09 April 2012

APPLICATIONS for REMOTELY-OPERATED AIRSHIPS

For those of you who insist that airships' uses are confined to warfare and conflict, here are a list (still in process) of (mostly) peaceful applications of airships . We envision
1. remotely operated hybrid airships, with hydrogen as a lifting gas as there is no fire danger to personnel when using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's).

2. equipped with snap-on/snap-off attachments that allow them to be used for the following purposes where one seeks a non-invasive approach to the environment .

3. The sensors cover a wide variety of uses, and can be readily detached to a snap-on / snap-off attachment on the ventral surface of the airship.

These dedicated uses and applications should relieve un-knowledgeable people from their (previously expressed) concerns about being fired at by rocket-propelled grenades (we frequently encounter that fear, incredible as it may seem, sometimes augmented by the comment that "a blind man could bring them down with an air rifle") . The operators would stay safely ensconced in comfortable office chairs, anywhere up to thousands of miles away, staring at endless arrays of video screens (monitors) .

Remote Sensing
        Attachments & Devices for Primarily Non-Military Clients

1. Sporting event video coverage

2. Law enforcement: traffic, aerial views of traffic accidents;

3. Marine mammal population census, migration patterns

4. Design-and-Build surveys for planning & construction of bridges & roads

5. Marine biology --- spotting red tides in coastal waters; monitoring the      health of coral reefs

6. Fire fighting --- first-on-scene situation assessment in high rise fires,        inaccessible areas, or involving hazardous materials

7. News organizations --- parades, ceremonies, sporting events, and in      situations where danger to the news crew is possible

8. Radioactive and toxic waste sites --- photography & survey without risk

9. Geology --- Oil field exploration; survey & sample of volcanic eruptions

10. Federal & State Forest and Wildlife Services --- tree census; lumber     poaching; game and fish poaching

11. Telecommunications --- surveying & designing fiber optic cable    installations

12. Meteorological observations --- measuring wind speed, air pressure,         air temperature, dew point, and humidity at various altitudes     above ground level 

13. Raising communications antennas during emergency situations

14. Fishing --- spotting commercial and big game fish; schools of food fish         for purse seining; seining schools of small fish and invertebrates for       commercial sale as bait

15. Monitoring railways, pipelines, and power lines --- a constant and ever-        present requirement

16. Monitoring air pollutants for air quality standards determination

17. Agriculture --- Precision Agriculture techniques using remote sensing         technology to monitor crop moisture content; no-harm seeding from the air, in which the soil does not get compacted by heavy      tractors, and remains friable as a good seed bed

18. Archaeological site mapping; correlating aerial photographs with ground         level excavations and discoveries

19. Commercial aerial photography for tourist and visitors’ bureaus, yacht           brokers, school programs; realtors;

20. "Green" non-disruptive exploration of ecologically sensitive biospheres,     such as rain forests and forest canopies

21.  Lifting transmitting equipment into the sky for maximum range.

22. Radio antennas receiving and relaying Intelligence, Survey, and                   Reconnaissance (ISR) data from Ground Forces [military]

23. Long term recording in place by meteorological instruments ---anemometers, humidity meters, thermometers, etc.                        

24. Air sampling for pollutants, particulates, insects, and pollen.

25. Acoustic Sensors for detection of intruders, without the noisy                      interference of internal combustion engine noise

26. Radio relay and jamming for counter-insurgency purposes. [military]

27. Detecting mines & other explosive devices [military]

28. Thermal Imaging                                                                          

29. Precise aiming of conventional ballistic weapons from a safe         distance by Forward Artillery Observers [military]

30. Battlefield or Distant Control of ground forces [military]

31. Crowd control and detection devices [law enforcement]
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This is a list of remote sensing devices for which UAV's are ideally suited.
Making the sensing devices --- themselves --- detachable multiplies
their abilities,
their cost-effectiveness,
their safety (as they are no longer prime targets),
their flexibility of mission, and
their carrying capacities  (as there is no need to carry pilots, radio operators, toilet facilities, or food supplies for crew snacks) .

REMOTE SENSING SNAP-ON / SNAP-OFF ATTACHMENTS

A central facility would maintain an inventory of the following typical   remote sensing devices is this far-from-comprehensive list:

        Imaging / Microscopy Cameras


        CCD (Charge-Coupled Devices);

        Color CCD;

        Cooled CCD
        

        CID Cameras for Aerial Photography  & Videography

        
Digital cameras


        High-speed or slow-motion videography


        Holographic imaging


        Low-light-level photography


        Oscilloscope data recording


        Micro-Photographic imaging


        Scintillation counters


        Time-lapse photography


        Ultraviolet and Infrared videography


        X-ray photography, and 

        Spectrophotometers  

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