Western States Fire Mission: A customers prospective

1
Western States Fire MissionA customers
prospective

• Thomas Zajkowski, Everett Hinkley
• USDA Forest Service, Remote Sensing Applications
  Center
• Salt Lake City, Utah

Civilian Applications of Unmanned Aircraft
Systems (CAUAS) Boulder, CO October 1, 2007
2
Background

• forest fire detection is not a simple thermal
  mapping job. To be effective, this system must
  find the fire targets when they are very small
  and distributed over vast land areas. The fire
  targets must be precisely located to be of any
  use to fire suppression forces.
• Airborne Infrared Forest Fire Detection System
  Final Report, 1971.

3
Background

• What remote sensing provides wildland fire
  mapping
• Fire perimeter and active fire fronts
• Problem areas hot spots outside line
• Where the fire has been
• Lines of containment
• Effectiveness of backfire operations
• Hot-spots during the mop-up phase
• Post-fire burn severity

4
USFS UAV Strategy

• 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.

5
Wildfire Research and Applications Partnership
(WRAP)
2003 2007 (5 Year Effort) Funded By NASA
Sun-Earth Systems Directorate, Applied Sciences
Program
Collaborators
NASA-Ames Research Center (ARC) Ecosystems
Science and Technology Branch Airborne Sensor
Facility Computational Sciences
Division Intelligent Systems Division (Aero
Projects and Programs) USDA Forest
Service Remote Sensing Applications Center
(RSAC) National Interagency Fire Center
(NIFC) UAV Applications Center NASA Research
Park
6
Partnering to Enhance Technologies

• Objective
• Provide mechanism for defining requirements for
  improving wildfire imaging
• R D of those required technologies
• Demonstration and validation of those
  technologies
• Technology transfer and training.
• To
• Increase information content
• Reduce information delivery time
• Simplify data integration processes.

7
What is the WRAP Western States Mission?
A demonstration of large-payload HALE UAV
(IKHANA) capabilities, coupled with
NASA-developed technologies in sensors, data
telemetry, information processing, and
intelligent mission management to acquire
pertinent scientific and disaster management data
over wildfires spread throughout the western US
during a 24-hour period.
8
Western States UAS Fire Mission

• Objectives
• Demonstrate capabilities of Ikhana to overfly
  and collect sensor data on widespread fires
  throughout Western US.
• Demonstrate long-endurance mission capabilities
  (gt20-hours).
• Image multiple fires (greater than 4 fires per
  mission), to showcase extendable mission
  configuration and ability to either linger over
  key fires or station over disparate regional
  fires.
• Demonstrate new UAV-compatible, autonomous
  sensor for improved thermal characterization of
  fires.
• Provide automated, on-board, terrain and
  geo-rectified sensor imagery over OTH satcom
  links to National fire personnel and Incident
  commanders.
• Deliver real-time imagery (within 10-minutes of
  acquisition.
• Demonstrate capabilities of OTS technologies
  (GoogleEarth) to serve and display
  mission-critical sensor data, coincident with
  other pertinent data elements to facilitate
  information processing (WX data, ground asset
  data, other satellite data, R/T video, flight
  track info, etc).

"B"
"A"
"C"
9
UAS Autonomous Modular Sensor System
Configuration WILDFIRE
Total Field of View 42.5 or 85.9 degrees
(selectable) IFOV 1.25 mrad or 2.5 mrad
(selectable) Spatial Resolution 3 50 meters
(variable)
10
ASM Image Products
Temporal
11
North
Photo Point C
12
UAV Platform Fire Imaging
COMSAT Telemetry Platform CC
Asset Tracking
Intelligent Mission Management / CDE
Wide Area Network
Tactical Fire Information DSS
Define aircraft ops
WRAP Project Webpage http//geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/W
RAP
Tactical Fire Products
Active Fire Maps http//activefiremaps.fs.fed.us T
hree times / day
GeoTiff Perimeter File
13
CDE DisplayFlight Track/Images/MODIS
14
Esperanza October 2006

• Rapid deployment.
• One of the first civilian UAS flights in the NAS
• Interfaced with Incident Command

15
2007 WSFM

• Continuation of objectives in-place from 2006
  mission.
• Missions aboard the new NASA Ikhana UAS
• Ikhana is a Native-American word from the
  Choctaw Nation meaning intelligent, conscious or
  aware.
• Missions Series
• 9 August 15 September 2007
• Mission Plan
• One LE mission / week
• 4-5 missions through summer
• Mission Durations
• 20 hours
• Flight Altitude Operations
• FL230 (23,000 feet MSL)

16
Western States Fire Mission Summation Through
September 07
17
Western States Fire Mission Progress Mission 1
Aug 16, 2007

• Flight profile throughout California (Route A)
• Mission endurance 10-hours, 1400 miles
• Collected and transmitted real-time fire data on
  four fires spread through California (Zaca, Tar,
  Colby and Yosemite Fires).
• Made repeat passes over each, fire, spending most
  time over Zaca

Flight Route
Zaca Fire
Zaca Fire
IR and TIR Channels
Visible Channels
Zaca Fire
Perimeter and Detected Hot Spots
18
Western States Fire Mission Progress Mission 2
Aug 29-30, 2007

• Flight profile through CA, NV, UT, ID, MT, WY
  (Route B)
• Mission endurance 16.5-hours 2500 miles
• Real-time ATC routing around poor weather saved
  the mission
• Collected and transmitted real-time fire data on
  eight fires spread through CA (Jackrabbit), ID
  (Trapper Ridge, Castle Rock, Granite Creek, and
  Hardscrabble), MT (WH Fire), and WY (Columbine
  Fire).
• Made repeat passes over each, spending most time
  over Castle Rock Delivered real-time data to
  Castle Rock
• Collected coincident UAV data with a MODIS
  satellite data overpass on castle Rock...major
  science accomplishment
• Collected coincident data with NIROP aircraft.

19
Castle RockAugust 30, 2007
20
Western States Fire Mission Progress Mission 3
September 7-8, 2007

• Flight profile through CA, OR, WA (Route A)
• Mission endurance 20-hours 3200 miles
• Collected and transmitted real-time fire data on
  eleven fires spread through CA (Butler, North,
  Fairmont, Grouse, Lick, Bald, Moonlight, Zaca),
  OR (GW Big Basin Fires), and WA (Domke Lake and
  South Omak Fires),
• Made repeat passes over most, (total of 18 fire
  visits) spending significant time over high
  priority fires (Lick, Moonlight, and GW)
• Delivered real-time data to Incident Command
  Teams on Lick, Moonlight and GW Fires. NASA /
  USFS teams on each to assist in data integration

21
Large UAS Issues and Rewards

• Availability
• Performance
• Manpower
• Acquisition Cost
• Flight Costs

• New and Shiny
• Information not just Intelligence
• Persistence
• Technology

22
Concluding Remarks

• NASA and the USFS will explore innovative
  solutions to improving the timeliness, content,
  and methods of gathering tactical information on
  fire activity.
• The partners are poised to ensure the delivery
  of
• The Right Information to the Right People, at
  the Right Time

23
Websites Contact Information
http//geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/WRAP http//www.uav-a
pplications.org/ http//nirops.fs.fed.us