The
Sky Arrow aircraft has been produced since 1996 by Iniziative Industriali
Italiane (or 3I), an
Italian company with a long and successful experience in
manufacturing FAA/FAR23 certified airplanes.
The
Sky Arrow has two seats in tandem configuration, a layout that
allows the pilots to have up to 300° of visibility. The wing is
above the fuselage and a pushing propeller is placed behind the
cabin, as a result
pilots visibility is increased. In addition, sensors and
devices used for surveillance and research missions, usually
installed in the nose or in the bottom of the fuselage, are not
disturbed by the propeller wake.
The
aircraft structure is made of fiber carbon and a lot of experience
has been achieved around its design. In fact, the Sky Arrow has been
the first all carbon-fiber aircraft to be certified for general
aviation in the world.
RAWAS
(Remotely
Assisted Working Aerial System) and RAWAS/ERA
(Environmental Research Aircraft) are systems developed for
territory control, environmental monitoring and scientific research
purposes. The aerial platform for these system is the certified
version of the Sky Arrow, provided with special devices and
equipments. These systems can be grated worldwide, according to each
Country's flight regulations.
Some
fields in which these systems have been applied
are:
- Low
altitude territory aerial
surveillance
-
Illegal
migration control and unauthorized
activities
-
Census
of anthropical activities
-
Traffic
flow control
-
Search
for water and electrical energy
leakages
-
Beach
and coastal areas monitoring
-
Natural
and environmental disaster monitoring and fire
prevention
-
Crops
growth monitoring
-
Aerial
monitoring for pollution, ground surface contamination and
environmental conditions
-
Detection
of electromagnetic, nuclear and other harmful
radiation
-
Detection
of suspended particles and hazardous nocive
gases
-
Photogrammetry
-
Map
development
-
Special
event TV broadcasting
The
applications mentioned above can be classified as
follows:
|
Sector
A |
Description
Real
time Acquisition of data of events, with their transmission to
a Remote Center and Control Station. Used in case of both
surveillance data and monitoring missions carried on for
security and prevention
purposes. |
|
Purposes
To
provide the Center and Control Station with direct Real Time
HD & IR images of the event monitored, in order to perform
early detection of natural or man caused crisis with a short
response time. |
|
Aircraft
Configuration
Aircraft
is configured for territory and environment monitoring and
equipped with electro-optical sensors on steer able
gyro-stabilized platform. |
|
Sector
B/D |
Description
Remote
sensing image acquisition. Aerial monitoring of territory
resources, by means of pictures taken with the Multi-Spectral
Land Mapping technique. The installation of the laser scanner
allows three-dimensional surface data acquisition.
|
|
Purposes
Used
for land mapping, crop monitoring, vegetation and forest fires
area assessment (sector B). Used for quarries, dumping sites
and landslides monitoring. Also used for
environmental risks caused by human influence control (sector
D). |
|
Aircraft
Configuration
Aircraft
is equipped with a multi-spectral digital camera, a thermal
digital camera , a high precision GPS and a laser altimeter to
measure the distance of the aircraft from the
ground. |
|
Sector
C |
Description
Selective
air sampling and turbulence measurement to determine carbon
fluxes and other greenhouse gases
control. |
|
Purposes
Periodic
monitoring of environmental pollution and its trend in
specific areas. Measurement of pollutant fluxes on regional
scale |
|
Aircraft
Configuration
This
activity is performed by the Sky Arrow ERA version. Some of
the on board devices are a BAT-probe for wind and atmosphere
turbulence, infrared open path gas analyzers, temperature
sensors and a laser altimeter.
|
The
ERA/RAWAS System, based on the Sky Arrow aerial platform, meets the
requirements of the Local Public Administration, law enforcement and
private organizations to control both the territory and the
environment.
It
offers several advantages:
- it complements Earth Observation data for detailed
on-time monitoring and on-line supporting of operational
decision;
- it integrates the traditional helicopter (rotating wing)
equipment and it can be used for data-collection missions, that
faster airplanes (fixed wing) cannot
perform;
- it allows operators to drastically cut operating and
maintenance costs.
A
fixed wing aircraft is the best choice for 200 Km (125 miles) range
missions or when monitoring has to be performed by simply orbiting
around the target. The most suitable aircraft for aerial monitoring
must have STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) characteristics in order
to perform take-off and landing on short (e.g.: 300 m) grass type
airstrips. In addition, it has to be able of circling at low
altitude and speed (45 knots, 80 Km/h) and cruising at a
sufficiently high speed (110 knots, 200 Km/h), in order to reduce
the transfer time.
Sky
Arrow presents all the aforementioned characteristics. These,
together with its design specifications and flying qualities, place
the Sky Arrow at the leading edge of aerial surveillance at
medium-low altitude and speed.
The
Sky Arrow, equipped with the ERA/RAWAS System, is currently being
operated by the U.S. Government Institution of National Oceanic
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), research organizations and
universities such as:
- San Diego University (California,
USA);
- Alabama University (Alabama,
USA);
- Lund University (Sweden);
- CNR-IBIMET (National Research Council - Institution for
biometeorology, Florence, ITALY);
- CNR-ISAFOM (National Research Council - Institution for
agricultural and forest systems in the Mediterranean area,
Naples, ITALY);
- Tuscia University (Viterbo,
ITALY);
- Institute for Health Department - Rome University
(ITALY)
