FY 2002 Innovative proposal 34017

Section 1. Administrative

Project location

Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RPAs)

Section 2. Past accomplishments

Section 3. Relationships to other projects

Section 4. Budget for Planning and Design phase

Task-based budget

Outyear objectives-based budget

Outyear budgets for Planning and Design phase

Section 5. Budget for Construction and Implementation phase

Task-based budget

Outyear objectives-based budget

Outyear budgets for Construction and Implementation phase

Section 6. Budget for Operations and Maintenance phase

Task-based budget

Outyear objectives-based budget

Outyear budgets for Operations and Maintenance phase

Section 7. Budget for Monitoring and Evaluation phase

Task-based budget

Outyear objectives-based budget

Outyear budgets for Monitoring and Evaluation phase

Section 8. Estimated budget summary

Itemized budget

Total estimated budget

Cost sharing

Reviews and recommendations

This information was not provided on the original proposals, but was generated during the review process.

Comment:

Thermal infrared imagery for watershed assessments, habitat measurement, and total maximum daily load (TMDL) monitoring has been used with the advent of the Forward Looking Infrared Radiometer (FLIR). The proponent of this project proposes to design, test, and certify a very inexpensive combined FLIR and small format digital camera in one portable unit. A subcontractor has been contacted to provide engineering and administrative assistance for FAA approval of the new unit for the Cessna 170. A subcontractor has also been contacted to develop an efficient GIS interface to facilitate the use of acquired imagery.

The science behind this proposal appears to be sound. Success depends on the technical aspects of engineering design and building a unit that will be approved by the FAA for external mounting on widely available and inexpensive fixed wing aircraft such as the Cessna 170. The proposal (and the attached letter from Teasdale) suggest that there is some reason to expect door-strut mounts to be a challenge to make work or to have approved by FAA. The ISRP is not able to evaluate whether that makes this project unlikely to succeed. The ISRP suggests that the Council obtain additional review of the feasibility of building and certifying such a unit by an experienced engineer. If successful, the payoff in useful scientific information appears to be substantial for mapping and monitoring remote subbasins in the Columbia Basin.

Can fixed winged applications provide comparable results to helicopter applications?

On the more negative side, the proposal uses a lot of paper without providing a lot of information as to a) how the system will be designed/tested -what plans are there for design parameters to vary and what criteria will be used in evaluating outcomes, b) transfer of information to the potential users basin-wide (4 workshops, but how advertised, how structured, is this enough?). Also, it seems there may be patent issues if the major product is a door-strut mount. If BPA funds this, will it belong freely to BPA or the public for use?

Comment:

Comment:

Comments
FLIR imagery has proved useful for natural resource research and monitoring. However, the major barrier to its more general application is the cost of helicopter time. This proposed work is focused on the development of a fixed wing aircraft deployment of FLIR. In addition, the proposed work also will develop an approach to coupling FLIR-digital video imaging. While the concept of this proposal is sound and the work potentially useful, it is not sufficiently clear how useful and for what purpose the data generated by the proposed system might be. Is it the responsibility of the proposers to have fully established the potential utility of the product, or as "innovative" projects are they to be funded only with the hope of their products being incorporated into the repertoire of natural resource research, monitoring and assessment tools? Further background information regarding the utility of the proposed system is needed. If done, and compelling, the cost savings realized by the development of a non-helicopter based deployment of this technology could be substantial.

Already ESA Required?
No

Biop?
No

Comment:

Comments
FLIR imagery has proved useful for natural resource research and monitoring. However, the major barrier to its more general application is the cost of helicopter time. This proposed work is focused on the development of a fixed wing aircraft deployment of FLIR. In addition, the proposed work also will develop an approach to coupling FLIR-digital video imaging. While the concept of this proposal is sound and the work potentially useful, it is not sufficiently clear how useful and for what purpose the data generated by the proposed system might be. Is it the responsibility of the proposers to have fully established the potential utility of their product, or as “innovative” projects are they to be funded only with the hope of their products being incorporated into the repertoire of natural resource research, monitoring and assessment tools? Further background information regarding the utility of the proposed system is needed. If done, and compelling, the cost savings realized by the development of a non-helicopter based deployment of this technology could be substantial.

Already ESA Req? No

Biop? No