ALBERTA FOREST PROTECTION THERMAL INFRARED PROGRAM Eleventh Biennial USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Conference Salt Lake City, Utah April 25 Ken Dutchak, P. Biol. Reconnaissance and Remote Sensing Unit Wildfire Aviation and Geomatics Section Operations Branch Alberta Forest Protection April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 1
OVERVIEW Who We Are Information Flow Why Thermal Infra-Red Information Definitions Imaging Operations Applications Modis Satellite Work System Testing Future Developments April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 2
WHO WE ARE: Alberta Forest Protection, a part of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development. Our responsibility is to protect Alberta's forests and forest communities by preventing and suppressing wildfires. ICS 412 Permanent Staff April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 3
630,000 km 2 420,000 km 2 forest land > 3,000,000 residents 365 Cities, towns and communities Considerable resource investment Oil and Gas Forestry Recreation April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 4
THERMAL INFORMATION REQUEST PROCESS IR Coordinator April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 5
WHY USE THERMAL? April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 6
VISIBLE WAVELENGTH April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 7
THERMAL IR WAVELENGTH April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 8
NORMAL COLOR IMAGE INFRARED IMAGE April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 9
NORMAL COLOR IMAGE INFRARED IMAGE April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 10
INFORMATION DEFINITIONS Hotspot: Area of remnant heat > 300 degrees C. and 25 cm in size. Burning Area: Extensive areas of active burning or Collection of Hotspots whose individual mapping/recording would over complicate mapping Fire Perimeter: Maximum extent of fire destroyed vegetation as identified through the collation of successive burning areas or identification of charred area, post burn. April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 11
EXAMPLES: Hot Spots Active Burning Area Fire Perimeter April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 12
IMAGING OPERATIONS Hand-helds Rotary Wing Operations Fixed Wing Operations AWIS Bird Dog Satellite Operations April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 13
HANDHELD UNITS AGEMA Thermal Vision 510 S April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 14
Visible Thermal Ground based investigations, or air craft with limited aerial coverage needs. April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 15
ROTARY WING Rotary Wing 6-8 Companies of 20 can provide TIR services Courtesy of Remote Helicopters Ltd. April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 16
DESIRED PRODUCT - Black Perimeter Trace -GPS Locations of Hotspots -Tabular and digital data April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 17
Crumb Trail as Evidence of Assessment Coverage April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 18
FIXED WING Airborne Wildfire Information System (AWIS) April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 19
PROPOSED AWIS IMAGING OPTIONS Optional Detection Small areas of high detection needs 0.5 1 m resolution BH lines or fires with high risk of brake-out or UC Mop up etc. Detection - Monitoring - Large areas of coverage 1 2 m resolution BH lines or fires Large areas in a short amount of time 3.5 15m resolution UC or BH fires Extreme Monitoring Very large areas in a very short period 7 30 m resolution April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 20
PRODUCT FLOW 2 hrs. 6 AM. April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 21
April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 22
> 300 0 C > 25 cm. + 5m RMSE 8 bid data Nad 83 UTM 11, 12 or 10TM with offset AWIS April 24-28, THERMAL 2006 SCAN MOSAIC RS 2006 23
WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT THERMAL MISSION REPORT April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 24
FIXED WING - FOREST PROTECTION BIRD DOG OPERATIONS 9 Aircraft April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 25
Analogue and digital recording FLIR MARK II FLIR SATPHIRE FLIR SATPHIRE 2 April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 26
SATELLITE OPERATIONS MODIS 250 500M RESOLUTION 4 IMAGES PER DAY AVAILABLE AS PROVINCIAL COVERAGE GEOTIFF THERMAL ALGRITHMS ALREADY DEVELOPED April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 27
SATELLITE OPERATIONS MODIS 250 500M RESOLUTION 4 IMAGES PER DAY AVAILABLE AS PROVINCIAL COVERAGE GEOTIFF THERMAL ALGRITHMS ALREADY DEVELOPED April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 28
DAILY PROVINCIAL HOTSPOT MOSAIC Brad Quayle Remote Sensing Applications Center 2222 W. 2300 South Salt Lake City, UT 84119-2020 http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/canada/activefiremaps.php?op=maps&rcode=alx April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 29
DAILY PROVINCIAL HOTSPOT MOSAIC Brad Quayle Remote Sensing Applications Center 2222 W. 2300 South Salt Lake City, UT 84119-2020 http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/canada/activefiremaps.php?op=maps&rcode=alx April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 30
MODIS FIRE HOTSPOT MAP WITH PSEUDO FIRE PERIMETER April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 31
APPLICATIONS Quick Look Product Type 1 Map Type 2 Map Fire Web PDA April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 32
QUICKLOOK PRODUCT WWF-174 July 3, 2003 April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 33
TYPE 1 MAP PRODUCT April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 34
TYPE 2 MAP PRODUCT April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 35
Incident Action Plan Map Orthophoto base ESPECIALLY USEFUL FOR LARGE SCALE OPERATIONS April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 36
WEB DELIVERY OF HOTSPOTS AND PERIMETERS April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 37
PDA MOBILE MAPPING April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 38
Survey Hinton Alberta Thermal Test Grid Site SRD and FERIC Project April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 39
GOAL: TO OBJECTIVELY TEST THERMAL IMAGING CAPABILITES 90 POINTS + 20cm April 24-28, 2006 Variety of Cover-types RS 2006 Variety of Crown Closure Types 40
FOREST COVER VARIATION April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 41
ASSESSMENT OF OVERSTORY COVER Open Canopy Dense Canopy Intermediate Canopy April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 42
TEST TARGETS Targets were constantly maintained throughout test period Targets consisted of: 25 briquettes on a sand base Stove top on propane heat source Frying Pan on propane heat source April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 43
Evaluation of Test Flights Testee s do not know the configuration of the targets. They do not know the temperature of the targets. False targets are included. Information collected is to be delivered by hand or by ftp to awaiting ground crew for evaluation. Measurement criteria and methods were developed and accepted prior to testing. Measurement, + or for detecting the heat source. Measurement of the spatial precision of those heat sources found. Findings are summarized into a publishable report. The analysis included: Comparison of set targets to targets identified Comparison of the Vendor target points to ground surveyed points Quality of projection in 10TM and UTM Response time from acquisition to delivery in minutes Temperature record for each target during evaluation Review of Gap Light Transmission indices (GLT) and forest cover photo Acquisition time and number of flight passes required April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 44
FOREST PROTECTION BIRD DOG TRIALS April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 45
GRID TEST FINDINGS Test Site represents a real world scenario. Process has been refined and is repeatable. Tests are run through a third body, with no biases. Believe that the test represents a true measure of the Testee s capabilites as they would relate to our TIR information needs. Hope to use site for all thermal testing, including contract rotary wing services, Out of province thermal testing and new sensors. April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 46
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS Mission Record Decision Support Tool TIR Primer New Hand Held Units On-board Rotary Wing Mapping Wireless delivery of information to Fire-line More Effective Scanning Processes Unmanned Thermal Mapping of Fires Collaboration with Canadian and US agencies Fixed Thermal Scanning April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 47
MISSION RECORD April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 48
DECISION SUPPORT TOOL April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 49
EXPANDED THERMAL INFRARED PRIMER April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 50
New Hand-Held Units: An evaluation is currently being completed to assess the correct Hand-held thermal units for our operations, including the province of British Columbia. On-board Rotary Wing Mapping An exercise completed last year showed that at least 1 hour of air time can be reduced in rotary wing thermal operations, if the aircraft Is equipped with map production capabilities. Wireless Communications Testing will continue to prove out the capability of delivering the thermal information to pda s and such at the fireline, reducing burning time and increasing effectiveness of the information. April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 51
More Effective Scanning Processes As part of this year s fixed wing contract, we will be looking to monitor The efficiency of the various scanning sensors and resolution options To allow for better prescription of services. Fixed Thermal Scanning Currently testing a fixed base application of a thermal scanning application that can sense changes in imagery scanned along the horizon and can triangulate position of smoke. Collaboration with Canadian and US Agencies Currently working with the western Canadian provinces to provide a more coordinated initiative. In addition, would like to continue to work with the RSAC people and other US thermal operations to further the science and application of Thermal IR. April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 52
Unmanned Thermal Mapping of Fires Terms of Reference drafted April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 53
Ken Dutchak, P. Biol. Reconnaissance and Remote Sensing Unit Wildfire Aviation and Geomatics Section Operations Branch Alberta Forest Protection 9 th Floor, 9920 108 St. Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2M4 1-780-422-0669 Ken.dutchak@ gov.ab.ca April 24-28, 2006 RS 2006 54