While more than 625,000 acres of wildfires burned throughout the Pacific Northwest, crew members of the Insitu Rapid Response team launched a ScanEagle unmanned aircraft into the hazy skies above the Paradise Fire in Washington's Olympic National Park.
The event marked the beginning of an operational demonstration designed to show how unmanned aircraft technology can be a powerful force multiplier in the fight against wildfires.
ScanEagle flew six operations, delivering more than 37 hours of infrared video in real time to Incident Command personnel. Insitu's suite of motion imagery software provided enhanced video and geo-registration capabilities that enabled fire officials to pinpoint the fire's perimeter and identify areas of intense heat. ScanEagle also assisted helicopter assets with evaluating water drop locations.
“This and other planned unmanned aircraft systems demonstrations will serve to guide our policies, procedures and requirements for the safe, phased integration of UAS in support of wildfire management,” said Mark Bathrick, Director, Department of the Interior, Office of Aviation Services.
“These demonstrations are part of a larger interagency strategy aimed at employing UAS to provide firefighters on the ground with time-sensitive information that will give them the highest level of situational awareness and support possible,” he added.
“We are honored to support the individuals who are risking their lives to protect the natural resources endangered by wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. This exercise demonstrated our ability to collect, process and deliver information that helps fire officials achieve better outcomes,” said Insitu President and CEO Ryan M. Hartman.
ScanEagle flew within an emergency certificate of authorization (ECOA) issued to the Department of Interior from the FAA that permitted its operation within the confines of the temporary flight restriction.
Insitu is an industry-leading provider of information for superior decision making. With offices in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, the company creates and supports unmanned systems and software technology that deliver end-to-end solutions for collecting, processing and understanding sensor data. We proudly serve the diverse needs of our global customers in the military, commercial and civil industries. To date, our systems have accumulated more than 842,000 operational flight hours and 104,000 sorties.
Insitu is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company.
