Welcome to the Interagency UAS Website

This website is intended to provide operational knowledge primarily for interagency fire UAS operations.  Department level information, such as 2U reports, pilot qualifications, and aircraft information is available via a Sharepoint site maintained by OAS.   

Updates

(current as of 11/8/2023)

• *New* 10/30/2023:  Joint CAL Fire and USFS Bulletin on the FTA Protocol, available from the UASP Toolbox

• *Recent* 10/5/2023:  Updated information on the Training and Certification Process, available from the Training and Certification Page.

• *Recent* 9/14/2023:  Updated DOI COA - Revision 2 to the FAA/DOI COA has been released.  This update includes additional aircraft.  Please update SGI requests to include 2023-WSA-11904 Rev 2 for the DOI COA.  The FAA/USFS COA has not been updated, Revision 1 should still be utilized. 

• *Recent* 9/14/2023:  Updated SGI Instructions for Dates - The FAA SOSC has changed the 14-day requirement for SGI requests.  SGI timeframes shall now be specified as necessary depending on the incident.  

•  *SAFETY*  8/29/2023: IASA 23-02 M-600 Batteries - Thermal Expansion.  ALL M-600 RPs please review!  Critical information outlining battery issues.  

• 8/28/2023:  IA IB 23-06 Non-Agency, Non-Cooperator UAS TFRs.  Situational Awareness on TFRs for BVLOS operations by organizations using UAS for natural disaster response or other emergency situations.  

• 7/24/2023:  IA APB 23-04 "Freefly Alta X Landing Gear Separations During Flight".  All Alta X Remote Pilots please review!

Interagency UAS Operations

Goal

• Safely, effectively, and efficiently employ UAS in support of resource program, or incident management objectives.

Objectives

• Develop UAS operations capacity through standard safety, training, flight, data collection, data processing, and project management processes.
• Develop a contract program (data and flight), which supports incident and resource management objectives.

Summary:

UAS can positively impact every resource program by utilizing state of the art equipment. UAS derived data and imagery empowers scientists, incident personnel, and senior leaders to make informed decisions based on precise and real-time information. Data gathered from UAS is unique due to the ability of the aircraft to fly low, slow, and for long periods of time while collecting high-resolution imagery and sub-centimeter data.