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last modified: Thursday, March 10, 2005 |
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original release date:
3/8/05 |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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Civil Air Patrol rolls out new high-tech aerial imaging
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| FT. BELVOIR, VA. — Civil Air Patrol officially rolled out the nation’s first fully operational hyperspectral imaging system during a ceremony March 2 at the Ft. Belvoir Davison Army Air Field near Washington, D.C. The new high-tech aerial imaging system, dubbed ARCHER for Airborne Real-time Cueing Hyperspectral Enhanced Reconnaissance, will make CAP more effective in its search and rescue, disaster relief, counterdrug and homeland security missions. "To the best of my knowledge, this is the first operational airborne hyperspectral imaging system in the world," said Col. Robert Gaudette of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, one of several dignitaries attending the rollout. “CAP’s spearheading such a project for civilian use is a tribute to the commitment and determination of our members,” said Maj. Gen. Dwight Wheless, CAP national commander. “It took almost four years of dedicated work to complete this project.” Key to the process, Wheless said, were support and assistance provided by the Naval Research Laboratory, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Coast Guard Research and Development Center. “This is the largest interagency project in CAP’s 63-year history,” Wheless said. Also included in the ARCHER TEAM were Gippsland Aeronautics, providing the aerial platform for the system with its GA-8 Airvan, NovaSol Corporation of Honolulu provided hardware, and Space Computer Corporation of Los Angeles provided the software. “Using hyperspectral imaging equipment onboard an aircraft, we can identify an object on the ground as small as one meter in size, from half a mile in the air,” Wheless said. Wheless said the HSI sensor detects an object by looking for and identifying its spectral signature, the way the object reflects light. Airborne ARCHER operators can program the target object’s spectral signature into the system in advance, or in the absence of such a signature, set the system to search for anomalies – objects significantly different from the surrounding area. Data on possible targets that match the sought-for spectral signatures or anomalies can be processed in real time, stored and analyzed, and transmitted to ground teams. Since the system relies on reflected light, it cannot detect objects at night, under water, under dense cover, underground, under snow or inside buildings. “Despite these minor limitations, you can see how HSI will greatly increase CAP’s effectiveness in aerial reconnaissance,” said Col. Drew Alexa, director of the CAP Advanced Technologies Group. “CAP already has satellite-transmitted digital imaging systems in place throughout the nation. We can use HSI to capture images in the air and then transmit them to the ground via e-mail in two minutes or less, using a satellite phone. With such rapid response, ground operators can quickly see if they need to redirect the aircraft or deploy ground teams to a particular location.” Alexa said CAP will deploy 16 ARCHER systems to strategic locations throughout the nation. The official ARCHER rollout drew CAP leaders, scientists, military officers and industry leaders from throughout the nation. Cutting the ceremonial red ribbon were Lt. Cmdr. William Makell of U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, Dr. Thomas Giallerezi and Dr. John Kershenstein of the Naval Research Laboratory, Dr. Robert Gaudette of the Air Force Research Laboratory, and CAP leaders Wheless and Alexa. Other dignitaries attending included: Michael Dominguez, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs; Maj. Gen. Richard L. Bowling, former CAP National Commander; Lt. Col. Carl Geng, CAP Advanced Technologies Group; Al Allenback, executive director of CAP National Headquarters; and representatives from Gippsland Aeronautics, NovaSol and Space Computer Corporation. The rollout ceremony included a technical briefing on ARCHER presented by Alexa. Afterwards, attendees examined the system first-hand in a Gippsland GA-8 Airvan on static display. Hosting the event for CAP was Ft. Belvoir’s 12th Air Battalion, represented at the rollout by Command Lt. Col. James Brandon and Command Sgt. Maj. Herbert McCoy. The rollout was preceded by two days of media flights and interviews. Media covering the event included the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post, Washington affiliate WUSA Channel 9, Air & Space Smithsonian magazine, and the Ft. Belvoir Eagle. Assisting the media were Col. Gene Hartman of the CAP Middle East Region, Lt. Col. Bob Meinert of the Pennsylvania Wing, and Lt. Col. Linda Utting of the Virginia Wing. Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with almost 60,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 95% of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members take a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the almost 25,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 60 years. |
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