MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA has transferred wildfire imaging technology to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Boise, Idaho and will exhibit the integrated sensor inside the USFS Cessna Citation jet between 12 and 2 p.m. PDT Thursday April 18, 2013 at Moffett Airfield, Calif. The jet is one of two National Infrared Operation aircraft used to provide fire data to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho and all other incident centers in the U.S.
Media are invited to view the aircraft on the tarmac adjacent to Moffett Tower and talk to NASA, USFS and the California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE ), Sacramento sensor engineers and operators. To view the aircraft, go to the personnel gate at the end of the gravel parking lot directly north of Moffett Tower. To reach Moffett Airfield, take U.S. Highway 101 to the Moffett Field, NASA Parkway exit and drive east on Moffett Boulevard towards the main gate. To enter the NASA Research Park, a driver’s license is required.
In conjunction with the sensor viewing opportunity, NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and USFS will host an Airborne Science Applications Use Workshop on Thursday, April 18, 2013. The purpose of the workshop is to bring together the natural resource, disaster management and remote sensing communities to discuss the Autonomous Modular Sensor (AMS) capabilities in support of USFS science application uses.
Experts from the workshop will be available to talk to the media. Speakers will include Vincent Ambrosia, principal investigator of the Wildfire Research and Applications Partnership (WRAP) project and a senior research scientist at Ames and California State University, Monterey Bay; Everett Hinkley, national remote sensing program manager with the USFS in Monterey, Calif.; Chris Waters, fire management investigator for CALFIRE; and other experts trained in the AMS operations protocols.
The Autonomous Modular Sensor is an airborne scanning spectrometer that acquires high resolution imagery of the Earth’s features from its vantage point on-board low and medium altitude research aircraft. The near-real-time data then is transmitted to ground disaster management investigators for analysis.
“The sensor’s expanded capabilities and utility will allow multiple missions for the USFS aircraft, including support of various vegetation assessments. In addition, we suspect there will be a cost-savings benefit for the USFS,” said Ambrosia.
For more information about Autonomous Modular Sensor, visit: http://airbornescience.nasa.gov/instrument/AMS
For more information about NASA Ames, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/
