Distance-Based Analysis of Early Fire Indicators on a New Indoor Laboratory Dataset with Distributed Multi-Sensor Nodes

Abstract

This work analyzes a new indoor laboratory dataset looking at early fire indicators in controlled and realistic experiments representing different incipient fire scenarios. The experiments were performed within the constraints of an indoor laboratory setting using multiple distributed sensor nodes in different room positions. Each sensor node collected data of particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen (H2), ultraviolet radiation (UV), air temperature, and humidity in terms of a multivariate time series. These data hold immense value for researchers within the machine learning and data science communities who are keen to explore innovative and advanced statistical and machine learning techniques. They serve as a valuable resource for the development of early fire detection systems. The analysis of the collected data was carried out depending on the Manhattan distance between the fire source and the sensor node. We found that especially larger particles (>0.5 μm) and VOCs show a significant dependency with respect to the intensity as a function of the Manhattan distance to the source. Moreover, we observed differences in the propagation behavior of VOCs, PM, and CO, which are particularly relevant in incipient fire scenarios due to the presence of strand propagation effects.