Catching Fire – Aerial Fire Mapping
VarioCAM® HD head for Airborne Thermography in New ZealandWildfires are a permanent threat for several regions aroundthe world – and the global climate change is adding to thenumber and severity of these events. Fighting them is a hugechallenge, strong winds, heat and inaccessibility make iteven more difficult and dangerous for those who risk theirlife to protect others. One approach to tackle wildfires is theusage of airborne fire mapping. Highland Helicopters is aservice company which added this task to their portfolio, aswildfires on New Zealand´s South Island happened right attheir front door. On board is the VarioCAM® HD head 800
from InfraTec.

Highland Helicopters Dunedin, New Zealand
www.highlandhelicopters.co.nz
Paul Williams

Thermographic system:
VarioCAM® HD head 800

The public perception of devastating wildfires in the Northern Hemisphere is typically allocated to disastrous events
happening in California or the Mediterranean region and in the Southern Hemisphere in Australia. Some regions inneighbouring New Zealand, however, are suffering from burning forests, fields and bushes as well.
Fire mapping from a helicopter offers a unique elevated perspective on remote fires to those who have to direct
firefighting ground activities. The (1,024 × 768) pixels LWIR thermal camera VarioCAM® HD can detect through smokeand dust that block video camera views in the visual spectral range – this is a great benefit for on-site situationalawareness. When this camera is radiometrically calibrated it also creates the opportunity to indicate actual fire andground temperatures. Additional support for active firefighting can be given to ground staff and waterbombing
aircraft, as VarioCAM® HD capabilities clearly traces the water ground tracks to assist the involved pilots.
The sparse population of New Zealand´s South Islandforces local firefighters to bridge large distances whena wildfire has started somewhere in the rurallandscape of the Canterbury or Otago districts. WhenPaul Williams started his helicopter service business in
Dunedin in 2016 his focus was set to agricultural andcommercial flights. As bushfires lit up in 2018 and2019, contacts to the local Fire Emergency and Service
branch led to logistics and bucket support for theground forces.

Fig. 1: Paul Williams and a colleague in their Bell 206-1 LongRanger

Airborne Fire Mapping – Adding the 3rd Dimension to Chase Fires
Highland Helicopter´s Bell 206-1 LongRanger was upgraded with a Trakka SWE-400 multisensor gimbal to allow thestabilised usage of three different high-resolution camera solutions simultaneously. InfraTec´s VarioCAM® HD head
800 enables the system to perform extensive real-time fire mapping. Next to this an HD video camera and aUV camera are integrated. All the incoming video data are fused into Trakka´s on-board user interface which alsofeatures augmented reality overlays, GPS-based real-time mapping and synchronised recording of all footages.

© InfraTec 10/2021 (All the stated product names and trademarks remain in property of their respective owners.)
Headquarters

InfraTec GmbHInfrarotsensorik und Messtechnik
Gostritzer Straße 61 – 63
01217 Dresden / GERMANY

Page 1
USA office

Phone
Fax
E-mail+49 351 82876-610+49 351 82876-543
thermo@InfraTec.de
www.InfraTec.eu

InfraTec infrared LLC
5048 Tennyson Pkwy.
Plano TX 75024 / USAPhone
E-mail+1 844-226-3722 (toll free)thermo@InfraTec-infrared.com
www.InfraTec-infrared.com

Catching Fire – Aerial Fire Mapping
VarioCAM® HD head for Airborne Thermography in New ZealandFig. 2: The ultimate view through different high-resolution cameras

A case of emergency happened in August 2020 when alarge fire showed up near Lake Pukaki. Paul Williams
and his Bell had been requested as “Eye in the Sky”
when flying to this remote part of the Canterbury
district. Their imagery was vital for the effective
deployment of firefighters and waterbombers. While
3,500 hectares of wilding pines had been destroyed, nocasualties had been reported and there was only minor
damage to the few buildings and settlements around.
Fig. 3: Helicopter fighting the fire at Lake Pukaki in New Zealand

The Lake Ohau fire in October 2020 had been more critical since 50 buildings had been destroyed there with another
5,360 hectares of bushes and woods burnt down – actually one of the fiercest wildfires ever recorded in New Zealand.
Due to excellent emergency plans executed and strong airborne support once again no injuries nor casualties had
been reported. Again, Highland Helicopters was on site to support!

VarioCAM® HD head 800 as a Unique Airborne Multi-Purpose Sensor
Designed as a robust thermography tool, a VarioCAM® HD head 800 has more to offer than sheer measuring accuracy
and HD thermal images. Its ruggedised aluminium housing can be provided with IP67 rating (lens included) right off
the shelf. The camera´s (1,024 x 768) IR pixels microbolometer achieves NETD values of down to 20 mK, which is a bigbenefit to support accurate airborne temperature measurements. With 2.5x the pixel count of common VGA
resolution cameras, a VarioCAM® offers much more data points for subsequent image analysis. Aerial sensor
platforms are typically stabilised, nevertheless the resistant VarioCAM® design and its rugged LEMO connectors
support an outstanding system availability and uninterrupted functionality.
© InfraTec 10/2021 (All the stated product names and trademarks remain in property of their respective owners.)
Headquarters

InfraTec GmbHInfrarotsensorik und Messtechnik
Gostritzer Straße 61 – 6301217 Dresden / GERMANY

Page 2USA officePhoneFax
E-mail+49 351 82876-610+49 351 82876-543
thermo@InfraTec.de
www.InfraTec.eu

InfraTec infrared LLC
5048 Tennyson Pkwy.
Plano TX 75024 / USAPhone
E-mail+1 844-226-3722 (toll free)thermo@InfraTec-infrared.com
www.InfraTec-infrared.com

Catching Fire – Aerial Fire Mapping
VarioCAM® HD head for Airborne Thermography in New Zealand
The 60 mm f/1.0 infrared lens does not only come with antireflection coatings for improved signal throughput but alsowith a DLC coating making the lens surface especially hard-wearing. The camera system is fully athermalised also
ensuring a best possible measuring accuracy of down to +/-1 K.
As a part of the total aerial thermography solution provided by Trakka there´s more to come for the VarioCAM® HD
head 800 at Highland Helicopters: Soon they will be authorised to perform night-time flights supported by theirinfrared camera and civil defence support for human search activities can be conducted as well. Once tourists will behiking to the remote places and the Southern Alps – those who might lose their way on the ground can be spottedfrom a multisensor helicopter with its powerful infrared eye!
Additional activities will be related to predictive maintenance of airborne powerline inspection – another good
application of aerial thermography. New Zealand´s power lines are fed by remote hydro power stations, whose
inspection is a vital support for the country´s infrastructure.

Fig. 4: Bell 206-1 LongRanger with GIMBAL system including VarioCAM® HD head 800© InfraTec 10/2021 (All the stated product names and trademarks remain in property of their respective owners.)
Headquarters

InfraTec GmbHInfrarotsensorik und Messtechnik
Gostritzer Straße 61 – 63
01217 Dresden / GERMANY

Page 3USA office

Phone
Fax
E-mail+49 351 82876-610+49 351 82876-543
thermo@InfraTec.de
www.InfraTec.eu

InfraTec infrared LLC
5048 Tennyson Pkwy.
Plano TX 75024 / USAPhone
E-mail+1 844-226-3722 (toll free)thermo@InfraTec-infrared.com
www.InfraTec-infrared.com