NASA Imaging Sensor Prepares for Western Wildfire Season

April 11, 2013

J. D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov



Ruth Dasso Marlaire
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-4709
ruth.marlaire@nasa.gov



Jennifer Jones
U.S. Forest Service, Boise, Idaho
208-387-5437
jejones@fs.fed.us




RELEASE: 13-101

NASA IMAGING SENSOR PREPARES FOR WESTERN WILDFIRE SEASON

WASHINGTON - Airborne imaging technology developed at NASA and
transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service
(USFS) in 2012 is being tested to prepare for this year's wildfire
season in the western United States.

The Autonomous Modular Sensor (AMS) is a scanning spectrometer
designed to help detect hot-spots, active fires, and smoldering and
post-fire conditions. Scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center in
Moffett Field, Calif., and USFS engineers installed it on a Cessna
Citation aircraft that belongs to the Forest Service. The USFS plans
to use it in operational fire imaging and measurement.

The western United States is expected to have continued droughts this
year resulting in increased potential for fire outbreaks, according
to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho. To
help mitigate fire danger, NASA researchers and USFS firefighters are
collaborating to improve fire management capabilities.

"NASA technologies in the fields of data communication, aircraft
systems, advanced sensing systems and real-time information
processing finally have coalesced into the operational use that
supports national needs in wildfire management," said Vincent
Ambrosia, principal investigator of the Wildfire Research and
Applications Partnership project and a senior research scientist at
Ames and California State University, Monterey Bay.

Developed by NASA's Airborne Sciences Program, the Autonomous Modular
Sensor acquires high-resolution imagery of the Earth's features from
its vantage point aboard research aircraft. The sensor transmits
nearly real-time data to ground disaster management investigators for
analysis.
The sensor has been modified to fly on various crewed and uncrewed
platforms, including NASA's Ikhana remotely piloted aircraft, a
Predator-B modified to conduct airborne research. Between 2006 and
2010 the AMS flew on the Ikhana and NASA's B-200 King Air to
demonstrate sensor capabilities, support national and state emergency
requests for wildfire data, and ensure its operational readiness.

Data gathered during those flights was used to develop and test
algorithms for scientific programs that monitor changes in
environmental conditions, assess global change and respond to natural
disasters.


The Autonomous Modular Sensor will be operated daily over wildfires
throughout the United States, providing an unprecedented amount of
data to the fire research and applications communities. USFS also
will use the sensor to support other agency objectives, such as
vegetation inventory analysis and water and river mapping.

"I see tremendous opportunity for my agency and other land management
agencies to benefit from the application of NASA-developed
technology," said Everett Hinkley, national remote sensing program
manager with USFS in Arlington, Va. "The AMS expands our current
capabilities and offers efficiencies in a number of remote-sensing
applications including fire, post-fire and forest health
applications."

NASA will continue to support the Forest Service's use of the
Autonomous Modular Sensor. Researchers with NASA and other agencies
will have access to the data and can request mission use through
partnerships.

For more information about Autonomous Modular Sensor, visit:



http://airbornescience.nasa.gov/instrument/AMS

For more information about NASA, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov


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