Evaluation and use of remotely piloted aircraft systems for operations and research – RxCADRE 2012

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Zajkowski ◽  
Matthew B. Dickinson ◽  
J. Kevin Hiers ◽  
William Holley ◽  
Brett W. Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Incident Management ◽  
Incident Command ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Us Air Force ◽  
Remotely Piloted Aircraft

Small remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), also known as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), are expected to provide important contributions to wildland fire operations and research, but their evaluation and use have been limited. Our objectives were to leverage US Air Force-controlled airspace to (1) deploy RPAS in support of the 2012 Prescribed Fire Combustion and Atmospheric Dynamics Research (RxCADRE) project campaign objectives, including fire progression at multiple scales and (2) assess tactical deployment of multiple RPAS with manned flights in support of incident management. We report here on planning for the missions, including the logistics of integrating RPAS into a complex operations environment, specifications of the aircraft and their measurements, execution of the missions and considerations for future missions. Deployments of RPAS ranged both in time aloft and in size, from the Aeryon Scout quadcopter to the fixed-wing G2R and ScanEagle UAS. Real-time video feeds to incident command staff supported prescribed fire operations and a concept of operations (a planning exercise) was implemented and evaluated for fires in large and small burn blocks. RPAS measurements included visible and long-wave infrared (LWIR) imagery, black carbon, air temperature, relative humidity and three-dimensional wind speed and direction.

scholarly journals Data Generated During the 2018 LAPSE-RATE Campaign: An Introduction and Overview

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gijs de Boer ◽  
Adam Houston ◽  
Jamey Jacob ◽  
Phillip B. Chilson ◽  
Suzanne W. Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Lapse Rate ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Atmospheric Research ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
San Luis ◽  
Remotely Piloted Aircraft ◽  
Innovative Capabilities ◽  
Set Up

Abstract. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) offer innovative capabilities for providing new perspectives on the atmosphere, and therefore atmospheric scientists are rapidly expanding their use, particularly for studying the planetary boundary layer. In support of this expansion, from 14–20 July 2018 the International Society for Atmospheric Research using Remotely-piloted Aircraft (ISARRA) hosted a community flight week, dubbed the Lower Atmospheric Profiling Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE, de Boer et al., 2020a). This field campaign spanned a one-week deployment to Colorado’s San Luis Valley, involving over 100 students, scientists, engineers, pilots, and outreach coordinators. These groups conducted intensive field operations using unmanned aircraft and ground-based assets to develop comprehensive datasets spanning a variety of scientific objectives, including a total of nearly 1300 research flights totaling over 250 flight hours. This article introduces this campaign and lays the groundwork for a special issue on the LAPSE-RATE project. The remainder of the special issue provides detailed overviews of the datasets collected and the platforms used to collect them. All of the datasets covered by this special issue have been uploaded to a LAPSE-RATE community set up at the Zenodo data archive (https://zenodo.org/communities/lapse-rate/).

scholarly journals Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems into Alaskan Oil Spill Response–Applied Case Studies and Operational Protocols

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Garron ◽  
Jereme M. Altendorf
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Wildlife Management ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Incident Management ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Federal Management

ABSTRACT> (PS1-02) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have a high potential value to support oil spill response activities due to their capabilities to provide real-time situational awareness. A variety of UAS are available to support response activities, and determining the precise aircraft, sensor payload and flight patterns will depend on the operational need for surveillance. In support of UAS integration into America's airspace, the FAA has defined general protocols for the commercial use of small UAS (less than 55 lbs. total take-off weight) in 14 CFR Part 107. However, these regulations do not address any other concerns associated with flight of these small aircraft, such as shared operational airspace within a temporary flight restriction area, or regulations for flight over animals that fall under state or federal management. To address this lack of policy, a UAS protocol for flights of small UAS during oil spill response activities was developed and integrated into a series of tabletop oil spill exercises conducted in Alaska during 2018. The UAS protocol was vetted with state and federal agencies responsible for wildlife management both on and offshore, was modified for execution in remote as well as urban locations, and has been integrated into Area Contingency Plans in Alaska. This presentation will highlight the operational components of the UAS operational protocol, as well as the challenges, both perceived and actual, to UAS integration into the incident management structure of an oil spill response.

Typology and anatomy of drones

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serge A. Wich ◽  
Lian Pin Koh
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Power Source ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Ground Control ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Ground Control Station ◽  
Remotely Piloted Aircraft ◽  
Pros And Cons

In this chapter we discuss the typology of drones that are currently being used for different kinds of environmental and conservation applications. Drones are also commonly known variously as Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). We focus on the most popular aircraft types including multirotor (of various configurations), fixed wing, and hybrid ‘vertical-take-off-and-landing’ (VTOL) craft, and briefly discuss the relative pros and cons of each type. We also broadly discuss the essential components common to all remotely piloted aircraft systems, including the power source, flight controller (or autopilot), and ground control station.

Unmanned aircraft systems enable three-dimensional viewshed-based assessment of potential disturbance to nesting raptors by recreational rock climbing

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
James F. Dwyer ◽  
Daryl D. Austin ◽  
Chelsea Beebe
Keyword(s):  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
3D Models ◽  
Rock Climbing ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Jefferson County ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Peregrine Falcons

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) can be safer, less expensive, and less labor intensive than manned aircraft in wildlife conservation programs. Consequently, the use of UAS is increasing, but other than installation of line markers to reduce avian collision with power lines, UAS approaches generally involve passive observations. We wondered if UAS could more actively help guide conservation decision-making, so we used UAS-sourced photographs to create 3D models of cliffs to conduct viewshed-based assessments of potential disturbance to nesting raptors by recreational rock climbing. At Cathedral Spires Park and Clear Creek Canyon Park in Jefferson County, Colo., we collected 4790 photographs from which we constructed 3D models. We identified climbing routes and climbing areas with potential to disturb nesting Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) and Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). Our findings were useful in providing Jefferson County Open Space (JCOS) with quantitative data so that informed defensible resource management decisions could be made. This project provides an example of how UAS can be used to actively create products useful in wildlife conservation and management and, given the widespread and increasing popularity of rock climbing globally, likely can be generalized to other areas worldwide where rock climbers and nesting raptors share cliffs.

Drones and Invasions of Privacy: An International Comparison of Legal Responses

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Des Butler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Common Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Legal Response ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Legal Responses ◽  
Remotely Piloted Aircraft

Privacy has been recognised nationally and internationally as a major challenge posed by the growing proliferation of drones, otherwise known as ‘remotely piloted aircraft’, ‘small unmanned aircraft’ or ‘unmanned aircraft systems’, with surveillance capability. Currently in Australia an uneven landscape of common law causes of action, surveillance statutes and data protection laws provide fragmented protection of privacy. This article compares that legal response with those of the United Kingdom and the United States. It identifies commonalities and differences between those approaches that may be instructive as Australia determines the appropriate response to the potential of invasion of privacy posed by this form of transformative technology.

scholarly journals Pixel-level statistical analyses of prescribed fire spread

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Currie ◽  
K. Speer ◽  
J.K. Hiers ◽  
J.J. O’Brien ◽  
S. Goodrick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Infrared Images ◽  
Fire Dynamics ◽  
Efficient Tool ◽  
Ca Model ◽  
Turbulent Process

Wildland fire dynamics are a complex three-dimensional turbulent process. Cellular automata (CA) is an efficient tool to predict fire dynamics, but the main parameters of the method are challenging to estimate. To overcome this challenge, we compute statistical distributions of the key parameters of a CA model using infrared images from controlled burns. Moreover, we apply this analysis to different spatial scales and compare the experimental results with a simple statistical model. By performing this analysis and making this comparison, several capabilities and limitations of CA are revealed.

Analysis of regulations concerning IFR flights of RPAS unmanned systems in controlled airspace

2018 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
pp. 75-84
Author(s):  
Daniel Lichoń
Keyword(s):  
International Institutions ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Dominant Model ◽  
Unmanned Systems ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Remotely Piloted Aircraft ◽  
Further Development

Aerial vehicles class of RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) is a group of unmanned flying vehicles performing non-autonomous flights, controlled by a ground operator. The civil market of RPAS applications is a dynamically growing part of the industry. European strategy establishes to create the environment for performing RPAS civil operations in common airspace (by the 2024-2028 years). Currently, in Europe, the dominant model for RPAS flights is airspace segregation. The aim of this paper is the identification of the fields in regulations that need to be developed towards fulfilling the requirements of RPAS flight integration in common airspace. The attention was focused on the unmanned aircraft operations on controlled airports and within controlled airports airspaces. The analysis of current RPAS regulations was performed with relation to the classification, safety of flights, certification and existing IFR RPAS procedures. The dependence between mass categorization of RPAS and the level of allowed air operations was considered. Selected regulations of international institutions (ICAO, EASA) and national authorities (EU members and outside EU countries) were used. The performed analysis allowed to identify the advance of existing regulations, indicate the advantageous rules for RPAS flights and find the fields in which the further development or modifications are required towards the integration of RPAS IFR flights in common airspace.

Remotely piloted aircraft system with optimum avoidance maneuvers

2017 ◽  
Vol 232 (7) ◽  
pp. 1247-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Majka
Keyword(s):  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Vertical Acceleration ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
Efficient Detection ◽  
Remotely Piloted Aircraft ◽  
Aircraft System ◽  
Analysis System ◽  
Onboard System ◽  
Selection Of

In order for remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) to operate in unsegregated airspace, one of the most important risks to mitigate is that of the mid-air collision. The RPAS must be capable of detecting the potential for a mid-air collision and performing avoidance maneuvers at normal flight conditions and under contingency or emergency conditions. In particular, when the link is severed the RPAS will become “uncontrolled” by the remote pilot, but the loss of link does not imply the loss of the remotely piloted aircraft. A D&A system is required for safe operations of RPAS in airspace shared with other aircraft, including manned aircraft. The onboard system of an unmanned aircraft has to be equipped with an efficient detection and early risk analysis system, as well as a system assisting the pilot in making a decision or an autonomous control system able to perform a maneuver to avoid collision. Collision avoidance maneuvers should be planned by taking into account the operational specificities of the RPAS. The resolution advisory’s strength and direction could be adapted to the capabilities of the RPAS. For example, horizontal resolution advisories could be introduced for RPAS unable of reaching the vertical acceleration/speeds required for vertical resolution advisories. The selection of types of sensors, their sensitivity and range can be made by taking into account RPAS maneuverability. The traffic advisory and resolution advisory regions could be defined by the same circumstances, among others. The aim of this work is to determine an optimal trajectory of horizontal avoidance maneuver of a mini remotely piloted aircraft, minimizing the time of performing a maneuver when avoiding a manned aircraft flying at a much higher speed, guaranteeing a minimally required distance between the passing objects.

scholarly journals Data generated during the 2018 LAPSE-RATE campaign: an introduction and overview

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 3357-3366
Author(s):  
Gijs de Boer ◽  
Adam Houston ◽  
Jamey Jacob ◽  
Phillip B. Chilson ◽  
Suzanne W. Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Lapse Rate ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Atmospheric Research ◽  
Aircraft Systems ◽  
San Luis ◽  
Remotely Piloted Aircraft ◽  
Innovative Capabilities ◽  
Set Up

Abstract. Unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) offer innovative capabilities for providing new perspectives on the atmosphere, and therefore atmospheric scientists are rapidly expanding their use, particularly for studying the planetary boundary layer. In support of this expansion, from 14 to 20 July 2018 the International Society for Atmospheric Research using Remotely piloted Aircraft (ISARRA) hosted a community flight week, dubbed the Lower Atmospheric Profiling Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE; de Boer et al., 2020a). This field campaign spanned a 1-week deployment to Colorado's San Luis Valley, involving over 100 students, scientists, engineers, pilots, and outreach coordinators. These groups conducted intensive field operations using unmanned aircraft and ground-based assets to develop comprehensive datasets spanning a variety of scientific objectives, including a total of nearly 1300 research flights totaling over 250 flight hours. This article introduces this campaign and lays the groundwork for a special issue on the LAPSE-RATE project. The remainder of the special issue provides detailed overviews of the datasets collected and the platforms used to collect them. All of the datasets covered by this special issue have been uploaded to a LAPSE-RATE community set up at the Zenodo data archive (https://zenodo.org/communities/lapse-rate/, last access: 3 December 2020).

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