The Use of Commercial Remote Sensing Systems in Predicting Helicopter Brownout Conditions

Abstract

Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from RADARSAT-2 is analyzed for detection of soils susceptible to helicopter brownout. Helicopter brownout occurs when downwash disturbs the dust and sand beneath the aircraft during takeoff, landing, and low altitude operations. Brownout may lead to pilot spatial disorientation and loss of control, causing helicopter damage or destruction, as well as personnel injury or death. The likelihood of helicopter brownout is related to soil moisture content, particle size distribution, and surface texture. This research explores the polarimetric signatures of soils, and determines if these characteristics can be used to predict areas that are susceptible to helicopter brownout. Preliminary results show that helicopter brownout regions can be predicted by means of a simple threshold.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA509249

Entities

People

  • Christine K. Rabaja

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Sensors
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Altitude
  • Data Analysis
  • Detection
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Electromagnetic Spectra
  • Geometry
  • Image Processing
  • Military Operations
  • Moisture Content
  • Particle Size
  • Particles
  • Radar
  • Remote Sensing
  • Scattering
  • Synthetic Aperture Radar
  • United States

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Aviation Safety Risk Assessment.
  • Computer Vision.