Unmanned Aircraft Bolster Wildfire Response Unprecedented
property loss from wildfires in Colorado and the western United
States underscores the importance of emerging multipurpose
unmanned aircraft systems for rapid disturbance mapping. By
Thomas Zajkowski, a remote sensing specialist with the U.S.
Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center
(www.fs.fed.us/eng/rsac), Salt Lake City, Utah. According to the
U.S. Global Change Research Program, the frequency of large
wildfires and the length of the fire season have increased
substantially in recent decades. Fortunately, Earth imagery can
be used to help reduce the risk and minimize damage when a fire
occurs. The benefits of remote sensing in all stages of forest
management have been well documented, culminating in a recent
U.S. Forest Service agreement with NASA (see “Moving Beyond
Unmanned Aircraft” below). For example, weather information,
such as measurements of precipitation and temperature, allows
foresters to calculate risk assessments and isolate t