Operational Test Results and Technical Description of the
Xiomas Airborne Wide Area Imager
John Green, Xiomas Technologies L.L.C., Brad Quayle, USDA Forest Service, Jan Johnson, Red Castle Resources Inc.,
Everett A. Hinkley, USDA Forest Service, Vincent G. Ambrosia, NASA Ames Research Center
Abstract—The Airborne Wide Area Imager for Fire Mapping and Detection (WAI) has been developed by
Xiomas Technologies under the NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Xiomas worked
with NASA and USDA Forest Service personnel during the development process to incorporate both operational requirements and the latest technologies in the design of the WAI.
The overall goal of the WAI SBIR project is the development of an airborne sensor, which could increase the
efficiency of the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)—National Infrared Operations (NIROPS) by fielding a
sensor that covers more ground in less time and with higher spatial resolution. We estimate that this technology will reduce the NIROPS flight time over fires significantly (by approximately a factor of 2).
As of this report, the WAI has flown about twenty flights, including a number of engineering tests, calibration
flights, several flights for a commercial imaging project, and the fire mapping flights detailed here.
A multi-day Test and Evaluation mission was conducted during July 23-26, 2013, to operate the WAI sensor
over active fires. High-resolution (3 foot) two-band thermal infrared imagery of active wildfires was collected
and provided to the USFS for evaluation to determine the operational usability of the WAI imagery for deriving standard tactical fire mapping/geospatial products. WAI imagery was collected within 1 hour of the
Forest Service Phoenix system imagery over the same fires.
Flight operations generally occurred between 10:30 pm and 2:00 am. Immediately following the flights
Xiomas delivered the orthorectified imagery to the USFS, briefed the USFS personnel on the flight and any
items of interest in the imagery, and participated in the evaluation of the imagery by Forest Service personnel.
Results in brief:
• Registration of the WAI imagery to the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) reference base imagery was very good. Most of the WAI imagery lined up almost perfectly with the NAIP. There are a few areas
with registration errors of up to 10 meters.
• Spatial Resolution of WAI imagery was very good with small features such as drainages, structures, and
roads, clearly visible.
• Fire detection was very similar to the USFS Phoenix system.
Based on previous engineering flight test results, Xiomas has shown that the WAI is capable of detecting a 6
inch by 6 inch fire from an aircraft altitude of 35,000 feet above ground. Acquisition rate will vary based on
altitude above ground and speed. As an example, the WAI can be configured to operate at 17,000 feet above
ground and at typical cruise speed of 210 knots, the system will map approximately 680,000 acres per hour.
The presentation includes detailed results of the fire mapping flights in addition to an overview of the engineering test flights and commercial imaging projects. A technical overview of the sensor is presented as well
as a discussion of ongoing activities to further develop the technology for space-based operation, and for
persistent/staring operation.
In: Keane, Robert E.; Jolly, Matt; Parsons, Russell; Riley, Karin. 2015. Proceedings
of the large wildland fires conference; May 19-23, 2014; Missoula, MT. Proc.
RMRS-P-73. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky
Mountain Research Station. 345 p.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-73. 2015.
The content of this paper reflects the views of the authors, who are responsible for the
facts and accuracy of the information presented herein.
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