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NASA Responds to California Wildfire Emergency Imaging Request

Written by thomas · Filed Under Aeronautics News 

July 11, 2008

thomas

WASHINGTON, July 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A remotely piloted
aircraft carrying a NASA sensor flew over much of California earlier this
week, gathering information that will be used to help fight more than 300
wildfires burning within the state. Additional flights are planned for next
week.

The flights by NASA’s unmanned Ikhana aircraft are using a
sophisticated Autonomous Modular Scanner developed at NASA’s Ames Research
Center at Moffett Field, Calif. The flights are originating from NASA’s
Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Ikhana’s
onboard sensor can detect temperature differences from less than one-half
degree to approximately 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The scanner operates like
a digital camera with specialized filters to detect light energy at
visible, infrared and thermal wavelengths.

NASA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service have
partnered to obtain imagery of the wildfires in response to requests from
the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the California
Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and the National Interagency Fire
Center.

“NASA’s emergency imaging gives us immediate information that we can
use to manage fires, identify threats and deploy firefighting assets,”
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said. “I thank NASA for providing us
with this important firefighting tool that will help us maximize attacks on
the more than 300 active fires currently burning in California.”

The Ikhana aircraft is imaging almost 4,000 square miles from Santa
Barbara north to the Oregon border. The flights provide critical
information about the location, size and terrain around the fires to
commanders in the field in as little as 10 minutes. The first mission on
July 8 flew over 10 individual and complex fires along a route over the
Sierra Nevada Mountains, west to the Cub Complex fire and south to the Gap
Fire in Santa Barbara County.

Fire images are collected onboard Ikhana and transmitted through a
communications satellite to NASA Ames. There, the imagery is superimposed
over Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth maps to better visualize the
location and scope of the fires. The imagery is then transmitted to the
Multi-Agency Coordination Center in Redding, Calif., and the State
Operations Center in Sacramento, which distribute fire data to incident
commanders in the field.

“Because Forest Service assets are stretched thin, NASA was asked to
provide additional resources as a supplement to existing infrared fire
imaging operations,” said Jim Brass, co-principal investigator for the
Western States Fire Mission at Ames.

From a ground control center, NASA pilots are flying the aircraft in
close coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, which is
allowing flights within the national airspace while maintaining safe
separation from other aircraft. The FAA is allowing NASA unprecedented
flexibility to fly these missions in support of the California firefighting
effort.

NASA was working with the Forest Service on a demonstration mission
later this summer, but moved up the schedule in response to the widespread
fires. The system was proven during a series of wildfire imaging
demonstration missions in August and September 2007 and tested
operationally during the Southern California fires of October 2007.

“The NASA/Forest Service team gathered six weeks earlier than planned
because of the extreme fires in Northern California,” said Vincent
Ambrosia, NASA Ames’ principal investigator for the fire mission. “The team
will provide state and federal agencies with critical fire intelligence by
using NASA aircraft and technology.”

NASA’s Applied Sciences and Airborne Science programs and the Earth
Science Technology Office funded development of the fire sensor. In the
hands of operational agencies, the benefits of this NASA research and
development effort can support nationwide wildfire fighting efforts.

NASA satellites also are capturing imagery of the wildfires to fill in
gaps in airborne imagery. For a collection of the latest NASA satellite and
Ikhana images, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/fire_and_smoke.html

SOURCE NASA

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