AERIAL FIREFIGHTING RETARDANT APPLICATION SYSTEMS

NOT ALL WILDFIRES CAN BE FOUGHT FROM THE GROUND. MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ARE SPENT EACH YEAR ON AERIAL FIREFIGHTING. A MAJOR PROBLEM CONCERNING THE AERIAL APPLICATION OF FIRE RETARDANTS IS TO ACHIEVE THE OPTIMUM PLACEMENT AND COVERAGHELEVEL (GALLOSN OF RETARDANT PER 100 SQUARE FEET OF GROUND) FOR THE TYPE FUEL AND TERRAIN THE FIRE IS BURNING IN. EXPERIENCED CREWS ARE CAPABLE OF DETERMINING THE APPROPRIATEPLACEMENT AND COVERAGE LEVEL OF RETARDANT. CURRENT AERIAL RETARDANT APPLICATION SYSTEMS, HOWEVER, LACK THE CAPABILITY TO ACCURATELY OBTAIN CONSISTENT COVERAGE LEVELS IN THE FIELDBECAUSE THEY FAIL TO MAKE CORRECTIONS FOR GROUND SPEED, ALTITUDE AND ACCELERATION VARIABLES. THESE VARIABLES DIRECTLY AFFECT THE PLACEMENT AND COVERAGE LEVEL OF A RETARDANT DROP AND ARE IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS NECESSARY TOINCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AERIAL RETARDANT APPLICATION SYSTEMS. ELECTRONIC SENSORS AND COMPUTER CONTROL UNITS ARE AVAILABLE THAT MIGHT PROVE SUITABLE TO MEET THE OBJECTIVE OFTHIS PROGRAM. THE PROJECT OBJECTIVE IS TO ANALYZE THE FEASIBILTIY OF ADAPTING AERIAL RETARDANT TANK SYSTEMS TO A COMPUTER ]CONTROLLED RETARDANT FLOW RATE SYSTEM WHICH TAKES INTO CONSIDERATION GROUND SPEED, ALTITUDE AND ACCELERATION FACTORS TO CONSISTENTLY ACHIEVE OPTIMUM PLACEMENT AND COVERAGE OF RETARDANT ON WILDFIRES. MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN PROPERTY AND FOREST RESOURCES WILL BESAVED ANNUALLY IF WILDFIRES CAN BE CONTROLLED MORE EFFECTIVELY WITH THE AERIAL APPLICATION OF FIRE RETARDANTS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH EFFORT WILL LEAD TO THE ABILITY TO DESIGN AND EVALUATE RETARDANT TANK SYSTEMS THAT CONTAIN FLOW CONTROL DEVICES WHICH RECEIVE INPUTS AUTOMATICALLY THROUGH AN ON-BOARD COMPUTER AND TAKES INTO CONSIDERATION GROUND SPEED, DROP ALTITUDE AND ACCELERATION VARIABLES. SUCH A SYSTEM WILL RESULT IN MORE ECONOMICAL AND EFFECTIVE USE OF FIRE RETARDANT BY PRODUCING DESIRED RETARDANT PLACEMENT AND COVERAGE LEVELS CONSISTENTLY IN THE FIELD ON WILDFIRES.