NASA has been testing and using a Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for Earth science missions since November 2006. The aircraft named Ikhana gained a good deal of exposure in October 2007 when it was deployed to help fight wildfires in Southern California.
In addition to being deployed for emergency situations, this craft is a testbed to gauge the operational benefits of using UAVs, and to develop the optimal sensor package for various mission types.
Thermal imaging sensors are in use for the fire-mapping system that was flown on missions in Santa Barbara. While the UAV is ideal for the dangerous environment of fire mapping, and can run at night and 24 hours continuously, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that a pilot guide the plane from the ground. This requirement adds considerable cost, and limits the potential benefits of this platform. Smaller remote vehicles are a likely next step, but the sensors will need to be miniaturized in order to fit on smaller platforms.
NASA is using the UAV for atmospheric and remote sensing instruments, including duplicates of those sensors on orbiting satellites. The ground control station is in a mobile trailer that can be deployed wherever the sensor capability is needed.
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Very nice and interesting report about Nasa.
Thanks for the share.