Over the past seven days, Precision Integrated Programs has supported the University of Alaska Fairbanks significantly in conducting ScanEagle flight missions to assist authorities in responding to the massive Funny River Fire near Kenai, Alaska. By Memorial Day the fire had spread to over 120,000 acres. The University of Alaska formally requested support from Precision Integrated Programs to fly the university-owned ScanEagle UAVs to assist in a coordinated response to a the massive wildfire. Two days later the Precision team had completed mission set-up and the comprehensive refurbishment of a ScanEagle UAS.
The inaugural mission identified 15 hotspots for responders to focus their efforts on; a considerable success given limited communications connectivity posed by the legacy technology of the particular ScanEagle model. The next day the Precision/UAF team was able to make adjustments to enhance system performance, thus leading to the identification of 40 hotspots during the second day of mission flights.
One of the reasons that this mission was so successful is that Precision’s UAV operators have thousands of hours of experience flying the ScanEagle UAS to provide aerial over watch and support to responders on the ground, thus warning them of impending danger and enabling them to provide the most comprehensive and appropriate responses possible. Precision also recently unveiled a Mobile Ground Control Station, thus allowing responding operators to base their operations from a customized Jeep Rubicon.
for more information on Precision check out their web site: flyprecision.com/integrated/
