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Advancements in NASA\u2019s airborne technology have made it possible to gather localized wind data and assess its impacts on smoke and fire behavior. This information could improve wildland fire decision making and enable operational agencies to better allocate firefighters and resources. A small team from NASA\u2019s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, is demonstrating how some of these technologies work.<\/p>\n
Two instruments from NASA\u2019s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia \u2013 a sensor gathering 3D wind data and a radiosonde that measures temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity data \u2013 were installed on NASA Armstrong\u2019s Alta X drone for a prescribed burn in Geneva State Forest, which is about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama. The effort is part of the agency\u2019s multi-year FireSense project, which is aimed at testing technologies that could eventually serve the U.S. Forest Service as well as local, state, and other federal wildland fire agencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe objectives for the Alta X portion of the multi-agency prescribed burn include a technical demonstration for wildland fire practitioners, and data collection at various altitudes for the Alabama Forestry Commission operations,\u201d said Jennifer Fowler, FireSense project manager. \u201cInformation gathered at the different altitudes is essential to monitor the variables for a prescribed burn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those variables include the mixing height, which is the extent or depth to which smoke will be dispersed, a metric Fowler said is difficult to predict. Humidity must also be above 30% for a prescribed burn. The technology to collect these measurements locally is not readily available in wildland fire operations, making the Alta X and its instruments key in the demonstration of prescribed burn technology.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Alta X flights beginning March 25, NASA Armstrong\u2019s B200 King Air will fly over actively burning fires at an altitude of about 6,500 feet. Sensors onboard other aircraft supporting the mission will fly at lower altitudes during the fire, and at higher altitudes before and after the fire for required data collection. The multi-agency mission will provide data to confirm and adjust the prescribed burn forecast model.<\/p>\n
Small, uncrewed aircraft system pilots from NASA Armstrong completed final preparations to travel to Alabama and set up for the research flights. The team \u2013 including Derek Abramson, chief engineer for the subscale flight research laboratory; Justin Hall, NASA Armstrong chief pilot of small, uncrewed aircraft systems;\u00a0and Alexander Jaffe, a drone pilot \u2013 will set up, fly, observe airborne operations, all while keeping additional aircraft batteries charged. The launch and recovery of the Alta X is manual, the mission profile is flown autonomously to guarantee the same conditions for data collection.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flight profile is vertical \u2013 straight up and straight back down from the surface to about 3,000 feet altitude,\u201d Abramson said. \u201cWe will characterize the mixing height and changes in moisture, mapping out how they both change throughout the day in connection with the burn.\u201d <\/p>\n
In August 2024, a team of NASA researchers used the NASA Langley Alta X and weather instruments in Missoula, Montana, for a FireSense project drone technology demonstration. These instruments were used to generate localized forecasting that provides precise and sustainable meteorological data to predict fire behavior and smoke impacts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n