Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) for Wildland Fire Management

SummaryUnmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and small UAS (SUAS) technology hold great promise for facilitating the management of wildfires on forest lands. However technology is only a small part of the problem of integrating UAS into fireground operations. Significant concerns must be addressed about the coordination of air assets in the high-risk operational wildland fire airspace environment, which can be remote, complex and uniquely challenging. Wildland firefighting requires the cooperation and coordination of multiple agencies and functions under the Incident Command System (ICS), interagency dispatch, and through airspace coordination. Proper roles and management of UAS as air assets within this framework are currently being defined based on the earlier groundbreaking work of NASA and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and more current work to operationalize UAS technology.NASA is currently developing the concepts, functional design and technology for a prototype UAS traffic management (UTM) system with a near-term goal of safely enabling initial low-altitude UAS operations in uncontrolled airspace as early as possible. The UTM system provides an opportunity to explore and address issues associated with the integration of UAS with other fire aviation assets in fireground airspace. UTM can help provide an information technology (IT) support to develop a common operating picture (COP) for air domain awareness. This air domain COP (ADCOP) can improve the safety of wildland firefighters and aviators, and accelerate the adoption UAS technology for better fire and natural resource management.The proposed research and development project is designed to create a research-grade air domain COP (ADCOP), and to demonstrate that UTM can be used to manage multiple aircraft in a defined airspace. Phase I will be a proof-concept consisting of hardware and software integration and operational test and evaluation (OTE) with cooperating wildland fire practitioners. Phase II will focus on integrating UTM and ADCOP capabilities with interagency fire and aviation management tools and data sets. Opportunities will also be pursued in Phase II to support interagency OTE of SUAS in the wildland fire mission area, such as those conducted by the USFS and Department of Interior (DOI) as part of the FY 2015 Unmanned Aircraft Technology Demonstration Strategy.This research addresses the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Strategic Goal 2: Ensure Our National Forests and Private Working Lands Are Conserved, Restored, and Made More Resilient To Climate Change, While Enhancing Our Water Resources. Under Objective 2.4, to Reduce Risk of Catastrophic Wildfire, the USDA works with the DOI and other Federal agencies, Tribal and State governments, and local law enforcement and emergency preparedness and response practitioners to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire. Airspace coordination technology will be developed that supports the USDA's ability to work more effectively with multiple agencies to better manage wildfire response on forest lands so fires don't become catastrophic. The technology and methods developed under this research will also support the increased use and availability of UAS and SUAS for use by fire and natural resource managers and scientists. As UAS become more widely used in this way, they will improve the ability to manage fires when needed, to research, design and implement good fire and forest management practices - including controlled burns, to monitor the implementation and effects of these practices, and consequently to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire.