Project description
New tools for fire investigators
The charring rate of wood is key for fire investigations. For instance, a slow burning, smouldering fire will show a graduation in the depth of charring, but a fast burning, intense fire will show severe charring on exposed surfaces. Information about the rate of charring and the depth of the char may be combined to determine the origin of the fire and the burn time. The EU-funded FORCHAR project has developed a quantitative method that measures the light reflected from charcoals to calculate the degree of charring. This new tool will be validated by real-world testing at fire scene investigations.
Objective
Fire Investigations are undertaken to determine the origin and cause of fires in housing or commercial properties, to identify whether there may be a need for criminal investigation, to provide information on financial loss and in the case of loss of life to design protocols to protect society. Charring is one of the most obvious products of fire and fire investigators have long attempted to utilise patterns of charring to determine fire origin and cause. However, these have often had to rely on qualitative descriptions of charring as there is no quantitative tool that allows them to measure the degree of charring of wood materials. My ERC StG developed a quantitative method that allows the amount of light reflected from charcoals to be measured toward estimating wildfire behaviour. In FORCHAR (forensic char) I aim to adapt this approach and develop it into an essential tool for use in the fire investigator’s forensic toolkit. Its strength is that it allows quantitative measurements of char properties to be used to interpret the origin and source of fires. The FORCHAR tool will be taken through a series of phases of validation testing to that 1) will provide proof of concept that the approach can be transferred from wildfires to fires in the built environment, 2) will allow real-world testing where FORCHAR will be utilised in real fire scene investigations via collaborations with industry partners. The aim being to develop a new tool that can be used to improving fire safety protocols toward preventing the loss of life.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2019-PoC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
EX4 4QJ Exeter
United Kingdom
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