looking drone. The simple-looking setup belies the real beauty of the system; namely its ability to be deployed in any given area according to need.
What is the Tinshemet-Toren system and how does it work?
Zaritzky explained to the staffers that what they were looking at were in fact two different monitoring systems, each operating from a different truck: The ‘Toren’ system – a 10-meter-high mast bearing a powerful 50kg camera (tor’en means mast in Hebrew); and the ‘Tinshemet’ system – a tethered camera drone capable of hovering up to 100 meters above ground (hence the name tinshemet, meaning barn owl).
The tinshemet operates out of a 4x4 pickup truck, allowing its deployment on any terrain. Photo: Yoni Sheffer, KKL-JNF
The Tinshemet and Toren systems work together to detect any irregular heat or movement and determine its exact location. This information is sent back to the control center – in this case a simple canvas tent lined with screens displaying the information from the two cameras in real time. The system can then prompt an action, such as dispatching a drone to the incident to get more information, alerting an on-duty ranger, and more.
Explanations are all very well and good, but now it was time for a live demonstration. The group crowded into the gazebo to watch the control system in action.
A live demonstration
Rami Zaritzky picked up his phone and dialed a colleague out in the field. “Are you ready?” he asked. Turning to the group, he explained that in the next few minutes, his colleague would light a controlled fire on Mount Yaela, located 5km away from here. “Now watch what comes up on the screens”, he said.
Data and footage from the tinshemet, displayed on screen in real-time. Photo: Yoni Sheffer, KKL-JNF
Sure enough, almost immediately, the screen to the left showed a detailed live video of the fire and its surrounds – ‘this is what the tinshemet camera and interceptor see’, Zaritzky explained. The screen to the right showed a grey image, with a black dot indicating the fire, which, Zaretzky said, came from the system’s thermal imaging camera. ‘This is what the camera on the mast next to us sees’, he said.
The Toren system; a powerful 50kg camera atop a 10-meter mast. Photo: Yoni Sheffer, KKL-JNF
Teperberg went on to explain that both the tinshemet and toren cameras have thermal imaging capability that can instantly detect anything hotter than the temperature of the surrounding environment, including, he said, the lighting of a cigarette tens of kilometers away. This is especially crucial at night, when the brightness of the light/heat makes identifying additional environmental factors difficult.
Fire detection and beyond
Three years into its operation, the Tinshemet-Toren system has proven invaluable to KKL-JNF’s firefighting brigade. The megafire in the Judean hills, for example, started as a series of smaller fires that eventually merged into a blazing inferno that consumed 3,700 acres of woodland and open space. But wherever the Tinshemet-Tor’en system was deployed, the fires were detected earlier, and KKL-JNF’s firefighting team was able to extinguish the blazes when they were still small.
Birds eye view from the tinshemet, displayed on screen. Photo: Yoni Sheffer, KKL-JNF
The system has important uses beyond fire detection as well. Teperberg explained that the high resolution thermal and visual cameras have been effective in detecting illegal activity, such as the dumping of building waste, or vandalism, in the areas under KKL-JNF’s purview.
Thermal imaging picked up from the Toren camera. Photo: Yoni Sheffer, KKL-JNF
And that’s not all. New capabilities addressing a wide range of issues are being added all the time. Examples include a drone-mounted LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system that uses lasers to create a 3D image of a site; and a hyperspectral camera, which among other things, can measure moisture in soil for the purpose of routing irrigation, and identify the chemical composition of an illegal waste dump. Soon, an agricultural drone capable of seeding and spraying will also enter the system.
For KKL-JNF, this is just the beginning. Currently there are 2 tinshemet-tor’en systems in operation, and the goal is to expand the system to cover more territory. This entails not just adding more systems but also developing their capability. The next phase of development of the Tor’en system, for example, will be the extension of the mast from its current 10 meters to 30, to assist in forest observation.
Thermal imaging picked up from the Toren camera. Photo: Yoni Sheffer, KKL-JNF
The entire system is manufactured in Israel, at the SKYSAPIENCE plant in Yokneam. KKL-JNF leases the systems from SkySapience, which provides experienced professionals that know how to utilize the system's capabilities (such as UAV operators or observers who can decipher various types of maps).
“No system of this type (of detection, interception and control) exists in any unit, neither in the army nor the police. We assist them whenever necessary,” said Teperberg proudly. It has also attracted the attention of other organizations, such as the Israel National Parks Authority, the Green Police, the National Planning and Building Council.
“The interaction between all factors is the advantage of the system”, Teperberg said in conclusion. “In fact, it integrates quickly and efficiently all systems that speak the same language.”