Tasking, Collection, Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (TCPED) Architecture to Facilitate Management of Forest Wildfires

The goal of the Phase II effort is to develop to prototype and demonstrate the ProcessingExploitation and Dissemination (PED) solution proposed during Phase I. The solution is comprisedof a fixed wing small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) an Asset Tracking System (ATS) ansUAS mounted optical and infrared video sensor a Ground Control Station (GCS)and a softwareenvironment for receipt storage visualization and fusion of relevant imagery maps ATS data andgeospatial data. The purpose of the system is to enhance real-time situational awareness maximizeresource allocation and reduce risk to firefighters by injecting operationally relevant data into theCommon Operating Picture (COP) of incident leadership while firefighters are actively engagingforest wildfires. The overall PED architecture is scalable and can be replicated multiple times sothat multiple PED systems can be deployed to support separate events or interconnected tosimultaneously manage one large-scale event. The goals of the project will be accomplished bydeveloping a demonstration worthy prototype for commercialization and by working withorganizations within the wildfire management community to develop doctrines for systememployment. Based upon requirements set forth by the community during Phase I Skyward will also facilitateefforts between the wildfire management community and the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) to create appropriate rules and means supporting the use of sUAS to combat wildfires. Ifsuccessful this system will lay a new foundation for operationalizing geospatial and image-baseddata by applying cutting-edge technologies and paradigm breaking methodologies to the forestwildfire management mission.