Unmanned craft maps hotspots for firefighters

http://www.avpress.com/n/12/1112_s5.hts ^ | Sunday, November 12, 2006. | ALLISON GATLIN

[BenLurkin]

High-tech infrared sensors mounted on an unmanned aircraft were used to aid firefighters against the recent Esperanza fire in Riverside County. The project was the first practical application of a program by NASA's Dryden Flight Research and Ames Research Center, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and the U.S. Forest Service to utilize unmanned aircraft in mapping and battling wildfires.

The aircraft, dubbed Altair, is a high-altitude version of General Atomics' Predator B aircraft and designed specifically for scientific missions. It is equipped with an infrared sensor, developed at NASA Ames Research Center in northern California, used to identify hotspots and map the direction and intensity of the wildfire.

The information collected is superimposed over a digital map that includes landmarks such as roads and buildings, "so that the information is useful to the fire captain so he can know where hot spots are to manage his resources," said Robert Navarro, Altair project manager at Dryden.

Due to its long-duration capabilities, the aircraft may be used to track the fire overnight when other aircraft and imaging resources are unavailable, according to General Atomics.

"What the Predator B derivative Altair has accomplished during this first official response to a natural disaster has the potential to refine the future direction of fire mapping for wildfire management agencies across the nation," said Thomas J. Cassidy Jr., president of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, in a written statement.

The call to aid in fighting the Esperanza fire - which was started by arson on Oct. 26 - came from the governor's office of emergency operations on Oct. 27, just days after the team had completed a series of test flights over Yosemite.

Because unmanned aircraft cannot operate freely in the national airspace, an expedited authorization was required from the Federal Aviation Administration.

[gaijin]

I believe that on our southern border only one or two Predator B's are operating.

Hundreds operate in the Middle-East.

[XBob]

thanks - good post