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Active TRL 4 (started at 3, targeting 6)
Current aerial firefighting operations are limited to times when aircraft have clear visibility – otherwise, pilots run the risk of flying into terrain or colliding with other aircraft. That means aircraft are grounded during the night and during periods of heavy smoke. Drones can help expand the window of time available for aerial suppression because they can be safely operated by pilots on the ground. Using drones for aerial suppression operations.
Through the Enabling Wildfire Aviation Operations in Degraded Visual Environment subproject, NASA will develop and evaluate a prototype airspace management system that leverages advanced technology to enable safe and efficient remotely-piloted aerial firefighting operations, including suppression, in degraded visual environments.
This subproject is executed by the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations Project in NASA’s Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP). AOSP conceives, develops, and demonstrates technologies to safely improve aircraft systems that will operate in the National Airspace System (NAS). The program develops advanced technologies for a service‑oriented and federated NAS architecture to enable seamless integration of emergent vehicles (e.g., unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility vehicles) with present-day aircraft. AOSP also works with other Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate programs to define safe NAS operational requirements for the next generation of vehicles, mature new transformative concepts, and demonstrate integrated systems.
ACERO’s advancements in aerial communication and information-sharing tools and concepts will improve airspace management during wildland fires and provide response crews more timely information to support decision-making during emergency response. These advancements are critical for enabling new drone missions for aerial wildfire response, like fire suppression, delivering gear to ground crews, and providing communication relays in areas with limited connectivity.
Another use is remotely operating drones for for prescribed burns (or fires set and controlled by experts designed to burn away the dead brush that acts as fuels and can lead to large-scale wildland fires). This application would be safer and cheaper than deploying ground crews and helicopters. It would also enable crews to execute controlled burns over larger acreages of land each year.
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