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Forest Service UAS Activities

Forest Service UAS Activities. Everett A. Hinkley National Remote Sensing Program Manager Arlington, Virginia UAS Mini Workshop Silver Spring, Maryland February 4, 2011. US Forest Service Aviation. Owns and operates 27 aircraft and helicopters

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Forest Service UAS Activities

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  1. Forest Service UAS Activities Everett A. Hinkley National Remote Sensing Program Manager Arlington, Virginia UAS Mini Workshop Silver Spring, Maryland February 4, 2011

  2. US Forest Service Aviation • Owns and operates 27 aircraft and helicopters • Contracts with over 800 aircraft and helicopters annually • Missions Include: • Fire surveillance • Aerial reconnaissance • Air Attack • Delivery of smoke jumpers • Firefighter and cargo transport • Aerial delivery of retardant and water • Natural resource management • Research

  3. USFS UAS Strategy Augment NOTreplace our manned aircraft Work with partners to identify niche applications that are underserved by current technology, Keep the approach simple work on doing one thing well before adding additional capabilities, Provide unified systems that are affordable.

  4. Possible Fire Applications

  5. Two Track Approach • Small Large

  6. Small UAS Economics Current Technology • Platform: Bell 206B3 or similar • Sensor: Gimbaled FLIR system – Handheld thermal imagers. • Missions flown at ≈1000 ft AGL in controlled airspace (TFR). • No Night Operations • Operating Cost ≈ $5,000 to $15,000 per day (cost to fire) • Current UAV Technology • Perform the same mission at night, • Cost comparable with the current technology • Real-time data delivery to ICP and fire line.

  7. Wildfire FTA Environment LAT/LONG ATGS ALT. PLUS 1000’ 2500 AGL 5NM RADIUS 12nm initial Contact ring TANKER ORBIT ALTITUDE PLUS 500’ 7nm NOCOM HOLDING RING TANKER PATTERN 1000’ AGL MANEUVERING ALTITUDE 500’ AGL

  8. WILDFIRE UAS - ConOps • The Forest Service intends to utilize small UAS for tactical intelligence collection on wildland fires. • UAS will be used by fireline supervisors to provide real-time photo/video and infrared imagery in tactical situations. • UAS will be used by incident commanders to provide long endurance real-time intelligence and communication for a wildland fire.

  9. Mission Objectives • Collect real-time photo/ video color/IR data and transmit to tactical decision makers. • Fireline conditions are most often mountainous, heavy vegetation and smoky low visibility situations, which make it difficult to maintain situational awareness of a fire’s location, fire hazards, terrain features and other inherent fire hazards. • Provide another level of fireline safety and ability to find and avoid hazards.

  10. Mission #1 • A fire supervisor determines the need to see over the trees, through smoke or down a canyon. • Hand launch a UAS, control the UAS from that location as well as receive data from the cameras and make tactical decisions based on the data.

  11. Mission #2 • Incident Commander orders UAS for long endurance data collection flights over remote fire area. • UAS provides communication link between IC and ground resources • UAS provides real-time day infrared video of fire behavior to IC • Color video provides fire fuels information for next operational planning cycle • UAS can fly during all other fire aviation flights including helicopter and large airtanker operations.

  12. UAS - It’s a System!

  13. Aircraft: Arcturus -T16 Specifications Catapult Launch Skid (Belly) Land 14 Hour Endurance 40 – 50 kts Cruise 15,000 MSL Ceiling

  14. Ground Control Station (GCS) Functions include: Transportation Command and Control Payload Operation Image Processing Most UAS operations can be wholly contained in within the GCS trailer.

  15. Image mosaic KMZ EO image mosaic KMZ with imbedded annotation. Including operations center location and spot fire location with latitude and longitude coordinates.

  16. Video Image Mosaic Video image mosaic of Playas NM, created by 2D3 TacitView software. Output is a KMZ file. Platform R-16 825 ft AGL 35 degrees FOV.

  17. Super Resolution Left is raw image mosaic. Right is the same mosiac with super resolution algorithm applied by TacitView.

  18. SIERRA GP-SAR • Collaboration between NASA, USFS, USGS • Payload Mirage Systems: Ground Penetrating Synthetic Aperture Radar 300-3000 MHz • Goal: collect actionable information on: topography, fuel structure, fuel moisture, and soil moisture • Mission Dates: Sept 27-30, 2010

  19. 2007-2008 Western States Fire Mission • Missions aboard the NASA Ikhana UAS: • “Ikhana” is a Native-American word from the Choctaw Nation meaning “intelligent, conscious or aware.” • Standard MQ-9 Predator B/Reaper w/o skyball • Mission Plan: • One LE mission / week • 4-5 missions through summer • Mission Durations: • ~20+ hours • Flight Altitude Operations: • FL230 (23,000 feet MSL) • Results: • 15 missions • 81 Fires • Traversed 8 western states • Over 120 operational hours in the National Airspace

  20. Hyperblimp Radio-Repeater – High Resolution Imagery

  21. Low Altitude Image

  22. Current Technology Transfer • CDE • Planning • Data Visualization • Data Link • AMS to USFS AC

  23. Sensor/Data Integration

  24. Conclusions • Integrating UAS into fire operations is complicated but not impossible • It’s part of the tool kit • It’s about the mission, if the mission is fire spotting, it’s about the sensor • Resolution: spatial, spectral, temporal • Data delivery and dissemination • How can additional remote sensing capability improve “Speed, Agility, and Focus” of the firefighters.

  25. Questions??

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