Suitability Measurement and Analysis for El Centro Naval Air Facility OLS. Opportune Landing Site Program
Abstract
The Army's Future Combat System (FCS) relies upon agility and speed as components of its operating philosophy. This requires, in part, the ability to conduct air transport operations to locations where there are no existing runways, and where engineers cannot be pre-positioned. One of the most difficult problems is locating large, smooth, flat, and obstruction-free areas that are also sufficiently firm to support at least one aircraft operation, and preferably many. The Opportune Landing Site (OLS) program was to demonstrate the use of remote sensing technology and state-of-the-ground forecast tools to rapidly accelerate the process of selecting OLSs. Ground truth measurements were conducted on an OLS located on US Naval Reservation land on the El Centro Naval Air Facility (NAF) to evaluate the terrain, vegetation and loading capacity of the selected landing zone. Before conducting field measurements, several OLSs identified by the OLS software were inspected to visually evaluate the OLSs and to select a suitable OLS for field testing from the extensive list of possible locations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA494549
Entities
People
- Charles C. Ryerson
- Keran J. Claffey
- Lynette A. Barna
- Rosa T. Affleck
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center