Improving Aerial Fire Retardant Drop Efficiency using a Dynamic Targeting Device

Wildfires continue to grow in intensity as many areas around the US have been in pro-longed drought conditions. These areas may lack the funds and resources to adequately maintain the forested areas. This vulnerability along with poorly maintained energy infrastructures has the potential for severe devastation on the environment and community. Aerial firefighting is dangerous and somewhat inefficient. Over seven decades of aerial attack, there has been a remarkable lack of technological advancements. Delayed containment and missed drops add cost, intensify the negative impact on the environment and increase low level flight risk to aerial firefighters. Technology is needed to improve the selection of drop locations and to objectively measure post drop assessment. 9k Vantage is proposing the development of a dynamic targeting device. This low-cost device will allow a pilot to evaluate a proposed drop location, measure distances between objects and perform an objective post-retardant drop assessment using images captured and analyzed in near real-time. This technology will reduce retardant waste, hasten containment, allow for the collection of metrics to improve targeting and delivery methodology and ensure compliance with environmental regulations. The versatile design will enable a plane, helicopter, or UAV to use this revolutionary technology.

The Selected Coverage of Retardant Evaluation System (SCORES) dynamic targeting device provides the following NASA applications: • Addressed national challenge of wildfire mitigation and containment by strengthening wildland firefighting • Advances in efficient and sustainable aviation with quicker containment using less sorties • More efficient containment reduces carbon emissions, a leading cause of climate change • Captured imagery can be incorporated into NASA’s FIRMs tool The SCORES software will incorporate NASA’s Expandable Variable Autonomy Architecture (EVAA) Ground Collision Monitor algorithms to assess risk of terrain and other known obstacles to potential drop points. The Selected Coverage of Retardant Evaluation System (SCORES) dynamic targeting device has several non-NASA applications: • Improved safety for firefighters by evaluating the risk of known obstacles in close proximity to the planned drop location • Improved methodology for targeting retardant drops • Improved methodology for executing retardant drops • Provides objective way to measure drop success by evaluating placement, coverage, and effect by analyzing near-real time captured imagery • Provides increased situational awareness to the pilots as the display can highlight areas with insufficient retardant coverage • Provides tools to assess proximity to waterways to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal restrictions as well as the Clean Water Act. • Potential for use in search & rescue and natural disasters to identify and more quickly allocate resources

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