Transitioning Modes – Search, Recovery, and Mapping
The Wimberley unmanned aviation unit performed three different operations throughout the flood. The first involved performing a primary search in Blanco County; the second consisted of performing secondary searches in Wimberley; and the third was mapping a seven-mile stretch of the Wimberley Valley. All transitional operations were closely coordinated with Incident Command. The daily Incident Action Plan (IAP) briefing provided goals and direction for the unmanned unit.
All aerial photography taken in support of an emergency response should be accountable. It is important that sensitive imagery is not released or distributed without proper authority. Data gathered during both the search and recovery efforts required great attention to detail; personnel were required to review each image and identify points of interest (POI) that required further action. Throughout the event, the ground search teams found it impossible to keep pace with the unmanned unit. A list of geo-referenced points of interest was maintained and provided when requested. Once the search and recovery work was completed, Incident Command requested the mapping of the Blanco River to determine locations of debris. Unmanned aircraft were then assigned to begin mapping operations upstream of Wimberley for the damage assessment.
The unmanned aviation unit spent a total of four days mapping several areas of importance along the Blanco River. A seven- mile continuous length of Wimberley Valley took approximately two days. An additional day was required for a re-shoot of an area inadequately imaged. A total of 780 images were collected in the Wimberley area along with another 590 images taken in Blanco County. Images were processed to produce a large ortho-mosaic image with an effective ground resolution of 1.77”. The results can be viewed online at http://magic.csr.utexas.edu/public/views/ then select “To Imagery” then “UAV Blanco River.”
Recommendation • Determine if the local authority has the capability to store data and if any policy is in place to ensure chain of custody.
• Personnel and equipment must be available to review imagery captured in the field. Once a quick field review has been completed and initial information has been provided, the search team then sends that data to a central location for a secondary, more thorough review.