WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration have established a research transition team to guide the development of wild-land fire technology.
Wildland fires are occurring more frequently and at a larger scale than in past decades, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Emergency responders will need a broader set of technologies to prevent, monitor, and fight these growing fires more effectively. NASA said that under this Wildland Fire Airspace Operations research transition team, NASA and the FAA will develop concepts and test new technologies to improve airspace integration.
Current aerial firefighting operations are limited to times when aircraft have clear visibility - otherwise pilots run the risk of flying into terrain or colliding with other aircraft. Drones could overcome this limitation by enabling responders to remotely monitor and suppress these fires during nighttime and low visibility conditions, such as periods of heavy smoke. However, advanced airspace management technologies are needed to enable these uncrewed aircraft to stay safely separated and allow aircraft operators to maintain situational awareness during wild-land fire management response operations.
Over the next four years, NASA's Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations project, in collaboration with the FAA, will work to develop new airspace access and traffic management concepts and technologies to support wild-land fire operations. These advancements will help inform a concept of operations for the future of wild-land fire management under development by NASA and other government agencies.
The inter-agency team will test and validate uncrewed aircraft technologies for use by commercial industry and government agencies, paving the way for integrating them into future wild-land fire operations, NASA said.
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