ALASKA — Morning sunlight filters through towering hemlock and spruce; squirrel chatter punctuates the still air. A voice intones, “Take-off area clear,” then “Taking off.” The voice is followed by an insect-like high pitched whirring as the small uncrewed aircraft system, or drone, slowly ascends towards an opening in the forest canopy.

While this scenario may seem unremarkable, it is a major milestone for UAS technology use in the Alaska region.

An early July mission — to obtain video of western black-headed budworm tree damage and regrowth near Juneau — is one of the first UAS missions in the Alaska region by newly minted Alaska Region UAS remote pilots.

The Forest Service has been building an agency UAS program for several years. It formalized its UAS policy in 2020 and began partnering with the Department of Interior to train remote pilots.

In 2022, the agency opened remote pilot training for resource management, previously only for the fire program. With about four new pilots trained each year there are now nine UAS remote pilots in the Alaska Region that are carded by the agency.

Why UAS? How does this modern technology support the Forest Service mission? At its core, UAS is simply a flying platform for a camera or other sensor. This provides a unique perspective not possible, or expensive and difficult, with other methods such as traditional (crewed) planes.
Advantages of UAS include:

• UAS safely supplies an aerial first-person view for situational awareness at a close, low-altitude perspective.
• UAS collects video and still images. Imagery derivative products include aerial image mosaics and 3D surface models—standard products used by mission support programs.
• Other UAS sensors and collected/derivative products include:
  • Near-infrared camera—used to measure vegetation type/health.
  • Mid-infrared (Thermal) camera—used for situational awareness and mapping, including wildfire response, search and rescue, and wildlife surveys.
  • LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)—highly precise laser measuring sensor. Derivative products include 3D ground model, precise water flow models and vegetation structure/height. Note: LiDAR data underpins most Geographic Information System framework data including infrastructure, hydrography and vegetation mapping.
• UAS are inexpensive to use. As such, Alaska Region remote pilots understand the unique logistical and weather challenges faced in Alaska.

While the region has opened the door to UAS technology, challenges remain. Remote pilots face a wide range of responsibilities.

Simultaneously, they must be a Federal Aviation Administration/Forest Service UAS policy expert, UAS mission planner, UAS remote pilot and a UAS imagery processing specialist, in addition to their regular workload. Also, with just a handful of UAS aircraft in the region, the region is still building UAS aircraft and sensor capacity. This is to match available pilots and expected UAS demand.

Previously, the region used contracted UAS technology to collect imagery and LiDAR. This helped in trail route planning, karst mapping, stream restoration planning, heritage site documentation and disturbance event mapping.

This year’s Alaska-based UAS mission work includes stream restoration imagery collection and monitoring, road reconnaissance and mapping, and Forest Service facility mapping. The region is embracing this journey to utilize UAS safely and effectively and achieve the agency mission.

Let us look back at that idyllic sunny morning where we started, and that forest health budworm UAS mission. The high-resolution video collected revealed new hemlock needle growth at the tops of insect-damaged trees—good news indeed! This growth is something we would not have seen as easily and quickly if it were not for this amazing technology.

More information about Forest Service UAS is available. You may also contact Alaska Regional Aviation Safety program manager Brian Friend.