Dryad Networks deploys EchoStar Mobile satellite IoT for fire prevention monitoring
EchoStar Mobile Limited, an EchoStar company, announced that Dryad Networks has made an initial purchase of 3,000 EM2050 LoRaWAN modules and related connectivity services. The modules, powered by Semtech‘s ultra-low power LR1120 device, will provide embedded LoRaWAN satellite IoT capabilities for the Dryad Silvanet gateways.
Dryad’s Silvanet Suite of end-to-end wildfire detection technology is already deployed in 25 countries by a number of public and private sector organisations.
Based in Germany, Dryad provides ultra-early detection of wildfires as well as health and growth-monitoring of forests through the Silvanet solution – solar-powered gas sensors deployed in a large-scale LoRaWAN mesh network. Dryad aims to reduce unwanted wildfires, which cause up to 20% of global CO2 emissions and have a devastating impact on biodiversity. By 2030, Dryad aims to prevent 3.9 million hectares of forest from burning, preventing 1.7 billion tons of CO2 emissions.
“Each year, wildfires are responsible for 20% of global CO2 emissions and cause $140 billion of financial damages,” Carsten Brinkschulte, a CEO and co-founder of Dryad Networks, said in a media statement. “Dryad Networks is committed to protecting public and private forests with fire detection and monitoring solutions and the EM2050 module from EchoStar Mobile gives us the features we need to enable large-scale deployments in areas with poor or non-existent terrestrial network coverage.”
Brinkschulte added that the EM2050 module made sense because of its compliance to LoRaWAN standards, the world’s largest IoT ecosystem. “The EM2050’s latest features, such as Semtech’s Long Range – Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (LR-FHSS) technology coupled with EchoStar Mobile’s powerful satellite IoT communications infrastructure will provide excellent support for Dryad’s Silvanet wireless distributed architecture network.”
Prior to working with EchoStar Mobile, Dryad relied primarily on terrestrial connectivity with limited support for satellite communications. Integrating the real-time communications and dual mode connectivity of the EM2050 module into the upcoming third generation of Sylvanet gateways will make it possible for Dryad to make full-featured use of satellite links, including support for bi-directional communications, device configuration and Firmware Update Over The Air (FUOTA), enabling deployments independently of terrestrial network coverage.
“We are thrilled to power the Silvanet product line with the EM2050 LoRaWAN compatible module,” said Telemaco Melia, a vice president and general manager of EchoStar Mobile. “Satellite connectivity is necessary to assure reliable and cost-effective 100% coverage. And the EM2050 module supports multicast and FUOTA, optimising operations and keeping the Silvanet devices up to date.”
“We believe that satellite IoT holds immense potential in delivering significant benefits across various applications, in particular, those targeting environmental protection like Dryad’s Silvanet Suite,” said Carlo Tinella, senior product marketing manager at Semtech. “By providing affordable wireless connectivity in remote areas beyond the reach of terrestrial networks, it is possible to expand the digitalisation process into vast natural assets, contributing to our planet’s sustainable development goals.”
Tinella added that Semtech is “enthusiastic about the outcome of this collaboration with EchoStar Mobile and believe the enablement of satellite technology for IoT leveraging LoRa and LR-FHSS is just the beginning of a groundbreaking and transformative journey.”