A Resource-Efficient Decentralized Sequential Planner for Spatiotemporal Wildfire Mitigation
Josy John, Shridhar Velhal, Suresh Sundaram · IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering · 2025
This paper proposes a Conflict-aware Resource-Efficient Decentralized Sequential planner (CREDS) for early wildfire mitigation using multiple heterogeneous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Multi-UAV wildfire management scenarios are non-stationary, with spatially clustered dynamically spreading fires, potential pop-up fires, and partial observability due to limited UAV numbers and sensing range. The objective of CREDS is to detect and sequentially mitigate all growing fires as Single-UAV Tasks (SUT) while adhering to the physical constraints of UAV. CREDS minimizes biodiversity loss through rapid UAV intervention and promotes efficient resource utilization by avoiding complex multi-UAV coordination. CREDS employs a three-phased approach, beginning with fire detection using a search algorithm, followed by local trajectory generation using the auction-based Resource-Efficient Decentralized Sequential planner (REDS), incorporating the novel non-stationary cost function, the Deadline-Prioritized Mitigation Cost (DPMC). Finally, a conflict-aware consensus algorithm resolves conflicts to determine a global trajectory for spatiotemporal mitigation. The performance evaluation of the CREDS for partial and full observability conditions with both heterogeneous and homogeneous UAV teams for different fires-to-UAV ratios demonstrates a 100% success rate for ratios up to 4 and a high success rate for the critical ratio of 5, outperforming baselines. Heterogeneous UAV teams outperform homogeneous teams in handling heterogeneous deadlines of SUT mitigation. CREDS exhibits scalability and 100% convergence, demonstrating robustness against potential deadlock assignments, enhancing its success rate compared to the baseline approaches.Note to Practitioners—Practical wildfire scenarios often involve unknown clusters of rapidly evolving fires that exceed the available firefighting resources. Wildfire scenarios often involve vast areas and limited sensor capabilities of UAVs, resulting in partial information about the environment. When the number of fires exceeds the number of UAVs, decentralized sequential action becomes necessary. Early wildfire mitigation, focusing on containing fires within the quenching capability of a single UAV, is crucial for minimizing damage and efficient resource utilization by avoiding complex multi-UAV coordination. The approach of single UAV mitigation introduces physical constraints and deadlines for initiating mitigation efforts. The deadlines vary based on factors like fire area, spread rate, and quench rate. The computation of a quenching sequence with efficient prioritization of deadlines ensures mission success and reduction in the total destroyed area. The challenges involved in wildfire scenarios necessitate a three-phased framework: a search stage to locate fires using thermal sensors and cameras, a Resource-Efficient Decentralized Sequential planner to assign local trajectories (mitigation sequence) for each UAV, and a conflict resolution stage to ensure smooth operation by resolving potential conflicts between UAV trajectories. CREDS prioritizes deadlines and achieves successful missions even when fires outnumber UAVs by five times. Additionally, heterogeneous UAV teams with diverse quench and speed capabilities outperform homogeneous teams and traditional methods focused on execution time. This approach is well-suited for scenarios with spatially distributed, dynamic targets with diverse deadlines.