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Knight Division TacticalDoes KDT provide thermal drones for wildfire mapping?
Drone Thermal Imaging & Fire Mapping
Yes.
KDT provides drone thermal imaging and fire mapping for wildfires: drone crews that fly thermal and visual sensors to map the fire perimeter, find hot spots and feed current maps to the incident, hired as aircraft through the agencies' UAS aviation contracts and flown under the incident's Air Operations.
Typical configuration
- Sensors
- Radiometric thermal (IR) and high-resolution visual
- Products
- Fire perimeter, hot spot maps, orthomosaics, live video
- Flight time
- Typically 30–45 minutes per battery on multirotor drones
- Operations
- Day and night, coordinated through Air Operations
- Ordered as
- Aircraft, through the agencies' UAS aviation contracts
- Pilots and aircraft
- OAS or interagency approved, as the aviation contract requires
- Delivery
- Map files to the Situation Unit and GIS, aligned with NWCG practice
On a wildfire, the map is often hours old by the time anyone reads it, and smoke hides what's actually burning. A drone with a thermal camera sees through smoke and darkness, picks out the perimeter and the heat inside it, and turns that into a map the incident can use this shift.
KDT drone crews fly thermal and visual sensors over the fire, map the perimeter, mark hot spots near the line for mop-up crews, and hand the products to the Situation Unit and GIS. Night flights are often the most useful, when heat contrast is highest and manned aircraft are on the ground.
On federal wildfires, drones are ordered as aircraft through the agencies' UAS aviation contracts. On the incident, our crews work inside Air Operations, in the NWCG positions: UAS Pilot (UASP), UAS Data Specialist (UASD), UAS Manager (UASM) and UAS Module Leader (UASL).
We never fly without coordination. Every flight is deconflicted through the incident's Air Operations, works within any temporary flight restriction, and stops for manned aircraft. An unauthorized drone grounds firefighting aircraft; ours fly as part of the air plan.
Available as
- Night thermal perimeter mapping
- Hot spot detection for mop-up
- Live video for operations briefings
- Repeat mapping each operational period
- Post-fire burn severity imagery
What's included
- Drone crew with aircraft, sensors and spare batteries
- Flight coordination with Air Operations
- Processing into maps and hot spot lists
- Delivery to the Situation Unit and GIS
- Daily flight logs
Where it's used
- Perimeter mapping on active wildfires
- Hot spot detection along containment lines
- Mop-up and patrol support
- Structure protection planning
- Briefing imagery for operations
Order one, several, or the whole roster.
UAS positions (NWCG Air Operations)
- UASP
Unmanned Aircraft Systems Pilot
Flies and coordinates drone missions that support tactical and strategic decisions on the incident.
- UASD
Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Data Specialist
Manages, synthesizes and distributes the data collected by unmanned aircraft on the incident.
- UASM
Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Manager
Supervises a UAS module and serves as its link to incident management.
- UASL
Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Module Leader
Oversees and coordinates multiple unmanned aircraft resources, including deconfliction with other UAS.
Questions, answered.
Does KDT provide thermal drones for wildfire mapping?
Yes. Our drone crews fly thermal and visual sensors to map the perimeter and hot spots and deliver current maps to the incident, coordinated through Air Operations.
Can drones fly near a wildfire?
Yes, when they fly as part of the incident's air plan. Unauthorized drones ground firefighting aircraft, so every KDT flight is deconflicted through Air Operations and works within the temporary flight restriction.
How are drones hired on a federal wildfire?
As aircraft. Send KDT the incident and the contract vehicle, and every flight runs under the incident's air plan.
Why fly at night?
Heat contrast is highest after dark and manned aircraft are usually down, so thermal mapping is often clearest and easiest to deconflict at night.
Who gets the maps?
The Situation Unit and GIS, in formats they can drop into the incident map, plus live video for operations if needed.
Need it on your incident? Say the word.
Add it to your request with anything else you need, then send it all at once. We'll come back with what we can put where, and when.