The New England Aquarium's Large Whale & Turtle Survey Project & ASSIST-U.S.

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Volume 3 #9
www.assist-us.com

ASSIST-U.S.® Capabilities and Operations for Maritime Domain Awareness -- The New England Aquarium's Large Whale & Turtle Survey

Greetings!

This month, pilot and project manager Richard R. Jackson discusses our collaboration with the New England Aquarium and how ASSIST-U.S.® has staffed up and added new resources to our aerial assets to meet the needs of this fascinating maritime domain awareness project.

Sincerely,

Carolyn Abbott,

Director of Marketing Communications

Introducing Richard R. Jackson

It is a pleasure this month to introduce a new member of the ASSIST-U.S.® team and the article he has written here describing our preparation and support of the New England Aquarium's Large Whale and Turtle Survey Project.

Rich Jackson joined us last month after distinguished careers in business and the military as an executive and pilot supporting Department of Defense (DoD) activities in the U.S. and overseas. Rich served as an officer and command pilot in both the Air Force and the Coast Guard, retiring from the latter with the rank of Commander. Subsequently, he supported the DoD in Iraq and Kosovo as a civilian executive and pilot in both rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft. He's been a test pilot, flight instructor and standardization examiner with over 10,000 hours of flight time.

As described in the article, Rich has provided his experience and expertise to the development of the safe and effective flight program that ASSIST-U.S.® is providing the Aquarium.

This is yet another example of how ASSIST-U.S.® continues to expand and grow our capabilities and operations to meet the needs of emerging markets.

Sincerely,
Gerry Kobelski, CEO
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Maritime Domain Awareness and the New England Aquarium's Large Whale & Turtle Survey Project

By Richard R. Jackson, ASSIST-U.S. Pilot/Project Manager

What is Maritime Domain Awareness?

Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is defined as "the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could impact its security, safety, economy, or environment." [Source: Wikipedia, Maritime Domain Awareness, quoting from US Navy/DOD documentation.]

While Maritime Domain Awareness is often thought of in the context of military uses, it also used extensively by the environmental monitoring and marine research community for non-military purposes.

ASSIST-U.S.® has officially begun performing MDA for marine science as the primary aerial resource for the New England Aquarium's Aquarium's right whale, other large whales and turtle survey, funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

This is part of a collaborative effort of associated scientists, including the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, forming the Northeast Large Pelagic Survey Collaborative (NLPSC).

ASSIST-U.S. Cessna O2-A

Our extensive preparations for the contract included:

acquiring the best aircraft;
training the aircrew in industry standard survival skills for over water operations;
making certified, state-of-the-art aircraft modifications to meet the project's photo, reconnaissance, communications, and navigation requirements

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Preparing for the First Survey Flight

An evaluator selected by the New England Aquarium (NEAq) conducted an extensive safety review of the entire ASSIST-U.S.® aviation operation, which we presented to fulfill part of the contract requirements.

L-R: Bob Lynch (PCCS) & Jessica Taylor (NEAq), Rich Jackson & Scott Patten (ASSIST-U.S.)
after the shakedown test flight

After completing all preparations, the ASSIST-U.S.® and NLPSC crew performed a "shake down" operational test and evaluation flight. This all-day test operation was a successful dress rehearsal for our first mission. After final adjustments, a short flight successfully demonstrated that all procedures, techniques, and equipment were ready to go.

Beyond the custom installation of a digital photography port/bay, we also acquired and installed equipment to allow the crew to actively track and generate automated reports while in flight. This system allows for several specified persons to track the mission operations and maintain an active guard for a distress situation. Both of these steps highlight the kind of mission excellence that ASSIST-U.S.® presents at efficient cost to our clients.

Humpback Whales playing

The ASSIST-U.S.®/NLPSC team flew a successful first mission on October 9th, 2011.

Although the Right Whales remained elusive, we were able to survey numerous marine life species, including Humpback Whales, Dolphins, Leatherback Turtles, Seals and various fish species.

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Flying the Grid

This project covers approximately 500 miles ranging from 25-50 miles off the Massachusetts coast. The tracks defined for the project cover three distinct areas where there is industry interest in offshore renewable energy development. During the flight, the survey shifts a slight distance so we are not flying over the same tracks each time. This allows for a more random representative sample, which in this case and in many recon/surveillance surveys, is important when decision makers need to act upon the data collected.

These preset tracks, which are set by latitude and longitude, are entered into the aircraft's GPS navigation system. The resulting flight paths are the flown track miles of the surveys.

Cartography: Brooke Wikgren, New England Aquarium

This scientific aerial reconnaissance project showcases the ability of ASSIST-U.S.® to innovate and respond in a timely manner, bring extensive capabilities to bear, and rebuild an operational capability that had been absent for this type of project for some time in the New England area.

The level of deliverable capabilities for this type of project requires an in-depth project package covering extensive aircrew and aircraft capabilities.

ASSIST-U.S.® is pleased to have been able to put this package together for the New England Aquarium.

Although focused on marine science support and surveying, this type of aerial reconnaissance methodology and planning is applicable to a wide range of MDA missions, ranging from law enforcement and national security to commercial development and surveying.

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ASSIST-U.S.® & Future Maritime Domain Awareness Projects

Next up: a contract with Staten Island University for an Ornithology Survey project is nearly complete and will follow the same MDA protocols developed for the Aquarium project.

Staten Island, NY

Several other onsite visits to our operations center and inquiries by the Marine Sciences community indicate an active interest in the ASSIST-U.S.® MDA services. Of special interest to them is our ability to use our ISR-based capabilities to improve not only the survey operations but also the information gathering and recording capabilities of this community.

A demonstration of this capability is what initially led to the collaboration between the New England Aquarium and ASSIST-U.S.®, as this blog on the New England Aquarium's website shows.

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