Present Your Data and Analysis

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Scholar: Henry Vascones

Title: Exploring the Effectiveness of the MQ-8B Fire Scout to provision Humanitarian Efforts Post Natural Disasters

Institution: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Degree: Master of Science in Aeronautics

Year: 2020

This study will explore the increased use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and specifically evaluate the effectiveness of the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout in providing humanitarian aid after natural disasters have occurred. The ability to utilize the MQ-8B will be analyzed by determining its ability to conduct humanitarian aid missions in areas affected by natural disasters largely inaccessible using traditional methods. The study will compare the use of UAVs in humanitarian aid operations in terms of abilities and costs to the use of response utility trucks. The viability of using UAVs will be determined in responding to natural disasters while simultaneously providing economic benefits. The use of UAVs will be compared to existing approaches such as emergency response utility vehicles and manned flight. The study will develop a model to show the costs and benefits of utilizing MQ-8B in responding to natural disasters. A quantitative approach will be used to collect data from existing literature. Information will be obtained from various sources including the Insurance Information Institute, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Transportation Research Board on UAVs and manned systems to help come up with a solution to these problems.

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Table of Contents

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Graduate Capstone Project Committee……………………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………….iii Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………………iv Chapter I 1 Introduction 1 Significance of the Study 2 Statement of the Problem 2 Delimitations 5 Limitations and Assumptions 5 List of Acronyms 5 Chapter II 7 Review of the Relevant Literature 7 Origins of UAV and its Applications 7 Cargo Delivery with UAVs 8 Impacts of Weather 9 Operational Flexibility of UAVs 10 UAV legislation and regulation Environment 11 Human Factors 12 Sensing and Processing 13 Mobile Wireless Access Networks 14 Safety of UAVs 14 Aviation Aerospace Safety systems and Unmanned Aerospace systems 15 Summary 15 References 16

VI

Preparation and response to natural disasters is a serious logistical challenge. Significant resources are used by intergovernmental, governmental, and non-governmental organizations to prepare and respond to the effects of natural disasters. When a natural disaster occurs, such organizations mobilize their resources to respond. Recently, technological advancements in autonomous, semiautonomous, and unmanned vehicles have increased their utility while reducing costs. The increased use of UAVs has created a new dimension to synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) operations. In real life, the use of UAVs can be beneficial in cases where rapid decisions are required or the use of manpower is limited (Boehm et al., 2017).

Natural disasters have significantly damaged transportation infrastructure including railways and roads. In addition, barrier lakes and landslides pose a serious threat to property and life in areas affected. When infrastructure is interrupted with, heavy rescue equipment, rescue vehicles, suppliers and rescue teams face challenges to reach disaster-hit areas. As a result, efforts to provide humanitarian aid is hampered (Tatsidou et al., 2019). The traditional approaches of responding to natural disasters are unable to meet the requirements to support the process of disaster decision making. UAVs are well equipped to navigate areas affected by natural disasters and provide humanitarian aid.

This study aims to explore the viability of using the MQ-8B fire scout in providing humanitarian aid in areas affected by natural disasters. The document will also provide a literature review on the use of UAVs in providing humanitarian aid when natural disasters have occurred. The study will also compare the viability of using MQ-8B to MH-60 in conducting rescue operations in areas affected by disasters.

The significance of this study is to discover the effectiveness of using UAVs in providing humanitarian aid in areas affected by natural disasters. The study will help in developing new knowledge and bridge the existing gap in providing humanitarian aid using UAVs. The findings of this study will increase knowledge of the effectiveness of UAVs in responding to natural disasters and provide more insights on useful ways to respond to affected areas. Ultimately, these insights could help develop more knowledge about the fate of UAVs associated with rescue operations. The findings of this study can be used as the basis for future studies by researchers interested in this topic.

The problem to be addressed in this study is loss of human life during natural disasters which could possibly be prevented or reduced through enhanced delivery of humanitarian aid. According to Luo et al. (2017), the earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010 claimed about 160,000 lives. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami left about 360,000 people dead and more than 1,300,000 others displaced (Luo et al., 2017). While there were efforts taken to deliver humanitarian aid in both instances, the use of manned systems proved to be limited to areas that presented less risk to the rescue teams.

After a natural disaster, governmental and non-governmental organizations provide significant resources for rescue and recovery missions. However, the nature of damaged infrastructure makes it impossible for response vehicles to reach the affected areas. This demonstrates the inefficiency associated with traditional methods of providing humanitarian aid in such situations. As a result, there exists a need for a more robust approach to providing humanitarian aid after natural disasters to mitigate the loss of life in the future. The use of UAVs can augment response teams in providing humanitarian help to affected areas in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Purpose Statement

The focus of this research will be the ability of the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout to augment humanitarian aid operations for mitigating loss of life after natural disasters. The research will analyze the mishap rates of the MQ-8B compared to the MH-60, and will look at how the Fire Scout can be used mutually for military operations, as well its capacity for provisioning humanitarian aid. Given their available speed and ability to access high risk places, the MQ-8B Fire Scout can offer a solution to the existing problem (Gomez & Purdie, 2017). Research Question and Hypothesis

This study aims to answer the following research questions (RQ):

RQ1: How viable is the deployment of the MQ-8B Fire Scout for a more expedient and cost-effective solution to delivering humanitarian aid compared to using the MH-60 Sea Hawk?

RQ2: What are the advantages and disadvantages that could be associated with the use of the MQ-8B Fire Scout for identifying victims, water drops for wildfire hotspots, and first aid drops for survivors post natural disaster?

The following hypothesis (H) has been formulated for the study:

H0: There is no statistical difference in safety when using the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout when compared to manned vehicles to provision humanitarian aid in areas affected by a disaster.

H1: There is a statistical difference in safety when using the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout when compared to manned vehicles to provision humanitarian aid in areas affected by a disaster.

This study will only focus on the potential use of UAVs in rescue operations to provide humanitarian aid to individuals in areas affected by natural disasters. As a result, the study will not provide a description of how the UAVs can be used in reconnaissance missions mostly conducted by military personnel. The study will also not describe how UAVs can be used to monitor riparian areas and pollution in marine areas.

One of the major limitations of the research is that there are significant costs associated with the use of UAVs and more so with the MQ-8B fire scout. Various UAVs are needed to be purchased to facilitate this study. However, due to their high costs, the researchers settled to less efficient UAVs that could not provide very accurate information. The physical demand of the terrain, variation in weather conditions, and less optimal use of machine tools are some of the other factors that affected the study. These factors have a significant impact on situational awareness and affect how data is interpreted from UAVs. The UAVs used in the study had shorter ranges, and therefore, could not generate a lot of information as expected. Another key limitation of this study is observer bias that could have compromised the results.

FAA- Federal Aviation Administration

H- Hypothesis

RQ- research question

SAR-synthetic Aperture Radar

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UAVs- Unmanned aerial vehicles

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Chapter II

Providing humanitarian aid for people affected by natural disasters has become an issue of major concern not only to governments but also to other non-governmental organizations. Destruction of existing infrastructure by natural disasters has increased public interest in the development of effective tools to provide humanitarian aid to disaster-hit areas. According to (Macias, Angeloudis, and Ochieng 2018), unmanned aerial vehicles are the logical choice for responding to natural disasters. A review of relevant research will be conducted in this chapter to determine the underlying knowledge of the effectiveness of UAVs in providing humanitarian aid. This review will also delineate factors that may affect the optimum use of UAVs in areas affected by natural disasters.

The first UAV was developed in World War I under the concept of cruise missiles to attack enemies from short distances. The first UAV was a wooden biplane with a range of 75 miles. This technology focused on attacking a specific location with zero chance of return. However, by the 1950s, the United States Air Force was able to develop a UAV capable of returning after attacking a particular point. During World War II, American soldiers were able to use UAVs to spy on their enemies. In the late 1960s, United States Air Force engineers embarked on developing UAVs with better electrical systems to observe activities of their enemies with better precision (Tatsidou et al., 2019).

The significant technological developments since that time have led to improved UAVs that can take part in more delicate and complex missions. The use of advanced electronic controlling systems, better radio systems, high-resolution digital cameras, sophisticated computers, and advanced global positing systems (GPS) allow UAVs to conduct recovery missions effectively during natural disasters. The quality of UAVs significantly increased in the 2000s. UAVs are now used by the military but by private firms, and by individual owner operators. The performance of modern UAVs allows them to provide humanitarian aid in areas affected by natural disasters.

Multiple studies show that UAVs are very effective in delivering items to areas with poor transportation infrastructure. From delivering important supplies to monitoring damage by the use of cameras, UAVs can play a significant role in providing humanitarian aid. When compared to traditional vehicles, UAVs are more sophisticated due to their improved flexibility and ease of use. It is more effective and safer to use a UAV to deliver supplies in dangerous locations than sending a human being. However, UAVs are unable to carry an excessively heavy load because of their size and mostly drop cargo while in route (D'Amato, Notaro & Mattei, 2018).

UAV designers choose to have them release cargo on air or land for a receiver to remove the cargo. However, for delivering humanitarian aid in disaster-hit areas, UAVs are designed to drop suppliers from the air. Based on the limited lifting capacity of UAVs, items must be packaged in small containers (Petrides et al., 2017). Cargo for humanitarian UAVs normally consists of blood, bandages, syringes, water purifying tablets, and medicine. Defibrillation attachments may also be included in the deliverables. These items are light in nature and can be packaged into small containers to be lifted by the UAVs. This allows the UAV to travel for long distances without losing its efficiency.

The impact of weather on a UAV depends on the power, equipment, configuration, and size, as well as the exposure time and the severity of the weather encountered. Most UAVs have characteristics and configurations which make them more vulnerable to extreme weather conditions compared to manned aircraft. In general, today's UAVs are more fragile, lighter, and slower, as well as more sensitive to weather conditions when compared to manned aircraft. Small UAVs are very susceptible to extreme weather conditions. Similar to manned aircraft, certain weather conditions can also affect larger UAVs making them difficult to control.

Extreme weather conditions such as snow, humidity, temperature extremes, solar storms, rain, turbulence, and wind may diminish the aerodynamic performance of UAVs, cause loss of communication, and control. These same conditions can also negatively affect the operator. Most flight regulations currently in use do not address most of the weather hazards facing UAVs. Some of the current restrictions pertaining to weather include remaining 2000 feet away from ceiling and 500 feet below clouds, operating under the unaided visual line, and maintaining visibility for 4.83km (Macias, Angeloudis & Ochieng, 2018). While this eliminates issues of poor visibility, it does not help to reduce safety hazards associated with clear skies. Clear sky hazards may include turbulence, glare, and wind.

Turbulence can also affect the stability of UAVs. Multiple studies show that wind accounted for more than 50% of manned aircrafts accidents. This percentage is higher for small aircraft. This demonstrates the impact turbulence may have on small-unmanned vehicles. The primary ways wind affects UAVs includes reducing endurance, limiting control, and changing flight trajectory. Strong winds affect the path of a UAV. Wind speeds may also surpass the maximum speed of UAVs causing them to struggle in such environments. The impact of turbulence can make it difficult for the UAVs to deliver humanitarian aid to affected areas in a timely manner.

Turbulence, wind gusts, and wind shear all have the potential of affecting control of UAVs and will affect an operator’s ability to complete the mission in the most effective and expedient manner. UAV control is the ability to maneuver the UAV by use of roll, pitch, and yaw. Pitch changes the attack angle for the UAV, roll rotates the UAV, and yaw changes the direction of the UAV. When the speed of the wind increases suddenly, it affects the yaw of the UAV making it difficult for the operator to control it effectively. A horizontal gust can also roll the UAV and is most dangerous when flying in areas with obstructions.

Operational Flexibility of UAVs

UAVs have increased persistence in air operations compared to manned systems making them ideal for conducting humanitarian aid operations. While there are theoretical and practical limits, utilizing few vehicles allows for continuous surveillance for a long period of time. Their flexibility allows them to carry out operations when and where other manned aircraft are unable to operate. The long-endurance capabilities of these vehicles allow them to deliver humanitarian aid many hours into a flight, which could otherwise be impossible with traditional approaches. As a result, people in areas experiencing natural disasters may receive supplies continuously.

While both unmanned and manned air operations can be coordinated by multiple people, not having a physical operator in the vehicle allows multiple operators to share direct controls. The user with the immediate need or situational awareness may assume full control of the UAV. This capability significantly reduces the timelines of coordination between the UAV and ground users. With the dire need associated with response missions, UAVs are better suited to provide humanitarian aid when compared to the traditional methods, which normally takes a significant amount of time to reach those affected.

The ability to use UAVs for disaster response in the United States is largely limited by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The current FAA policy for operating unmanned aerial vehicles in the United States requires specific authority to operate one. In general, any use of UAV requires an airworthiness certification. However, potential users of UAVs face significant regulatory challenges in the United States. The law requires UAVs to include registration numbers in their markings. Operation circular 91-57 describes the differences between non-hobby use and hobby use of UAVs and operating restrictions. The FAA has implemented various orders to restrict the operation of UAVs.

Local governments have developed legislation that describes the potential use of UAVs in emergency situations. Various municipalities including Syracuse, New York, and Charlottesville, Virginia, have implemented further restrictions such as city purchases of UAVs. Serious concerns about data collection and privacy have erupted in the United States. The FAA developed a restriction for privacy in areas of UAVs operations. It is clear that, until the private use regulation, and legislation issues surrounding the adoption of UAVs are not resolved, it will be difficult to use them in first response situations. While these challenges exist, researchers need to explore ways in which UAVs can be used to provide humanitarian aid during natural disasters.

In most cases, designers develop controls that work very well in labs but fail in a real-world situation. The expectation is, through training and familiarization, humans will be able to learn and adapt to the controls and displays. However, this approach is deemed to fail if used in the development of a human-machine interface. As the capabilities of UAVs increase every day, their complexity is also increased. The need to use automation and advanced technology has also increased. While these systems are unmanned, it is important to keep in mind that humans are involved in the control and operation of UAVs (Hildmann & Kovacs, 2019).

The lack of standardization across different UAV human-machine interfaces results in an increased time of training for one system and increased difficulty in transition to other systems. Poor optimization of information results in the difficulty of interpreting system information needed for situational awareness that supports decision making in stressful situations. Lack of adaptability and flexibility in UAVs often lead to poor displays and ultimately to poor situational awareness. Lack of basic sensory cues makes it even more difficult to use UAVs in response missions. The cues which are relevant in manned aircraft suddenly become irrelevant in UAVs (Estrada & Ndoma, 2019). These cues are currently missing in UAVs and need to be incorporated for increased efficiency.

The development of UAVs that consider the end-user could increase their effectiveness in responding to natural disasters. This implies designing human-machine interfaces that are intuitive, functional, and user-friendly that allow easy extraction of relevant information by operators. With the current technological advancements, it is possible to come up with intuitive and functional interfaces that utilize the available cues to maintain high levels of situational awareness needed for effective, efficient, and safe control of UAVs. This will allow operators to understand various aspects of UAVs and be able to deploy them in dangerous areas such as locations affected by natural disasters.

Since the strength of signals is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, unmanned aerial vehicles designed to provide humanitarian aid in areas experiencing natural disasters need to have stronger signals than ground station receivers and satellites. The signal can be triangulated by multiple UAVs if sent in a digital format. In cases where Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) are not transmitting or activated, infrared sensors can be used to search the location of the UAV. Fortunately, sensors in the infrared and low light wavelength have significantly decreased physical dimensions and costs. Onboard automation will be very important for effective UAV operations in extreme conditions.

Mobile Wireless Access Networks

Compared to traditional static sensors, UAVs are still more costly. Considering that the infrastructure needed to respond to such cases is currently being met by the existing infrastructure, it is justified that most studies focus on the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster. UAVs can be used to develop a communication center to provide victims in an affected area with wireless communication. UAVs can also allow people trapped in areas affected by natural calamities to communicate with the emergency control center for rescue (Grogan, Pellerin & Gamache, 2018). One of the benefits of such a system is that it serves those only in the affected location, and this can maximize performance.

The use of UAVs in rescue operations depends on their ability to safely operate in the shared aviation environment. As a result, UAVs must demonstrate they can ensure safety both for people on the ground and other aircraft. However, there are various safety risks associated with UAVs which are different from those presented by manned vehicles. The risk of pilots losing their lives in flight is reduced because UAVs do not have occupants. The use of manned vehicles, on the other hand, implies that people will need to use vehicles to get to areas that have been affected by natural disasters. As a result, the lives of the rescue teams are at risk (Estrada & Ndoma, 2019).

UAV designers are aware of the safety concerns associated with their systems, and more so concerning the poor reliability of such systems in extreme conditions. They understand political support and public trust would fade away in case of an accident. For this reason, safety remains a top priority for the UAV community. UAVs have the potential to provide considerable safety benefits in disaster response operations. Significant technological developments have the potential to improve safety associated with UAVs. Advances in monitoring systems, data exchange networks, communication, sensor detection systems, and automation will have positive impacts on UAVs and the UAV community. Automated takeoff eliminates the possibility of accidents for operators (Escribano Macias, Angeloudis & Ochieng, 2018).

UAVs use the same airspace as other aircraft. As a result, there are high chances of collision in the airspace. Numerous studies by research institutions, universities, industry, and governments across the world have focused on how collisions can be avoided in the airspace. While avoiding collisions is a difficult task, the UAV community has developed see and avoid capabilities that allows them to avoid obstructions. The distance of 25ft for detecting obstructions has been clearly provided by the FAA regulations. The FAA calls for operators to maintain vigilance to detect and avoid collisions with obstructions while flying UAVs.

The use of unmanned aerospace systems (UAS) has increased significantly over the past few years. This has raised significant safety issues concerning UAS. Different countries have developed policies to govern the operation of UAS in the aviation aerospace to enhance safety and security. Various safety initiatives have been developed, most notably the commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) and European Strategic Safety Initiative (ESSI). The purpose of CAST is to reduce the fatality rate associated by commercial aviation by 80%. The ESSI aims to enhance safety for European citizens through safety analysis and coordination with other global safety initiatives.

Most of the studies explore the effectiveness of using UAVs in conducting reconnaissance missions. However, there is a gap in research focused on the effectiveness of using UAVs to provide humanitarian aid during and after natural disasters. There is limited research comparing the effectiveness of using UAVs to conduct rescue and recovery missions compared to the use of manned vehicles. There is also limited research focused on determining the costs and benefits of utilizing emergency response vehicles and UAVs in responding to natural disasters.

This study will determine the resourcefulness of using UAVs in responding to natural disasters while simultaneously providing economic benefits. The study will help develop new knowledge and bridge the existing gap in providing humanitarian aid using UAVs. The findings of this study will increase knowledge on the effectiveness of UAVs in responding to natural disasters and provide more insights on ways that they can be used to respond to affected areas. Ultimately, these insights could help develop more knowledge about the fate associated with rescue operations. The findings of this study can be used as the basis for future studies by researchers interested in this topic.

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