0 Statement of Need NRMAG0002300341.pdf

STATEMENT OF NEED

Requiring Office Name: National Severe Storms Laboratory

NR-MAG000-23-00341

1. Background and Purpose

Storm damage assessments (impacts/recovery) utilizing UAS-based platforms can better address issues of accessibility (remote locations or inaccessible areas), capture perishable data, and acquire very high-resolution imagery for a more complete damage assessment, (e.g., soil burn severity; basin response and flash floods/debris flows; distinguishing between tornadic and straight-line winds; assigning EF-scale ratings). Common UASs platforms include multi-rotor copters and fixed wings. Multi-rotor copters are more commonly used in disaster management for quick assessments and small-scale mapping. Fixed wing platforms, however, are better suited to map disaster affected areas because they can cover longer distances, map significantly larger areas, in part, due to the longer battery life (55-90 minutes vs. 20-40 minutes), and better handle dual payloads. Fixed wing platforms with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities are easier to operate because they do not require additional FAA waivers.

Use of multispectral cameras (sensors) with a thermal band and pan-sharpening capabilities can greatly improve high-wind damage and wildfire-related assessments. For high-wind damage assessments, UAS-based multispectral imagery can better detect damage to vegetation, especially low-level EF-scale damage, because of the very fine spatial information (centimeter scale) and spectral response of vegetation in the red, red-edge, and near-infrared bands. This information can lead to a better understanding on how vegetation is affected by tornadic winds (convective structures), enabling the development of better damage descriptors for vegetative cover and in rural locations. Additionally, this information can better estimate soil burn severity metrics and debris flow thresholds as well as quantify flash flood and debris flow behavior post-wildfire. Moreover, the panchromatic band may provide additional damage information because of the higher spatial resolution obtained when combining information from the visible (blue, green, red) bands. Thermal imagery may provide additional damage information on vegetation impacts and land surface characteristics including but not limited to land surface temperature and soil moisture useful in observational and modeling studies.

2. Scope and Objectives

The acquisition of a fixed-wing UAS with a multispectral sensor with six bands (four visible, one near-infrared, and one longwave-infrared) and pansharpening capabilities is required to 1) meet the objectives of the project titled “Characterizing High Wind Damage in the Southeast US via Unpiloted Aerial Systems (UASs) Technologies” that was funded by the NOAA UAS program office in April 2020 and other high-wind related projects in the Great Plains, 2) wildfire related research (e.g., burn scar severity, debris flow and flashflood basin response) supported in part by XXXX and 3) obtain additional meteorological information (e.g., land surface temperature, soil moisture) for observational and high-resolution modeling studies.

The system will be used to document high-wind damage immediately following severe weather events in the southeast US and Great Plains and in collaboration with the NOAA VORTEX-USA project, with personnel from the appropriate National Weather Service Forecast Offices to assist in damage surveys, and local emergency managers. Additionally, this system will be used in post-wildfire assessments to improve burn scar severity calculations and extent as well as better understand flash flood response and debris flows post-wildfire. A cloud-computing infrastructure will be used to provide imagery and information in a timely manner to assist in local recovery efforts and characterization of an event by the NWS offices, which typically occurs in the few days after the event for high-wind damage. The imagery will also be used in research to characterize severe storm dynamics to better link signatures from remote sensing (radars and satellites) to impacts at the ground, both to meet the objectives of the proposal and for future use in NSSL research applications.

3. Product Specifications

UAS type: Vertical Take-Off and Landing capabilities (VTOL)

Flight time (with payload): 55 to 90 minutes

Payload configuration: fully-integrated w/dual-camera imaging system (RedEdge-P/Visible)

Positioning capability: cm-level accuracy w/onboard PPK + iBase ground station

Command and Control Range: 5 to 7.5 km

Flight wind tolerance: up to 12 m/s

User interface: integrated app based flight planning/execution

Product Specifications for multispectral camera:

Sensor type: radiometrically calibrated spectral imager

Physical Size: no larger than 11 cm X 8 cm X 6.9 cm and less than 1 lb

Spectral Bands: Blue, Green, Red, RedEdge, Near-Infrared and Longwave-Infrared: thermal (8-14 micrometers)

Ground Sampling Distance: 5.28 cm or less for EO bands, 33.5 cm for thermal at 120 m AGL, 2.49 cm for panchromatic bands

Capture rate: 2 capture per-second or less (raw DNG)

Sensor type: radiometrically calibrated spectral imager

Spectral bands: five bands between 400-900 nm, one thermal band between 7.5-13 micrometers, panchromatic band

Additional sensors: Combined Downwelling Light Sensor and GPS

NRMAG000-23-00341

Ground sampling distance: 5.28 cm, 33.5 cm, 2.49 cm for multispectral, thermal, panchromatic respectively at 120 m above ground level (AGL)

File type output: geotagged TIFF file with embedded metadata

Mounting type: capable of being mounted to multirotor copter and VTOL fixed-wing UAS platform

Shutter type: global shutters on all 6 lenses

Additional features: Calibrated Reflectance Panel

Storage: CFexpress Card

4. Price Consideration: (Do you require pricing by line item, one price for all items, etc.)

Pricing should be for UAS fixed wing platform, RGB and multispectral payloads, and additional parts (two additional battery packs, spare left and right wings, and replacement elevator). The UAS platform must have vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), compatible (fully integrated gimbal) with multispectral system and RGB camera, and PPK or RTK options. Inclusion of the above requirements in a package will likely reduce the price over purchasing the components individually.

5. Requested Delivery/Period of Performance: 03/17/2023

6. 12 month Option Period(s) Added: N/A

7. Shipping and Invoicing Addresses SHIP TO NOAA/OAR/National Severe Storms Lab 120 David L Boren Blvd Norman, OK 73072