US water mapping could sharpen aerial firefighting deployment

The distance between a wildfire and the nearest usable water source could be as important as an aircraft’s flight range when assessing aerial firefighting coverage, according to a new geospatial modelling project by TracPlus Labs.

The aerial firefighting software company analyzed around 5.7 million water bodies in the US Geological Survey’s national surface-water data set, identifying those whose dimensions could make them suitable for aerial water reloads.

The resulting national map contains approximately 3.6 million potential helicopter reload sites and 57,000 locations that could potentially accommodate fixed-wing scoopers, including Air Tractor Fire Boss and CL-415 aircraft. Scooper-capable water bodies are concentrated in northern US states and the reservoir-rich west, with fewer options across drier areas.

The Labs team’s analysis highlights the potential difference between reach and sustained delivery. An aircraft may be able to reach a fire quickly, but the distance it must travel to reload can determine how frequently it can return to the incident and how much water it can deliver over time.

“A helicopter or a scooper does not make a single drop and stop. It drops, flies to water, reloads, and drops again,” the paper stated.

That distinction could inform standards-of-cover assessments and decisions on where rotary- and fixed-wing firefighting aircraft should be based or pre-positioned.

The model has significant operational limitations. It assesses the physical characteristics of mapped water bodies but does not establish water depth or current levels, obstacles, access, or regulatory approval. A mapped site therefore represents a candidate reload point requiring further assessment, rather than an operationally cleared location.

The working paper and underlying analysis use publicly available data.

Meanwhile, Bridger Aerospace recently partnered with TracPlus to integrate real-time aircraft and mission data into the IGNIS wildfire intelligence platform.