June 8/2006 Detection Conference – Hinton 20061 THERMAL INFRARED PROGRAM HELICOPTER PLATFORMS...

June 8/2006 Detection Conference – Hinton 2006 1

THERMAL INFRARED PROGRAM

HELICOPTER PLATFORMS

Alberta Perspective


Outline

• Introduction• Why we use IR• Statistics – 1998 - 2005• Present concerns effecting IR use• Completed to date• Future Standards


Background• 1982 with Forest Service

• Over 2200 hours as an IR operator – 1982 – 1989– Level I certification - 2005 - FLIR

• Variety of helicopter platforms – B206, B204, B205, B212, H500

• 3 main IR cameras– AGA 750, AGEMA 782, AGA 110

• Multiple Search /Rescue missions with RCMP

• Team Lead– 2001 – 2004 Provincial Fire Mapping Program Coordinator

– 2005 1/2 – present Provincial IR Program Coordinator


Alberta Forest Protection, a Branch of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development

Responsibility……..

To protect Alberta’s forests and forest communities by preventing and suppressing forest fires


Why Do We Use IR

• ADM believes in the IR program and it’s fiscal use

• Aids in Mop-up operations– Maximizes the effective and efficient use of our ground crews

• Helps to determine areas of little or no fire activity– CAUTION!!!!!

• Tool to determine fire status– OC, BH, UC, EX

• Aids in the determination of hotspots, burning areas, and fire perimeter


Definitions

Hotspot:

Burning Area:

Fire Perimeter:

Area of remnant heat > 300 degrees C. and 25 cm in size

Extensive areas of active burning

Maximum extent of fire destroyed vegetation


EXAMPLES:

Hot Spots

Fire Perimeter

Active BurningArea


• 29 helicopter companies

• 16 different helicopter platforms

• Spent $4,851,149.00

• Utilized 5583 hours helicopter time

• Utilized 3892 hours of IR operator time

Statistics1998 - 2005


YEARHelicopte r

Scanning Hrs He licopte r Scanning $

# He licopte r Com panies

IR Opera tor Hrs

IR Opera tor Costs

# He licopte r IR Opera tors Tota l $

1998 1283 $957,138.00 9 54 $8,796.00 9 $967,289.001999 1495 $777,523.00 8 1492 $326,430.00 4 $1,106,952.002000 151 $87,077.00 7 106 $21,607.00 3 $108,951.002001 865 $641,489.00 16 766 $183,477.00 4 $826,617.002002 1154 $901,655.00 17 991 $239,766.00 5 $1,143,588.002003 295 $258,371.00 14 193 $50,138.00 4 $309,015.002004 263 $234,837.00 10 237 $61,843.00 5 $297,195.002005 77 $76,326.00 6 53 $15,201.00 3 $91,666.00

5583 $3,934,416.00 3892 $907,258.00 $4,851,149.00Average 697.875 486.5 $606,409.13

Helicopter Versus IR Operator Costs


Helicopter Scanning Hours v s Scanning IR Operator Hours

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Helicopter Scanning Hrs IR Operator Hrs


Present Concerns Effecting IR Use• No justification on usage - We just use it• Misconceptions

– Weather plays an important role

• How long after raining do we wait before scanning?

• Does rain or snow interfere with effective operations?

At least 2 days

Drives heat down

It attenuates IR signal


Present Concerns Effecting IR Use• Misconceptions – Con’t

– Time of scan is important

• When is the best time to scan?

• What effect does a sunny day have on the detection capabilities?

• How far underground can I detect heat?

Works best during night operations or early mornings/late evenings

Creates false positives

1/32 inch


Present Concerns Effecting IR Use

Solar Reflectance And

Water Vapour Can be your worst enemies



• Variety of IR equipment– Type III gimbel mount ( > $100,000)

– Handheld (<$100,000)

• Inconsistent end products– Can your IR equipment give us the end products we want?



• Lag time of IR mission results to IC, SITL or GIS team– No accountability to the team

• Varied delivery timesRight after landing

Delivery times sometimes 2 hr late

•Breakfast more important

Never

•Nothing to report


Present Concerns Effecting IR Use• Delivery formats varied

– Flagged nails – Toilet paper – Hand drawn maps with hotspots delineated – Post-it notes

• Numbers transposed wrong • Lost post-it notes

– Cigarette packages– GPS coordinates in different formats

• DD – this what is needed • DM – helicopter operations • DMS- mapping

– Thumb drives sometimes



• IR experience– IR operators experience varied

• None to lots

– Pilot and IR operators out on their own• ICS team member not present

– Misunderstanding of how operation worked• Pilot felt it was important to see hotspots also



• Time of hire– Expectations not conveyed

• Time of release– Exit evaluations not done

IR providers require honest feedback on performance

Upcoming companies are asking for direction


Completedto

Date


Completed to Date


Completedto

Date

P r o v i n c i a l P r i o r i t y #

R e q u e s t N o : T h e r m a l I m a g i n g S e r v i c e R e q u e s t F i r e N o : H e l i c o p t e r / H a n d h e ld F ix e d / H ig h A l t i t u d e D a t e :

W M A : C o n t a c t N a m e : P h o n e N o : F a x :

D a t e o f S e r v i c e : O F F I C E U S E O N L Y L o w L e v e l O n l y : I n d i c a t e s e r v i c e s r e q u i r e d S u p p l i e r N a m e C o n t r a c t R e f e r e n c e

A l l i n c l u s i v e ( a i r c r a f t , e q u i p m e n t a n d p e r s o n n e l ) A i r c r a f t / h e l i c o p t e r o n l y I R O p e r a t o r i n - h o u s e o r c o n t r a c t o r ( c i r c l e o n e ) I n - h o u s e c a m e r a o n l y N / A

H i g h L e v e l O n l y : A l l I n c l u s i v e M i s s i o n T y p e R e s o l u t i o n : o D E T ( . 5 - 1 . 0 m ) D E T ( 1 – 2 m ) M o n ( 3 . 5 – 1 5 m ) e M o n ( 7 – 3 0 m ) A 1 ( . 7 – 1 . 0 m ) ( c h e c k o n l y o n e )

F i r e I n f o r m a t i o n

F i r e N u m b e r : F i r e N a m e : F i r e O r i g i n : ( L a t / L o n g ) L a t i t u d e : L o n g i t u d e : G I S S h a p e f i l e S u b m i t t e d : Y e s N o U n k n o w n E s t i m a t e d S i z e ( h a ) : D i r e c t i o n o f S p r e a d : R a t e o f S p r e a d : F i r e S t a t u s : ( c h e c k o n l y o n e ) O C B H U C E X H i g h e s t I n c i d e n t e l e v a t i o n : S p o t W e a t h e r F o r e c a s t : f o r t h e i n c i d e n t

A t t a c h s k e t c h o f f i r e a r e a a n d h i g h l ig h t s c a n n in g lo c a t io n s S c a n O b j e c t i v e s

C a p t u r e p e r i m e t e r o n l y f o r e n t i r e f i r e - Y e s N o I d e n t i f y / S e c u r e f i r e l i n e o r M o p - u p f o r h o t s p o t s - Y e s N o I d e n t i f y s p o t f i r e s o u t s i d e e x i s t i n g p e r i m e t e r - Y e s N o S h o w e x c u r s i o n s / e s c a p e d p e r i m e t e r – Y e s N o I d e n t i f y p h y s i c a l f e a t u r e s ( i e : d o z e r g u a r d s ) - Y e s N o R e - a f f i r m f i r e s t a t u s – Y e s N o

A d d it io n a l D e s c r ip t io n :

S c a n P r i o r i t y : H i g h M e d i u m L o w P r o d u c t s : I n c lu d e s p e c i a l i n s t r u c t i o n s P a p e r m a p D i g i t a l M a p

( P D F , J P G , B M P ) A r c V i e w s h a p e f i l e s

( p e r i m e t e r a n d / o r h o t s p o t s ) S p e c i a l I n s t r u c t i o n s : D e l i v e r r e s u l t s t o : n a m e / p h o n e / e m a i l

E s t im a t e d d e l iv e r y t im e : E s t im a t e d c o s t : L A T I T U D E / L O N G I T U D E I N F O R M A T I O N N E E D E D F O R E A C H M I S S I O N ( i f s h a p e f i le n o t a v a i l a b le ) M a p p i n g B o x ( D e g r e e s ) N O R T H S O U T H E A S T W E S T S i g n a t u r e s :

D a t e :

I n c i d e n t C o m m a n d e r s i g n a t u r e o r d e s i g n a t e n a m e P r i n t N a m e

A p p r o v a l s :

L o w l e v e l Y e s / N o D a t e :

W M A D O o r d e s i g n a t e s i g n a t u r e P r i n t N a m e

H i g h L e v e l Y e s / N o D a t e :

P A C o r D O s i g n a t u r e P r i n t N a m e

R e v i e w e d b y I R C o o r d i n a t o r S t e v e S i m s e r D a t e :

P F F C I R C o o r d i n a t o r P r i n t N a m e

E a s t

S o u t h

N o r t h

W e s t


Future StandardsSensitivity/File Format/Accuracy

• Ability to detect hotspot targets = > 25sq cm in size

• Ability to provide digital GPS shapefiles of hotspots and flight course taken by helicopter

• The coordinates of targets within a spatial accuracy of 10 meters


Future StandardsFormat of Delivered Data

• Shapefile– Geographic(lat-long) or degree decimal degrees– NAD83 datum– Include - *.dbf, *.shp, *.shx, *.prj files


Future StandardsFormat of Delivered Data-con’t

• Hardcopy maps – 11x17– Quicklook product of identified targets

• JPEG, BMP, PDF format• Must STAND on it’s own

– Scale

– Title

– Author

– North arrow

– Date


Crumb Trail as Evidence of Assessment Coverage


DESIRED PRODUCT - Black Perimeter Trace-GPS Locations of Hotspots-Tabular and digital data


Future StandardsInformation Delivery

• Immediate delivery of shapefile data and maps upon landing– To ground crews via drop tube or landing at camps via

thumb drive• Future

– Downlink capabilities of hotspots to sectors, camps, IC base

– Downlink to simple printer

– Real time downlink of IR images to IC base to aid planning section and IC in decision making


PDA – MOBILE MAPPING


Future StandardsMission Plan

• Include– Where scan took place– Scan objectives– Average height of flight – AGL– Start/stop times– Type of scanner used– Name of pilot and scanner operator– Type and registration of helicopter– Fire number / fire name– Date of flight


Example ofTHERMAL MISSION REPORT


Future StandardsIR Standards for Providers

• Standardize training/certification for IR operators– Need to understand the basics of infrared– Known training companies

• FLIR - [email protected]• Snell infrared - [email protected]

• Minimum on-site training requirements• 20 hours?

• Test IR companies over grid to promote consistency– Must pass to use on fires


Future StandardsPerformance Feedback

• Expectations conveyed– At time of hire– Daily

• Evaluation at time of release - – Evaluations by designated ICS member

– PSC

– SITL

– IR Coordinator?


Steve Simser, GIS/IR SpecialistWildfire Resource InformationWildfire Aviation and GeomaticsForest Protection BranchForestry Division9th Floor, 9920 – 108 St.Edmonton, AlbertaT5K 2M41-780-427-6754 work1-780-819-6754 cellsteve.simser@ gov.ab.ca

Thankyou

June 8/2006 Detection Conference – Hinton 20061 THERMAL INFRARED PROGRAM HELICOPTER PLATFORMS...

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