Firebird Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)

The maps and videos in this section are based on experimental flight tests of the 8-ft wingspan Firebird unmanned aircraft system (UAS).  The Firebird UAS was an in-house research and development program conducted while employed at System Dynamics International (SDI).  The Firebird was equipped with a forward-looking video camera, as well as a GPS-equipped digital camera that provided high-resolution nadir views of surface features. The Firebird is no longer in service.

Firebird UAS Mission Over Ranch Land

A Firebird UAS waypoint navigation mission was conducted over ranch land to collect geo-referenced high-resolution photographs and full motion video of grazing cattle. Left-clicking on an aerial photo point feature on the interactive map below displays the geo-referenced photograph and associated attributes including GPS coordinates and flight altitude (AGL). A portion of the cattle herd is evident by clicking the left-side point features.  This interactive map was rendered by creating a point feature shapefile based on the latitude/longitude metadata, uploading the shapefile to ArcGIS Online, and linking the geo-referenced photos to the respective point features. A high-resolution, geo-referenced photograph is shown beneath the map.

Below is a portion of geo-tagged full motion video as the Firebird navigated the waypoint route.  The cattle herd is in-view during the initial segment of the video.  

Firebird UAS Mission Over Agriculture Land

A Firebird UAS waypoint navigation mission was performed to gather geo-referenced high-resolution photographs of a 160-acre corn field. Left click on a photo point feature in the interactive map below to view a pop-up window of the aerial photograph along with photo attributes including GPS coordinates and flight altitude (AGL).  The center pivot tracks are easily recognized in the photos. This interactive map was rendered by creating a point feature shapefile based on the latitude/longitude metadata, uploading the shapefile to ArcGIS Online, and linking the geo-referenced photos to the respective point features.


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Below is a time-lapsed trajectory animation of the 11-minute flight .  The trajectory symbology changes from yellow to blue during the second overflight segment as the UAS transitions from 100 m altitude to 80 m altitude. The animation was created by configuring a time-enabled layer in ArcMap based on the latitude/longitude time-series metadata.