美国国家公共电台 NPR Drones That Launch Flaming Balls Are Being Tested To Help Fight Wildfires

Drones That Launch Flaming Balls Are Being Tested To Help Fight Wildfires

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep with yet another use for drones. You already know they're used for surveillance and taking video. Now researchers want to use them to fight fires. Here's Ariana Brocious of NET News in Nebraska.

ARIANA BROCIOUS, BYLINE¹: It's a warm, sunny morning at the Homestead National Monument of America in southeastern Nebraska. A burn crew dressed in yellow and green flame-resistant clothing is about to set a patch of tallgrass prairie on fire on purpose.

UNIDENTIFIED FIREFIGHTER: Alright, yep. And once he...

BROCIOUS: These kinds of burns aren't unusual, but today's is because a team from the University of Nebraska is testing a fire-starting drone. First, firefighters light the edge of the prairie using big gas cans called drip torches. As the waist-high flames start to turn the grass black, computer science professor Sebastian Elbaum gets the drone ready to launch.

SEBASTIAN ELBAUM: Once they build this horseshoe shape of black area, then we're going to have our drones fly across this field and drop some of these balls that will ignite into a flame.

BROCIOUS: The drone is about the size of a kid's helmet, with horizontal propellers² on all sides. A clear tube extends from the top, into which Elbaum is loading pink and white Ping-Pong balls. Then, standing³ on the side of the field, the team sends the drone up and over the flames into the unburned area. Once it's airborne, the team directs the drone to inject the balls with glycol just before dropping them one by one to the ground. The glycol mixes with a powder, igniting into flames and burning the grass. Casey McCoy with the Nebraska Forest Service says even small, controlled fires like this one can quickly turn deadly.

CASEY MCCOY: We've had a fairly challenging track record here in Nebraska. In the last five or six years, we've had a number of fatalities⁴ associated with prescribed fires.

BROCIOUS: Federal land agencies fight massive wildfires every year. They use fire as a tool to help keep active wildfires from spreading. Often, they light those fires from the air, dropping those same Ping-Pong balls from helicopters. Brad Koeckeritz says those flights can be risky⁵. He heads the Unmanned Aircraft Systems division at the U.S. Department of Interior.

BRAD KOECKERITZ: The nature of the mission is very dangerous because the helicopter's very low speed, very close to the ground. And if anything goes wrong, there's very limited options for the pilot to put the aircraft down safely.

BROCIOUS: In fact, 41 wildland firefighters died in airplane or helicopter crashes in the last decade. Koeckeritz says aerial firefighting is both dangerous and expensive.

KOECKERITZ: Anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 a day to have the aircraft on site - and then for each hour you fly it, you're somewhere around that $2,000 to $3,000 mark.

BROCIOUS: Federal agencies are already using drones for video mapping and reconnaissance. But Koeckeritz says employing them like this could eventually be a cheaper way to start fires and keep firefighters safer.

As the smoke clears from the now-charred prairie, Sebastian Elbaum surveys the site and says his team will use what they learned here today to make this technology even better. There are questions about how the drone might work under certain circumstances or the skills needed to fly it. Elbaum says they eventually want it to become just another piece of the firefighting toolkit.

ELBAUM: Today, the firefighters have, you know, maybe a shovel⁶, gloves, their helmets. But you can imagine them having this on their backpack, pulling it out when they get to the field and telling the vehicle, hey, go scout⁷ out there. Check whether it's hot. Check whether it's safe. Start an ignition over there.

BROCIOUS: A high-tech⁸ drone like that would not only be able to help control fires but could also save lives. For NPR News, I'm Ariana Brocious.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 propellers   

n.螺旋桨，推进器( propeller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The water was thrashing and churning about under the propellers. 水在螺旋桨下面打旋、翻滚。 来自辞典例句
• The ship's propellers churned the waves to foam. 轮船的推进器将海浪搅出泡沫。 来自辞典例句

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

6 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

7 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

8 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。