Fire Mapper, Phase I

The design of a UAV mounted Fire Mapper system is proposed. The system consists of a multi-band imaging sensor, a data processing system and a data communication system that are capable of detecting fires and providing fire information in near real time to an Incident Command Team. The sensor incorporates high performance QWIP IR detectors and a compact, lightweight scanner derived from an earlier NASA SBIR program. Location and platform attitude measurements are made and this information is combined with a DEM and applied to the image sensor output, producing fire and terrain image information that is GIS compatible. The Phase I work will assess available technologies, develop algorithms, evaluate tradeoffs and produce a preliminary design for a prototype system that can be built and flight demonstrated in Phase II with a NASA supplied UAV platform. To accomplish these goals, the program will leverage the background of the NASA science team, the USDA Forest Service fire crews, SenSyTech airborne imaging experience and other SenSyTech customer experience; all of which have contributed to methods and systems for wildland fire detection and mapping.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.