Besides Law Enforcement aircrews flying over major urbans areas, here’s another group doing almost the same thing but with a different focal point. This article from Rotorcraft Pro and written by Larry K. Clark is a very good and informative post on the aerial news & broadcasting profession.
Life of a News Helicopter Pilot
ASOG Desk Editor
(Image: Wikimedia commons - Peter Clarke)
Yes, I’ve thought of it many times, but, I never really drilled down to some of the details related to this topic. If you’re interested, read this white paper from the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA). Maybe its just me, but the key words “Airlines” and “Pilots” can be interchanged with “Aerial Work” and “Aircrew”…..cybersecurity has no borders or discriminate between crew positions in an aircraft or on an RPA crew…we’re all pretty much working with some kind of remote and connected Gizmo! ...What do you think? ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)
Are you ready to fly? Are you and your fellow crewmembers fit to fly? Is everyone on the crew current on their training? What is the status of your aircraft and mission systems? How is the weather? Etc.
If you’re a new Airborne Sensor Operator or an ASO as a secondary profession (scientist, photopgrapher, forester, etc.) and have not been exposed to some of the aviation safety tools out there, Part 1, 2 and 3 videos will help you get started, i.e., hopefully get you, your crewmembers and flight organization ready to fly! Also, if you feel like you’re Just-Winging-It when it comes to the flight environment you participate in (organization, crewmembers, etc.), take extra notes!
O’, I don’t want to be over dramatic, but flying can get out-of-hand quickly. This video makes that point, especially at low-level. Think Safety!
O.K., now that you got a view of how things can go wrong during flight ops. The following video highlights a very effective aviation safety program that should mitigate flight departments or small flight operations from Just-Winging-It!
Drilling down further, the following video shows an aviation safety program that focuses on human factors, i.e., how to manage the “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in all of us.
I thought I would share this reference for those members who plan and integrate sensor systems and/or who are just professionally interested, I was doing research for one of my clients and I came across this Wikipedia article: “List of Sensors”
Maybe its just me, I found this macro view and quick access to basic information regarding the different sensors in our world very useful. Some of these sensors are applicable to aviation/aerial remote-sensing and some are not, but, having a broad understanding of the world of sensors can’t hurt.
Here’s a cut and paste of the list:
Acoustic, sound, vibration
Geophone
Hydrophone
Lace Sensor a guitar pickup
Microphone
Seismometer
Sound locator
Automotive Sensors
Air flow meter
Air–fuel ratio meter
AFR sensor
Blind spot monitor
Crankshaft position sensor
Engine coolant temperature sensor
Hall effect sensor
Wheel speed sensor
Airbag sensors
Automatic transmission speed sensor
Brake fluid pressure sensor
Camshaft position sensor
Crankshaft position sensor
Engine crankcase pressure sensor
Exhaust gas temperature sensor
Fuel level sensor
Fuel pressure sensor
Knock sensor/Light sensor
MAP sensor
Mass airflow sensor
Oil level sensor
Oil pressure sensor
Oxygen sensor (o2)
Parking sensor
Radar sensor
Speed sensor
Throttle position sensor
Tire pressure sensor
Torque sensor
Transmission fluid temperature sensor
Turbine speed sensor
Variable reluctance sensor
Vehicle speed sensor
Water-in-fuel sensor
Wheel speed sensor
Chemical
Breathalyzer
Carbon dioxide sensor
Carbon monoxide detector
Catalytic bead sensor
Chemical field-effect transistor
Chemiresistor
Electrochemical gas sensor
Electronic nose
Electrolyte–insulator–semiconductor sensor
Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
Fluorescent chloride sensors
Holographic sensor
Hydrocarbon dew point analyzer
Hydrogen sensor
Hydrogen sulfide sensor
Infrared point sensor
Ion-selective electrode
Nondispersive infrared sensor
Microwave chemistry sensor
Nitrogen oxide sensor
Olfactometer
Optode
Oxygen sensor
Ozone monitor
Pellistor
pH glass electrode
Potentiometric sensor
Redox electrode
Smoke detector
Zinc oxide nanorod sensor
Electric current, electric potential, magnetic, radio
Current sensor
Daly detector
Electroscope
Electron multiplier
Faraday cup
Galvanometer
Hall effect sensor
Hall probe
Magnetic anomaly detector
Magnetometer
Magnetoresistance
MEMS magnetic field sensor
Metal detector
Planar Hall sensor
Radio direction finder
Voltage detector
Environment, weather, moisture, humidity
Actinometer
Air pollution sensor
Bedwetting alarm
Ceilometer
Dew warning
Electrochemical gas sensor
Fish counter
Frequency domain sensor
Gas detector
Hook gauge evaporimeter
Humistor
Hygrometer
Leaf sensor
Lysimeter
Pyranometer
Pyrgeometer
Psychrometer
Rain gauge
Rain sensor
Seismometers
SNOTEL
Snow gauge
Soil moisture sensor
Stream gauge
Tide gauge
Flow, fluid velocity
Air flow meter
Anemometer
Flow sensor
Gas meter
Mass flow sensor
Water meter
Ionizing radiation, subatomic particles
Cloud chamber
Geiger counter
Geiger-Muller tube
Ionisation chamber
Neutron detection
Proportional counter
Scintillation counter
Semiconductor detector
Thermoluminescent dosimeter
Navigation instruments
Air speed indicator
Altimeter
Attitude indicator
Depth gauge
Fluxgate compass
Gyroscope
Inertial navigation system
Inertial reference unit
Magnetic compass
MHD sensor
Ring laser gyroscope
Turn coordinator
Variometer
Vibrating structure gyroscope
Yaw rate sensor
Position, angle, displacement, distance, speed, acceleration
Auxanometer
Capacitive displacement sensor
Capacitive sensing
Flex sensor
Free fall sensor
Gravimeter
Gyroscopic sensor
Impact sensor
Inclinometer
Integrated circuit piezoelectric sensor
Laser rangefinder
Laser surface velocimeter
LIDAR
Linear encoder
Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT)
Liquid capacitive inclinometers
Odometer
Photoelectric sensor
Piezoelectric accelerometer
Position sensor
Position sensitive device
Angular rate sensor
Rotary encoder
Rotary variable differential transformer
Selsyn
Shock detector
Shock data logger
Tilt sensor
Tachometer
Ultrasonic thickness gauge
Ultra-wideband radar
Variable reluctance sensor
Velocity receiver
Optical, light, imaging, photon[edit]
Charge-coupled device
CMOS sensor
Colorimeter
Contact image sensor
Electro-optical sensor
Flame detector
Infra-red sensor
Kinetic inductance detector
LED as light sensor
Light-addressable potentiometric sensor
Nichols radiometer
Fiber optic sensors
Optical position sensor
Thermopile laser sensors
Photodetector
Photodiode
Photomultiplier tubes
Phototransistor
Photoelectric sensor
Photoionization detector
Photomultiplier
Photoresistor
Photoswitch
Phototube
Scintillometer
Shack-Hartmann
Single-photon avalanche diode
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detector
Transition edge sensor
Visible light photon counter
Wavefront sensor
Pressure[edit]
Barograph
Barometer
Boost gauge
Bourdon gauge
Hot filament ionization gauge
Ionization gauge
McLeod gauge
Oscillating U-tube
Permanent Downhole Gauge
Piezometer
Pirani gauge
Pressure sensor
Pressure gauge
Tactile sensor
Time pressure gauge
Force, density, level
Bhangmeter
Hydrometer
Force gauge and Force Sensor
Level sensor
Load cell
Magnetic level gauge
Nuclear density gauge
Piezocapacitive pressure sensor
Piezoelectric sensor
Strain gauge
Torque sensor
Viscometer
Thermal, heat, temperature
Bolometer
Bimetallic strip
Calorimeter
Exhaust gas temperature gauge
Flame detection
Gardon gauge
Golay cell
Heat flux sensor
Infrared thermometer
Microbolometer
Microwave radiometer
Net radiometer
Quartz thermometer
Resistance thermometer
Silicon bandgap temperature sensor
Special sensor microwave/imager
Temperature gauge
Thermistor
Thermocouple
Thermometer
Pyrometer
Proximity, presence
Alarm sensor
Doppler radar
Motion detector
Occupancy sensor
Proximity sensor
Passive infrared sensor
Reed switch
Stud finder
Triangulation sensor
Touch switch
Wired glove
Sensor technology
Active pixel sensor
Back-illuminated sensor
Biochip
Biosensor
Capacitance probe
Capacitance sensor
Catadioptric sensor
Carbon paste electrode
Digital sensors
Displacement receiver
Electromechanical film
Electro-optical sensor
Electrochemical fatigue crack sensor
Fabry–Pérot interferometer
Fisheries acoustics
Image sensor
Image sensor format
Inductive sensor
Intelligent sensor
Lab-on-a-chip
Leaf sensor
Machine vision
Microelectromechanical systems
Photoelasticity
Quantum sensor
Radar Ground-penetrating radar
Synthetic aperture radar
Radar tracker
Stretch sensor
Sensor array
Sensor fusion
Sensor grid
Sensor node
Soft sensor
Sonar
Staring array
Transducer
Ultrasonic sensor
Video sensor
Visual sensor network
Wheatstone bridge
Wireless sensor network
Speed sensor
Speed sensors are machines used to detect the speed of an object, usually a transport vehicle. They include:
Wheel speed sensors
Speedometers
Pitometer logs
Pitot tubes
Airspeed indicators
Piezo sensors (e.g. in a road surface)
LIDAR
Ground speed radar
Doppler radar
ANPR (where vehicles are timed over a fixed distance)
Laser surface velocimeters for moving surfaces
Others
Actigraphy
Air pollution sensor
Analog image processing
Atomic force microscopy
Atomic Gravitational Wave Interferometric Sensor
Attitude control (spacecraft): Horizon sensor, Earth sensor, Sun sensor
Catadioptric sensor
Chemoreceptor
Compressive sensing
Cryogenic particle detectors
Dew warning
Diffusion tensor imaging
Digital holography
Electronic tongue
Fine Guidance Sensor
Flat panel detector
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Glass break detector
Heartbeat sensor
Hyperspectral sensors
IRIS (Biosensor), Interferometric Reflectance Imaging Sensor
Laser beam profiler
Littoral Airborne Sensor/Hyperspectral
LORROS
Millimeter wave scanner
Magnetic resonance imaging
Moire deflectometry
Molecular sensor
Nanosensor
Nano-tetherball Sensor
Omnidirectional camera
Organoleptic sensors
Optical coherence tomography
Phase unwrapping techniques
Polygraph Truth Detection
Positron emission tomography
Push broom scanner
Quantization (signal processing)
Range imaging
Scanning SQUID microscope
Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)
Smartdust
SQUID, Superconducting quantum interference device
SSIES, Special Sensors-Ions, Electrons, and Scintillation thermal plasma analysis package
SSMIS, Special Sensor Microwave Imager / Sounder
Structured-light 3D scanner
Sun sensor, Attitude control (spacecraft)
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detector
Thin-film thickness monitor
Time-of-flight camera
TriDAR, Triangulation and LIDAR Automated Rendezvous and Docking
Unattended Ground Sensors
[Image Author: Wikicommons - Jacobst]
Somewhere along the line in my military career I got to attend the Law Enforcement Thermographers course in Victoria BC. It was in its infancy as a course/job stream for LEO's and they were using first generation IR cameras. A lot of what they did was not in airborne applications as there wasnt many Police air units in Canada at that time, so the course was focussed around hand held units the same as firefighters use to go into a smoke filled building to find people. The course was run by Joe Carignan and Charlie Stowell, both with Law Enforcement backgrounds, Joe with the RCMP and Charlie with the DEA.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course and I found out a few things about the law with regards to using Infrared to find suspects. I also got to give them a perspective of how to optimize the sensor for the job that they were doing. We seemed to be able to leverage each others strong point to make the course a lot of fun and a great learning opportunity.
I'm sure that its progressed a lot since the late 90's. If you get a chance to take this course I highly recommend it.
Posting by: Luke Aspinall (ASOG Member)
Heliwest has a Turn-Key Specialist Intelligence Gathering System available for sale or lease. The system is currently fitted to a Bo105 LS Helicopter and is also compatible with the EC135, Bell 206L or Bell 407 if required. Please note that the system is controlled under ITAR and a US DDTC Export Approval is required.
System Specifications:
MX-15 HDi
The MX-15 is fitted with HD-EOW, SDIR, LRF and Image Blending, has been maintained under a Wescam Service Plan since delivery in 2012 and has a current service plan with Wescam that expires in April 2019.
2 Position Operator Console
The 2 Position Operator Console is suitable for the Bo105 or EC135 type Helicopters and features:
• Two 17 inch Daybrite High Definition Displays with multiple HD-SDI and HDMI inputs.
• Wireless Video Dissemination in Cabin (delivering video to personal smart devices)
• Rugged i7/8GB Fanless PC
• Rugged low latency IP Video Encoder
• Integrated USB power and High-Speed Data transfer for mission data upload/download
• Combined power distribution & aircraft load shed protection
• SSD Production Grade Video Recording
a single position operator console for Bell 206L or Bell 407 is also available, fitted to a rearward facing seat track in the rear cabin.
Downlink System:
A fully integrated Video Downlink system is available, the system has a demonstrated L.O.S range out to 200 Km from the fixed receive site, and also includes a portable pelican case deployable receive system to further extend range.
If you would like more information, please contact Luke via ASOG e-mail or the following:
Manager, Special Operations | HeliwestGroup
+61 488 915 992
Big Thanks to Gary Micklethwaite for sharing this video. Its one of the best video’s highlighting what our profession is about, especially on the defense & security side of our community.
This week’s theme is ride along with an Airborne Sensor Operator (ASO) – Aerial Photographer and Cinematographer. If you’ve ever been interested in this type of ASO work, check out the collection of videos posted here (Part 1 thru 3). Overall, the presenters provide a good overview of airmanship, safety and the science & art of getting the right picture! ASOG
If you want an audio definition of our profession, i.e., Airborne Sensor Operator, check this out! Also, you can find the printed version on our webpage and on Wikipedia.
The problem facing many strategic, high growth markets that leverage real time video is no optical system or camera is optimized to deliver high-quality actionable video in every environmental condition. There are many applications that can benefit from Instant Visual Clarity in compromised video streams including: Security & Surveillance, Artificial Intelligence, Computer and Machine Vision, Autonomous Vehicles, Urban Traffic Monitoring, Smart Cities and Video Analytics. The quality of the video captured from all optical systems is compromised by a variety of factors. Even the most advanced wide-dynamic range, highdefinition, thermal or infrared cameras are restricted by optical physics and environmental challenges. The following conditions have the most significant effects on capturing high quality, actionable video:
Adverse Lighting caused by night, low light, backlight and extreme contrast like sun glare, headlights and infrared imaging are challenging environments that distress the quality of video. These conditions significantly impact the image quality taken by all camera systems, rendering them ineffective and incapable of delivering meaningful and actionable video.
Extreme Weather conditions impact the visibility of all camera systems. The image quality from cameras operated outdoors can be severely compromised by the effects of severe rain, snow, dense fog, mist or haze removing any chance of capturing actionable data.
Airborne Particles in the environment can also negatively impact the quality of the imagery delivered by the camera. Representative challenges in this area include the impact of sandstorms, smoke, smog, dirt and dust, all of which degrade visibility and the camera’s ability to capture quality video.
The demand for Instant Visual Clarity is rapidly increasing throughout global markets. Realtime, actionable video requirements are expanding across all industries including: Government, Military, Law Enforcement, Healthcare, Maritime, Industrial, Transportation, Agriculture, Retail, Energy and Public Utilities.
Governments and industries are committing significant additional resources to Security & Surveillance. Governments across the world are investing in high quality Video Surveillance Systems as part of their border control, security and anti-terrorism infrastructure. All Security & Surveillance applications can instantly benefit from instantaneous visual clarity.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is intelligence demonstrated by machines: any device that perceives its environment and takes action that maximizes its chance of successfully attaining its goal. AI problems include reasoning, planning, learning, perception, and the ability to move and manipulate objects. For example, Artificial Intelligence enables autonomous planning or calculations for robotic systems to maneuver through an environment. Information about the environment is being provided by computer vision systems, acting as a vision sensor for the robot. Computer Vision addresses how computers can be utilized to derive a high-level understanding (from digital images or video) to automate tasks and enhance the performance of the organic, human visual system and analytical process. Computer Vision is concerned with the theory behind artificial systems that extract information from images. Computer vision systems leveraging ProHawk can extract substantially better data for scene reconstruction, event detection, video tracking, object recognition, 3D pose estimation, learning, indexing and motion estimation. The growth of the market is mainly driven by the increasing adoption of computer vision in autonomous and semiautonomous vehicles, military, industrial and consumer drones; and the rising adoption of Industry 4.0 manufacturing automation and data exchange.
Autonomous vehicles employ embedded software, sensors, and communications systems trending towards advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. True level 5 autonomous driving, full autonomy in any and all conditions, will not be achieved without ProHawk technology. Elon Musk, CEO of a leading autonomous vehicle company, Tesla, has said publicly, “Once you solve cameras for vision, autonomy is solved: if you don’t solve vision, it’s not solved…You can absolutely be superhuman with cameras.”
Successful implementation of smart city projects heavily depends on technologies – data communications, cloud, mobility, and sensors that seamlessly tie together to form an IoT ecosystem. Typical smart city projects target traffic flow optimization, public safety violence eradication, efficient street light utilization, and parking. Smart cities are enabled by smart cameras that will make sense of what they see in real time.
Governments, industries, commercial organizations all use advanced video analytics for security and to improve operational efficiency. Instant Visual Clarity is essential to key, common video analytics uses including License Plate Recognition, Object Recognition and Facial Recognition.
About the Author: Bob Brown is CEO and CTO of Prohawk Technology Group, the leading provider of Instant Visual Clarity solutions. Bob has over 30 years of experience in software and systems; he has an extensive background in storage management, network management, internet collaboration, telecommunications, and computer vision. www.prohawkgroup.com
Shared by: ASOG Member Mike Coppage
One of ASOG’s goals is to look forward into the future, i.e., professional ASOs tracking and being informed of the next tech changes. With that, is “Blockchain” going to be a major player in the future for Airborne Sensor Operators, i.e., from an aviation, systems and data management perspective?
Like me, if you’re interested to know more, I found these articles to help me understand this new technology and how it might affect my professional ASO future. What do you think…Blockchain or Blockhead technology?
Disrupting aviation with Blockchain
ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)
(Image: Wikimedia commons - Toni Lozano)
Sensor Fusion Now and into the Future:
Credit LIDAR Magazine - Author Shawn Weisenburger
ASOG members - An insightful "CASA - Professional Drone Flyer” video; reference Regulation, Training and range of Commercial Capability applications - please see link below:
ASOG - The up incoming “Aerial Firefighting Asia Pacific 2018 Conference / Exhibition Australia 29-30 August 2018" is a great opportunity to engage with industry professionals, network and view the latest technology - Link below:
“Aerial Firefighting Asia Pacific 2018 Conference / Exhibition Australia 29-30 August 2018"
One technique to track job opportunities, especially if you’re an ASO who works on specific contracts, is to track contract proposals and contract awards. Once you come across a contract of interest, identify the participating companies and search their career centers for possible openings. Remember, job titles for ASOs can vary. If you come across a possible opportunity, don’t hesitate to reach out to the firm or reach out to your network and find a POC in the company.
Here’s a current example:
CONTRACT AWARD: AAI Corp., Hunt Valley, Maryland, has been awarded a $12,759,179.04 firm-fixed price modification (P00002) to contract FA4890-18-C-0005 for force protection efforts at airfields located within the Air Force Central Command's area of responsibility. The contractor-owned, contractor-operated ISR solution is required to support ISR tasking occurring anytime. Work will be performed at Bagram Airfield and Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, and is expected to be completed by March 27, 2019. (https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1596039//)
COMPANY CAREER CENTER: AAI Corp., Career Center - Flight Crew/Associate Flight Crew-267745
ASOG Career Center
One of our members, Mike Coppage who works for ProHawk Group at the Kennedy Space Center shared what their group is currently working on. If you’re interested or want to stay informed of current technology related to our profession, click the link (ProHawk Group) or reachout to Mike. Also, big thanks to Mike, ProHawk Group just became an ASOG Supporter.
