National Infrared Operations Program

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National Infrared Operations Program
Fire Detection Workshop Hinton, Alberta CA March
2003
Thomas Zajkowski USDA Forest Service Remote
Sensing Applications Center Salt Lake City, Utah
http//fsweb.rsac.fs.fed.us [phone]
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2002 Wildland Fire Season

• Even though 99 of all fires were suppressed in
  initial attack, 609 of 68,230 fires became large
  fire incidents
• 28,000 firefighters and support personnel were
  assigned to fire suppression activities by early
  July
• International support came from Australia, New
  Zealand, and Canada

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U.S. Fire History
Decade Average Acres Burned
1920 - 1929 26,004,567
1930 - 1939 39,143,195
1940 - 1949 22,919,898
1950 - 1959 9,415,796
1960 - 1969 4,571,255
1970 - 1979 3,194,421
1980 - 1989 4,236,229
1990 - 1999 3,647,597
2002 Fire Season is approximately 6,700,000 acres
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Fire Costs by Federal Agency
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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.

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Forest Service and IR

• First project, FireScan began in 1962
• Continuous operational deployment since 1967
• Development of Mouse Trap FLIR 1984
• Numerous papers, and technical reports
• Continuous evaluation of commercial, scientific,
  and military systems

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National Infrared Operations Program

• Based at the National Interagency Fire Center in
  Boise ID.
• Presently there are 2 aircraft and 3 sensors
• Full time staff consists of 2 IR technicians, and
  4 pilots.
• During the summer 4 IR technicians and nearly 200
  Infrared interpreters help collect and interpret
  the data.

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National Infrared Operations Program

• 2002 statistics
• Over 778 missions flown
• 1400 flight hours
• Peak 29 fires per night
• 17 107Z
• 12 100Z
• Average 3 to 5 missions per aircraft
• Nearly 85 of all request were accomplished.

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Cessna Citation Bravo N100Z
NIROPS Aircraft
Beechcraft King Air 200 N107Z
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Aerial Line Scanning
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FLAME Fire Logistics Airborne Mapping
EquipmentEarly 1980s
-------- RS-25 -------- --------- FLAME
---------

• FLAME
• Completely analog system
• Output is 5-inch film strips

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Phoenix DSP Early 2000s to Future
------------ Phoenix DSP -----------
------------ RS-25 ------------
Strip Charts
Digital Processing
Data Logs
PC
Rectified Images
A/D and DSP
3-5µm, 8-12µm detectors
IR Scanner
120 FOV 200 lps

• Phoenix DSP
• Removes all analog electronics now completely
  digital
• Integrates wider FOV scanner
• Moves some image processing to ground computers
  dual outputs
• Replaces gyros/inclinometers with integrated
  GPS/IMU

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Phoenix IntegrationCessna Citation Bravo N100Z
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(U) Forest Service Airborne Thermal Imagery
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PHOENIX Imagery
1670 Pixels Wide by XXX Long GeoTIFF file format
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Why a Typing Scheme NOW?

• Requested by Incident Commanders
• Need to know which Infrared System to choose for
  a particular situation.
• IR is not IR
• Save time and money!

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Typing System. What is it good for?

• Sets realistic expectation of IR
  technology for Incident Commanders.
• Defines a common language between firefighters
  and technical staff
• Sets Guidelines for what is expected from a
  vendor.

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What it is NOT!

• Rigid regulations
• Hindrance to technology development
• Barriers for commercial vendors

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Based on the helicopter typing scheme

• Three types
• Based on fire detection sensitivity, area
  coverage, and data products.
• Modifiers designate special capabilities

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IR Typing Criteria

• Viewing
• Spatial Resolution
• Positional Accuracy
• Fire Detection Sensitivity

Modifying Criteria
Real time downlink Digital output Airdrops Day
only Night only 3-5 micron band 8-14 micron band

• Fire Detection Accuracy
• Production
• Over Sampling
• Bands
• Product(s)

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Type 3

• Single band usually 3-5 or 8-12 um
• Might not have any data output other than what
  shows up on the units display

Three categories Type 3c Handheld units Type 3b
Without geo-correction Type 3a With
geo-correction
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Truloves Favorite Soap Box

1. Potential data error
2. No way to check data
3. Laser ranging or other means of geo-locating the
   fire

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FLIR
Line Scanner
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Type 2

• Typically mounted on fixed wing aircraft
• Nadir viewing
• Higher production rates than Type 3 sensors
• More than on band although usually only one
  thermal band
• Focal plane arrays, multi-camera systems, line
  scanners

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Geo-correcting Imagery

• Must solve for six degrees of freedom
• X,Y, and Z position in space
• Roll, Pitch, and Yaw

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Geo-correcting Imagery

• One more thing needed
• Digital Elevation Model (DEM)

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Private Sector Thermal Imaging SystemHayman
Fire, Colorado - 19 June 2002
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Private Sector Thermal Imaging SystemHayman
Fire, Colorado 19 June 2002
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Private Sector Thermal Imaging System Hayman
Fire, Colorado 19 June 2002
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Coverage of Thermal Imaging Systems Hayman Fire,
Colorado 19 June 2002
Forest Service National Airborne System Swath
Width
Private Sector System Swath Width
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Type 1

• Highest production rates
• Multi-thermal bands

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Thermal Infrared Why two bands?
Two bands of interest 3-5 micron, and 8-14
micron
3-5 micron band is much more sensitive to hot
fire, but becomes saturated easily loss of
background detail 8-14 micron band better for
background terrain, but not as sensitive to fire.
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Questions/Discussion