Operational Site Selection for Unmanned Aircraft
Abstract
Selection of a suitable Operational Site (Op Site) for the launch and recovery of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) is critical to the success of any UAS mission. Op Site Selection is a tactical mission task in which a UAS unit prepares a plan for the intended site and equipment locations before emplacing the system. To identify potentially suitable locations and eliminate unsuitable areas, the Operational Site Selection process must first consider landcover, terrain, and specifications for one or more UAS platforms. To select the most optimal sites, the process must also consider additional dynamic factors pertaining to Mission, Enemy, Terrain & Weather, Troops & Support available, Time and Civil Considerations within the context of the current battle situation. This report describes an automated geoprocessing capability, or "engine" that has been developed to rapidly analyze spatially explicit data to identify potential Op Sites for multiple UAS platforms, and to rank their overall suitability.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA545736
Entities
People
- Charles Ehlschlaeger
- Dan Stouch
- Kirk Mcgraw
- Scott Tweddale
- Sofya Tenenbaum
- Ted Fichtl
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center