Air Vehicle Technology Integration Program (AVTIP). Delivery Order 0054: Opportune Landing Site (OLS) Critical Experiment

• Main Authors: Rufa, Justin R., Eizenga, Kenneth, Ventresca, Carol, McCarty, Robert
• Other Authors: AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH AIR VEHICLES DIRECTORATE
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Terminal Flight Facilities; Computer Programming and Software; Military Aircraft Operations; *CONTROL SYSTEMS; *SATELLITE IMAGERY; *LANDING FIELDS; *SOFTWARE ENGINEERING; MILITARY APPLICATIONS; AGREEMENTS; MULTISENSORS; REMOTE DETECTORS; DEMONSTRATIONS; MILITARY FORCES(UNITED STATES); COMPUTER PROGRAMS; BEARING STRENGTH; *OLS(OPPORTUNE LANDING SITE); ERDC(ENGINEER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER); CRREL(COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LABORATORY); EXTENDED VECTOR METHODS; PE0401122; WUAFRLA06R0A; Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA499541; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA499541

The Opportune Landing Site (OLS) Software Demonstration Program heralds an intriguing and exciting concept in the potential capability for United States military forces acting throughout the globe. The OLS software components were designed by Boeing and by the US Army's Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) working within a cooperative agreement to develop software that would find landing sites that were flat and free of vegetation, standing water, obstructions, and with sufficient strength to support aircraft operations. The OLS-MS software was demonstrated in St. Clair County, Illinois. AMC tasked a trained STT member to identify all suitable landing areas in Eastern St. Clair County to compare with the software results. All 25 sites identified by the OLS software and inspected by the reviewers were determined to be suitable. Of the 16 sites found using traditional methods, 18.75% (3 out of 16) of those identified manually were found to be unacceptable upon inspection. The OLS Demonstration proved the concept that software can assess landing-site geometry and can estimate candidate OLS bearing strength. Prepared in cooperation with the Boeing Company.