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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, June 4, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Francisco drone delivery company Zipline hopes to one day fly your burrito — and other consumer goods — right to your front porch. It’s already doing so in Dallas and elsewhere across the country. But before it can expand, Zipline’s drones are flying thousands of \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2026/05/19/delivering-the-future-zipline-tests-drones-high-above-historic-yolo-county-cattle-ranch/\">test missions above a serene Yolo County cattle ranch\u003c/a> near Esparto. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Diego is exploring \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/03/nx-s1-5810173/why-one-of-the-cities-most-dependent-on-the-colorado-river-now-has-water-for-sale\">selling its Colorado River water\u003c/a> to other states that need it. Desalinated seawater is making it possible. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Voters in Shasta County appear to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/elections/2026-06-03/shasta-county-election-results-francescut-winning-county-clerk-moderate-supervisor-candidates-leading\">rejecting a controversial county clerk\u003c/a> who’s been trying to implement major reforms to the elections system there.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"page-title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2026/05/19/delivering-the-future-zipline-tests-drones-high-above-historic-yolo-county-cattle-ranch/\">\u003cstrong>Delivering the future: Zipline tests drones high above historic Yolo County ranch\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bay Area drone delivery company Zipline hopes to one day fly your burrito — and all kinds of consumer goods — right to your front porch. It’s already doing so in Dallas and elsewhere across the country. But before it can expand, Zipline’s aircraft are flying thousands of test missions above a vast Yolo County ranch near Esparto, where the Stone family has run cattle for half a century and the drones aren’t the only innovation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent tour of the Yolo Land & Cattle Company, co-owner Casey Stone stops to gaze at Zipline’s test site. He calls it “the space center,” a hub of activity almost hidden by the ranch’s fog-cloaked foothills about 40 miles west of Sacramento. Dozens of white drones with flashing green and red lights take to the sky. They’re hovering over the middle of his 7,500-acre property. Two-story tall drone docking towers wait for their return. Zipline engineers monitor their flight from the ground below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stone describes the scene this way: “My analogy is when you see ‘Close Encounters [of the Third Kind]’, where they’re climbing around the mountain and they see the extraterrestrial space station there — that’s kind of what it is.” They might look surreal, but Zipline’s drones aren’t something out of a movie. Instead, they’re on the cutting-edge of consumer goods transportation. The company, based in South San Francisco, is in competition with tech behemoths like \u003ca href=\"https://www.wxyz.com/news/region/oakland-county/an-inside-look-at-amazons-prime-air-drone-delivery-center-in-pontiac\">Amazon\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/alphabet-wing-drone-delivery-22091853.php\">Google\u003c/a> to dominate the future of air deliveries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Yolo County, Zipline’s drones operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, flying hundreds of feet above the Stone family’s green pastures and rolling hills east of Lake Berryessa. Zipline’s Mike Rigby is in charge of the drone testing. His company believes its technology will be a game changer — one that takes millions of delivery cars and trucks off the road and replaces them with faster, cleaner electric-powered aircraft. “As our CEO famously likes to say, ‘You don’t need a 4,000 pound vehicle to chauffeur your burrito to yah,’” Rigby says. “We can do that a lot more economically and efficiently through this aircraft.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zipline drones carry up to eight pounds of goods. The company can fit everything from medicine to groceries to gardening supplies inside the six-foot-long aircraft. But rather than touching down outside your home or office, the drones themselves stay high above. Rigby, as if he’s reading from a sci-fi script, explains what happens next: “And then the zip has a small little droid unit that comes out of the belly of the aircraft on a tether. It has its own propulsion system, as well. So, it’s kind of a sub-aircraft.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Zipline perfects its deliveries across the country, the Stone ranch will be home to even more aircraft. The Yolo County planning commission last fall \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/inno/stories/news/2025/10/09/zipline-expanded-drone-testing-yolo-county.html\">gave the green light\u003c/a> for expanded testing on the property.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/03/nx-s1-5810173/why-one-of-the-cities-most-dependent-on-the-colorado-river-now-has-water-for-sale\">\u003cstrong>Why one of the cities most dependent on the Colorado River now has water for sale\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even as California is offering to take less water from the drought-shrunken Colorado River, one of the state’s biggest cities that’s long been the most dependent on it curiously now has excess water to sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a good year, San Diego gets barely 8 inches of rain. And not too long ago, the picturesque coastal city was staring down major water supply shortages. It’s notoriously at the end of the line of the Colorado River “straw,” a good three-hour drive from the shrinking river itself. But today, thanks in part to aggressive water recycling and urban and agricultural conservation programs and a big bet made on salt water, San Diego has a surplus and other thirsty nearby cities and states are eager to tap it. “I don’t think we can save the Colorado River, but what we’re looking to do is show that there is an opportunity to manage the system in a new way,” says Meena Westford, director of imported water at the San Diego County Water Authority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Carlsbad State Beach north of the city, roughly 100 million gallons of seawater gets pumped through gravel and sand and treated via reverse osmosis at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. About 50 million gallons a day turns into potable water. Since it came online at the site of a former coal-fired power plant in late 2015, the facility produces about 7-10% of the region’s water. Right now anyway, despite the western megadrought, they don’t need it locally. “We’re the only agency that is bringing new water into the system. This is not horse trading Colorado River water. This is really introducing and augmenting the system with new water,” Westford says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No one is talking about building a pipeline from here to Arizona or trucking the extra desalinated water to Las Vegas. Westford says to think of it more like a transfer on paper. If approved by the Department of the Interior, the authority would exchange its existing Colorado River supplies stored in Lake Mead for desalinated water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But desalinated water is energy intensive and extremely expensive to make. Water from the San Diego plant is estimated to cost upwards of five to 10 times more than river water. And environmentalists like Patrick McDonough warn that building more desal plants up and down the California coast isn’t the panacea for the Colorado River crisis. \u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>The water produced by this massive, biggest in the Western Hemisphere desalination plant is a drop in the swimming pool compared to the entire Colorado River basin supplies issue,” says McDonough, a senior attorney with San Diego Coastkeeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But people are willing to pay for it no matter the price. It’s so scary dry in the Southwest right now. It’s also been years since anyone developed new supplies. Southern Nevada Water Authority general manager John Entsminger says Las Vegas doesn’t need the water this year. “But that does not mean I’m not willing to invest in a project and a process that leaves water in Lake Mead for the greater benefit of the entire system,” Entsminger told NPR. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, reservoirs on the Colorado that are the nation’s two largest, are so low they may no longer be able to produce hydropower. Federal forecasts predict the water could get so low at the Hoover Dam that the turbines would shut down, the dreaded deadpool. The Rocky Mountains are coming off their hottest and driest winter on record.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/elections/2026-06-03/shasta-county-election-results-francescut-winning-county-clerk-moderate-supervisor-candidates-leading\">\u003cstrong>Controversial Shasta County clerk trailing in re-election bid\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"ArtP-subheadline\">Joanna Francescut is leading the race for Shasta County Clerk, according to preliminary results Wednesday morning. The closely watched race has become a referendum on how elections should be run in Shasta County. Francescut and incumbent Clint Curtis have offered sharply different visions for the office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"ArtP-articleContainer\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"ArtP-articleBody\">\n\u003cp>Francescut is currently leading Curtis with over 56% of the vote. Ballots may continue to arrive up to a week after Election Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Francescut worked in the Shasta County elections office for 17 years and served as assistant county clerk. She campaigned on following state election laws while increasing transparency and restoring stability to the office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Shasta County Board of Supervisors appointed Curtis last year in a controversial decision. He had no prior experience running elections and sought to make changes that he said would make elections more secure and transparent. Those efforts included filming ballots as they were counted and eliminating electronic poll pads used to check in voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The race was also a rematch of last year’s appointment process. Francescut was a finalist for the position before supervisors selected Curtis. Curtis later fired her from the elections office. Because only two candidates are running for county clerk, the race will be decided in the primary. If Francescut wins, however, she will not take office until January, when Curtis’ term ends.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, June 4, 2026\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Francisco drone delivery company Zipline hopes to one day fly your burrito — and other consumer goods — right to your front porch. It’s already doing so in Dallas and elsewhere across the country. But before it can expand, Zipline’s drones are flying thousands of \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2026/05/19/delivering-the-future-zipline-tests-drones-high-above-historic-yolo-county-cattle-ranch/\">test missions above a serene Yolo County cattle ranch\u003c/a> near Esparto. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Diego is exploring \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/03/nx-s1-5810173/why-one-of-the-cities-most-dependent-on-the-colorado-river-now-has-water-for-sale\">selling its Colorado River water\u003c/a> to other states that need it. Desalinated seawater is making it possible. \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Voters in Shasta County appear to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/elections/2026-06-03/shasta-county-election-results-francescut-winning-county-clerk-moderate-supervisor-candidates-leading\">rejecting a controversial county clerk\u003c/a> who’s been trying to implement major reforms to the elections system there.\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 class=\"page-title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2026/05/19/delivering-the-future-zipline-tests-drones-high-above-historic-yolo-county-cattle-ranch/\">\u003cstrong>Delivering the future: Zipline tests drones high above historic Yolo County ranch\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bay Area drone delivery company Zipline hopes to one day fly your burrito — and all kinds of consumer goods — right to your front porch. It’s already doing so in Dallas and elsewhere across the country. But before it can expand, Zipline’s aircraft are flying thousands of test missions above a vast Yolo County ranch near Esparto, where the Stone family has run cattle for half a century and the drones aren’t the only innovation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent tour of the Yolo Land & Cattle Company, co-owner Casey Stone stops to gaze at Zipline’s test site. He calls it “the space center,” a hub of activity almost hidden by the ranch’s fog-cloaked foothills about 40 miles west of Sacramento. Dozens of white drones with flashing green and red lights take to the sky. They’re hovering over the middle of his 7,500-acre property. Two-story tall drone docking towers wait for their return. Zipline engineers monitor their flight from the ground below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stone describes the scene this way: “My analogy is when you see ‘Close Encounters [of the Third Kind]’, where they’re climbing around the mountain and they see the extraterrestrial space station there — that’s kind of what it is.” They might look surreal, but Zipline’s drones aren’t something out of a movie. Instead, they’re on the cutting-edge of consumer goods transportation. The company, based in South San Francisco, is in competition with tech behemoths like \u003ca href=\"https://www.wxyz.com/news/region/oakland-county/an-inside-look-at-amazons-prime-air-drone-delivery-center-in-pontiac\">Amazon\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/alphabet-wing-drone-delivery-22091853.php\">Google\u003c/a> to dominate the future of air deliveries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Yolo County, Zipline’s drones operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, flying hundreds of feet above the Stone family’s green pastures and rolling hills east of Lake Berryessa. Zipline’s Mike Rigby is in charge of the drone testing. His company believes its technology will be a game changer — one that takes millions of delivery cars and trucks off the road and replaces them with faster, cleaner electric-powered aircraft. “As our CEO famously likes to say, ‘You don’t need a 4,000 pound vehicle to chauffeur your burrito to yah,’” Rigby says. “We can do that a lot more economically and efficiently through this aircraft.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zipline drones carry up to eight pounds of goods. The company can fit everything from medicine to groceries to gardening supplies inside the six-foot-long aircraft. But rather than touching down outside your home or office, the drones themselves stay high above. Rigby, as if he’s reading from a sci-fi script, explains what happens next: “And then the zip has a small little droid unit that comes out of the belly of the aircraft on a tether. It has its own propulsion system, as well. So, it’s kind of a sub-aircraft.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Zipline perfects its deliveries across the country, the Stone ranch will be home to even more aircraft. The Yolo County planning commission last fall \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/inno/stories/news/2025/10/09/zipline-expanded-drone-testing-yolo-county.html\">gave the green light\u003c/a> for expanded testing on the property.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/03/nx-s1-5810173/why-one-of-the-cities-most-dependent-on-the-colorado-river-now-has-water-for-sale\">\u003cstrong>Why one of the cities most dependent on the Colorado River now has water for sale\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even as California is offering to take less water from the drought-shrunken Colorado River, one of the state’s biggest cities that’s long been the most dependent on it curiously now has excess water to sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a good year, San Diego gets barely 8 inches of rain. And not too long ago, the picturesque coastal city was staring down major water supply shortages. It’s notoriously at the end of the line of the Colorado River “straw,” a good three-hour drive from the shrinking river itself. But today, thanks in part to aggressive water recycling and urban and agricultural conservation programs and a big bet made on salt water, San Diego has a surplus and other thirsty nearby cities and states are eager to tap it. “I don’t think we can save the Colorado River, but what we’re looking to do is show that there is an opportunity to manage the system in a new way,” says Meena Westford, director of imported water at the San Diego County Water Authority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Carlsbad State Beach north of the city, roughly 100 million gallons of seawater gets pumped through gravel and sand and treated via reverse osmosis at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. About 50 million gallons a day turns into potable water. Since it came online at the site of a former coal-fired power plant in late 2015, the facility produces about 7-10% of the region’s water. Right now anyway, despite the western megadrought, they don’t need it locally. “We’re the only agency that is bringing new water into the system. This is not horse trading Colorado River water. This is really introducing and augmenting the system with new water,” Westford says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No one is talking about building a pipeline from here to Arizona or trucking the extra desalinated water to Las Vegas. Westford says to think of it more like a transfer on paper. If approved by the Department of the Interior, the authority would exchange its existing Colorado River supplies stored in Lake Mead for desalinated water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But desalinated water is energy intensive and extremely expensive to make. Water from the San Diego plant is estimated to cost upwards of five to 10 times more than river water. And environmentalists like Patrick McDonough warn that building more desal plants up and down the California coast isn’t the panacea for the Colorado River crisis. \u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>The water produced by this massive, biggest in the Western Hemisphere desalination plant is a drop in the swimming pool compared to the entire Colorado River basin supplies issue,” says McDonough, a senior attorney with San Diego Coastkeeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But people are willing to pay for it no matter the price. It’s so scary dry in the Southwest right now. It’s also been years since anyone developed new supplies. Southern Nevada Water Authority general manager John Entsminger says Las Vegas doesn’t need the water this year. “But that does not mean I’m not willing to invest in a project and a process that leaves water in Lake Mead for the greater benefit of the entire system,” Entsminger told NPR. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, reservoirs on the Colorado that are the nation’s two largest, are so low they may no longer be able to produce hydropower. Federal forecasts predict the water could get so low at the Hoover Dam that the turbines would shut down, the dreaded deadpool. The Rocky Mountains are coming off their hottest and driest winter on record.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ijpr.org/elections/2026-06-03/shasta-county-election-results-francescut-winning-county-clerk-moderate-supervisor-candidates-leading\">\u003cstrong>Controversial Shasta County clerk trailing in re-election bid\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"ArtP-subheadline\">Joanna Francescut is leading the race for Shasta County Clerk, according to preliminary results Wednesday morning. The closely watched race has become a referendum on how elections should be run in Shasta County. Francescut and incumbent Clint Curtis have offered sharply different visions for the office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"ArtP-articleContainer\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"ArtP-articleBody\">\n\u003cp>Francescut is currently leading Curtis with over 56% of the vote. Ballots may continue to arrive up to a week after Election Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Francescut worked in the Shasta County elections office for 17 years and served as assistant county clerk. She campaigned on following state election laws while increasing transparency and restoring stability to the office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Shasta County Board of Supervisors appointed Curtis last year in a controversial decision. He had no prior experience running elections and sought to make changes that he said would make elections more secure and transparent. Those efforts included filming ballots as they were counted and eliminating electronic poll pads used to check in voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The race was also a rematch of last year’s appointment process. Francescut was a finalist for the position before supervisors selected Curtis. Curtis later fired her from the elections office. Because only two candidates are running for county clerk, the race will be decided in the primary. If Francescut wins, however, she will not take office until January, when Curtis’ term ends.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "could-san-francisco-turn-to-drones-to-solve-its-illegal-dumping-problem",
"title": "Could San Francisco Turn to Drones to Solve Its Illegal Dumping Problem?",
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"headTitle": "Could San Francisco Turn to Drones to Solve Its Illegal Dumping Problem? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> took a step forward on Thursday towards allowing the city to use drones and cameras to identify a visible problem — piles of illegally dumped trash on public streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Board of Supervisors committee advanced a proposal to use automated license plate reader\u003cem>s \u003c/em>on cameras and drones to sweep the city and capture evidence of illegal dumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed locations for illegal dumping cameras have been identified by Public Works using street data for service orders where garbage trucks have been dispatched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those caught piling trash next to city garbage cans, as well as auto parts and furniture — a misdemeanor offense — may receive a citation. Fines can reach up to $1,000 per dump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move from San Francisco comes after Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/04/10/drones-illegal-dumping-oakland-aerbits/\">approved\u003c/a> a six-month deal with a San Francisco company to operate a similar program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084819\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084819\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2249629711.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1308\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2249629711.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2249629711-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2249629711-1536x1015.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In an aerial view, a surveillance camera is seen on a light post on Dec. 2, 2025, in San Francisco, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a recent interview with KQED, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084482/oakland-mayor-barbara-lee-signals-shell-run-for-full-term-in-november\">Mayor Barbara Lee touted\u003c/a> the program as one of the successes of her tenure so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Privacy advocates, however, have called for more transparency for how the technology would be used and what guidelines would be in place for what data the surveillance drones capture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mike Katz-Lacabe, advocate and director of research for Oakland Privacy, questioned what the city will do with any footage inevitably captured that is unrelated to the dumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And then what oversight of this program would there be?” Katz-Lacabe said. “And who would be conducting that oversight?\u003cem>”\u003c/em>[aside postID=news_12084352 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/SFZooGetty.jpg']According to Esther Lee, government affairs liaison with San Francisco Public Works, access to data is limited to specific employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Data retention policies are exactly the way city and county of San Francisco policies are, 30 days for raw data,” Lee said. “Only video clips and images will be retained for authorized use in this policy, which is related to illegal dumping. Sharing of data with external parties is prohibited.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public works illegal dumping camera system currently consists of a two-camera system at each location, a video camera with pan-tilt-zoom capabilities and an automated license plate reader.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee said that authorized video clips would be shared with city departments on a case-by-case basis to pursue criminal charges for illegal dumping only.\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cbr>\n“\u003c/em>We plan to put this on our website and on social media,” she said. “And it’s polite to say it’s public education, but to us, we plan to shame these people for coming into San Francisco and dumping their trash onto our streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10643255\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10643255\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978.jpg\" alt=\"File photo of a unmanned aircraft, or drone, flying over a house.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1377\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978-400x287.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978-800x574.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978-1440x1033.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978-1180x846.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978-960x689.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An unmanned drone flying over a house. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, Shilpi Agarwal, legal director with the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, said it’s hard for “any public body” to say that “they can safely and warrantlessly use drones for civil enforcement without actually spying on people.”\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n“The power of drone technology, the specificity of the images, the degree to which they can fit, the depth and detail with which they capture sort of the goings on that they are surveilling is really sort of unparalleled and has never before been kind of tested in the courts,” Agarwal said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The full Board of Supervisors will review the committee’s recommendations on June 2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "As the city looks to expand surveillance to stop illegal dumping, privacy advocates said they have concerns about how the data will be used.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> took a step forward on Thursday towards allowing the city to use drones and cameras to identify a visible problem — piles of illegally dumped trash on public streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Board of Supervisors committee advanced a proposal to use automated license plate reader\u003cem>s \u003c/em>on cameras and drones to sweep the city and capture evidence of illegal dumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed locations for illegal dumping cameras have been identified by Public Works using street data for service orders where garbage trucks have been dispatched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those caught piling trash next to city garbage cans, as well as auto parts and furniture — a misdemeanor offense — may receive a citation. Fines can reach up to $1,000 per dump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move from San Francisco comes after Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/04/10/drones-illegal-dumping-oakland-aerbits/\">approved\u003c/a> a six-month deal with a San Francisco company to operate a similar program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12084819\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12084819\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2249629711.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1308\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2249629711.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2249629711-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2249629711-1536x1015.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In an aerial view, a surveillance camera is seen on a light post on Dec. 2, 2025, in San Francisco, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a recent interview with KQED, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084482/oakland-mayor-barbara-lee-signals-shell-run-for-full-term-in-november\">Mayor Barbara Lee touted\u003c/a> the program as one of the successes of her tenure so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Privacy advocates, however, have called for more transparency for how the technology would be used and what guidelines would be in place for what data the surveillance drones capture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mike Katz-Lacabe, advocate and director of research for Oakland Privacy, questioned what the city will do with any footage inevitably captured that is unrelated to the dumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And then what oversight of this program would there be?” Katz-Lacabe said. “And who would be conducting that oversight?\u003cem>”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>According to Esther Lee, government affairs liaison with San Francisco Public Works, access to data is limited to specific employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Data retention policies are exactly the way city and county of San Francisco policies are, 30 days for raw data,” Lee said. “Only video clips and images will be retained for authorized use in this policy, which is related to illegal dumping. Sharing of data with external parties is prohibited.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public works illegal dumping camera system currently consists of a two-camera system at each location, a video camera with pan-tilt-zoom capabilities and an automated license plate reader.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee said that authorized video clips would be shared with city departments on a case-by-case basis to pursue criminal charges for illegal dumping only.\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cbr>\n“\u003c/em>We plan to put this on our website and on social media,” she said. “And it’s polite to say it’s public education, but to us, we plan to shame these people for coming into San Francisco and dumping their trash onto our streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10643255\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10643255\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978.jpg\" alt=\"File photo of a unmanned aircraft, or drone, flying over a house.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1377\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978-400x287.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978-800x574.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978-1440x1033.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978-1180x846.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS8329_IMG_1308.JPG-alt_319-e1439586720978-960x689.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An unmanned drone flying over a house. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, Shilpi Agarwal, legal director with the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, said it’s hard for “any public body” to say that “they can safely and warrantlessly use drones for civil enforcement without actually spying on people.”\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n“The power of drone technology, the specificity of the images, the degree to which they can fit, the depth and detail with which they capture sort of the goings on that they are surveilling is really sort of unparalleled and has never before been kind of tested in the courts,” Agarwal said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The full Board of Supervisors will review the committee’s recommendations on June 2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "sonoma-county-deployed-drones-700-times-since-2019-says-aclu-lawsuit",
"title": "Sonoma County Deployed Drones 700 Times Since 2019, Says ACLU Lawsuit",
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"headTitle": "Sonoma County Deployed Drones 700 Times Since 2019, Says ACLU Lawsuit | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California is suing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sonoma-county\">Sonoma County\u003c/a> for what it alleges is the county’s unconstitutional and invasive use of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/drones\">drones\u003c/a> to spy on residents as part of its enforcement efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The surveillance drone program was originally used to track down \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022803/exclusive-ex-rohnert-park-cop-faces-few-consequences-illegal-cannabis-grow\">illegal cannabis cultivation\u003c/a> in hard-to-reach rural areas, but its use has since expanded beyond cannabis to issues such as building code violations and zoning rule infringements, the lawsuit alleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since they were introduced in 2019, drones have been deployed more than 700 times, and at least 5,600 images have been captured, according to the lawsuit. It also alleges that most of the deployments have specifically targeted residential areas and private properties, occasionally resulting in penalties for code infractions, ground searches and criminal investigations — all without a warrant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sonoma County’s warrantless drone surveillance program violates the California Constitution, which guarantees the people’s affirmative right to privacy and right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government,” the lawsuit reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the county’s drone program is described in the suit as notable due to its scale and sophistication, it is far from the only one in the state. As more counties and government agencies, such as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042515/sf-crypto-billionaire-wants-to-donate-millions-for-police-drones-surveillance-efforts\">San Francisco Police Department\u003c/a>, expand their use of drones and other aerial surveillance devices, the lawsuit calls attention to the public’s growing concerns over the right to privacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10831641\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10831641\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/RS8331_IMG_1310-e1452733518537.jpg\" alt=\"California lawmakers have introduced several bills to regulate drone use in the state.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California lawmakers have introduced several bills to regulate drone use in the state. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The lawsuit is about our right to privacy and our right to live private lives in and around our homes as technology moves forward and the government gets powerful devices like drones,” said Matt Cagle, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California. “\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Sonoma County declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ACLU NorCal attorneys filed the lawsuit on behalf of three Sonoma County residents and property owners who accused the county of subjecting them to invasive surveillance operations, according to the lawsuit. Other defendants include county officials, code enforcement officers and Permit Sonoma, the agency that oversees land use and permitting, as well as the drone program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nichola Schmitz, one of the plaintiffs, said in the lawsuit that she only learned of the drones surveilling her home when a worker on her property pointed it out to her. Schmitz said she immediately ran into her home and was concerned that the drones had seen her naked earlier in the day.[aside postID=news_12042515 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250418-SFPDFile-45-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']Shortly after the incident, Schmitz received notice that parts of her property were in violation of the county code. She has since paid $25,000 to resolve the issue and is facing $10,000 in additional fees. According to the lawsuit, it was confirmed that drones were used to identify the violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This horrible experience has shattered my sense of privacy and security,” Schmitz said in a statement. “I’m afraid to open my blinds or go outside to use my hot tub because who knows when the county’s drone could be spying on me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Cagle, drones have been used in the county to monitor private residences near the city of Santa Rosa, backyards, children’s play areas, swimming pools and hot tubs. The county has also made efforts to conceal its drone program from the public, he alleged, adding that officials have killed amendments to its surveillance policy that would restrict how drones can be used.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are seeking a permanent injunction against the use of taxpayer dollars to fund the program and also a judicial warrant requirement for any future drone flights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that people have a right to live their lives privately in and around their homes,” he said. “If a government agency is going to monitor private activities or private spaces where people expect to be having their privacy, they need to be getting a warrant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the California Constitution, people are entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy from government surveillance in their homes and in the areas around their homes, Cagle said. The lawsuit against Sonoma County will help determine whether that expectation still stands in the “drone era,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an important test case,” Cagle told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there are laws relating to when private citizens and private individuals can use drones, when it comes to laws relating to government use of drones, it’s kind of the Wild West.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/slewis\">\u003cem>Sukey Lewis\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The county’s drone program, originally used to track down illegal cannabis cultivation, has drawn criticism from privacy experts. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California is suing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sonoma-county\">Sonoma County\u003c/a> for what it alleges is the county’s unconstitutional and invasive use of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/drones\">drones\u003c/a> to spy on residents as part of its enforcement efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The surveillance drone program was originally used to track down \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022803/exclusive-ex-rohnert-park-cop-faces-few-consequences-illegal-cannabis-grow\">illegal cannabis cultivation\u003c/a> in hard-to-reach rural areas, but its use has since expanded beyond cannabis to issues such as building code violations and zoning rule infringements, the lawsuit alleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since they were introduced in 2019, drones have been deployed more than 700 times, and at least 5,600 images have been captured, according to the lawsuit. It also alleges that most of the deployments have specifically targeted residential areas and private properties, occasionally resulting in penalties for code infractions, ground searches and criminal investigations — all without a warrant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sonoma County’s warrantless drone surveillance program violates the California Constitution, which guarantees the people’s affirmative right to privacy and right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government,” the lawsuit reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the county’s drone program is described in the suit as notable due to its scale and sophistication, it is far from the only one in the state. As more counties and government agencies, such as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042515/sf-crypto-billionaire-wants-to-donate-millions-for-police-drones-surveillance-efforts\">San Francisco Police Department\u003c/a>, expand their use of drones and other aerial surveillance devices, the lawsuit calls attention to the public’s growing concerns over the right to privacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10831641\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10831641\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/RS8331_IMG_1310-e1452733518537.jpg\" alt=\"California lawmakers have introduced several bills to regulate drone use in the state.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California lawmakers have introduced several bills to regulate drone use in the state. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The lawsuit is about our right to privacy and our right to live private lives in and around our homes as technology moves forward and the government gets powerful devices like drones,” said Matt Cagle, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California. “\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Sonoma County declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ACLU NorCal attorneys filed the lawsuit on behalf of three Sonoma County residents and property owners who accused the county of subjecting them to invasive surveillance operations, according to the lawsuit. Other defendants include county officials, code enforcement officers and Permit Sonoma, the agency that oversees land use and permitting, as well as the drone program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nichola Schmitz, one of the plaintiffs, said in the lawsuit that she only learned of the drones surveilling her home when a worker on her property pointed it out to her. Schmitz said she immediately ran into her home and was concerned that the drones had seen her naked earlier in the day.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Shortly after the incident, Schmitz received notice that parts of her property were in violation of the county code. She has since paid $25,000 to resolve the issue and is facing $10,000 in additional fees. According to the lawsuit, it was confirmed that drones were used to identify the violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This horrible experience has shattered my sense of privacy and security,” Schmitz said in a statement. “I’m afraid to open my blinds or go outside to use my hot tub because who knows when the county’s drone could be spying on me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Cagle, drones have been used in the county to monitor private residences near the city of Santa Rosa, backyards, children’s play areas, swimming pools and hot tubs. The county has also made efforts to conceal its drone program from the public, he alleged, adding that officials have killed amendments to its surveillance policy that would restrict how drones can be used.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are seeking a permanent injunction against the use of taxpayer dollars to fund the program and also a judicial warrant requirement for any future drone flights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that people have a right to live their lives privately in and around their homes,” he said. “If a government agency is going to monitor private activities or private spaces where people expect to be having their privacy, they need to be getting a warrant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the California Constitution, people are entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy from government surveillance in their homes and in the areas around their homes, Cagle said. The lawsuit against Sonoma County will help determine whether that expectation still stands in the “drone era,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an important test case,” Cagle told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there are laws relating to when private citizens and private individuals can use drones, when it comes to laws relating to government use of drones, it’s kind of the Wild West.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/slewis\">\u003cem>Sukey Lewis\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco officials said Tuesday that the police are actively using drone technology, marking the first time in 24 years that police have had air support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police Chief William Scott said during a press conference that the department has deployed six drones in the past few months. The drones were purchased in May and cost $35,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This initial phase of the department’s drone program follows the passage of Proposition E in March. The measure allows SFPD to utilize drones and other surveillance technology, and it rolls back the city’s 2019 ban on the use of facial recognition technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While city officials said the drones are a “game changer” for the police department, some criminal justice experts and privacy advocates have pointed out concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It sort of comes up against the public square threshold for which you can reasonably expect to be observed by the state and potentially recorded by the state because drones are less visible than crime cameras,” said Jack Glaser, a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley. “Most people aren’t really aware of them and thinking about them, and yet [the cameras are] recording them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glaser warned that if not used correctly, the technology could invade privacy and that the drones’ capacity could exasperate the over-policing of marginalized communities. He said that it’s fairly unsurprising that San Francisco is implementing the technology on the heels of the recall of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin in 2022 and amid the “doom loop” rhetoric contributing to a perception of increased crime in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think when people are concerned about crime, they get more tolerant of invasive, intrusive actions by law enforcement,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID=news_11998290 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/RS15012_475371701.jpg-alt_261-1440x1034.jpg']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drones will be used to quicken response time, improve situational awareness and precision and help avoid unnecessary police chases, according to Scott. He and Mayor London Breed said they believe the technology will further reduce crime, which was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996211/san-francisco-crime-is-down-significantly-but-its-not-clear-trend-will-last\">down significantly\u003c/a> in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is truly a force multiplier, and in light of all of our staff shortages, this could not have come at a better time,” Scott said at the press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who also spoke at the press conference, confirmed that she has filed charges in multiple auto burglary cases because of drones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco has been far behind the curve in having the technology that we need to curb crime,” Jenkins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some opposition groups have argued that the city’s use of drones violates California state law AB 481, which requires cities to go through a public approval process before acquiring items considered “military equipment.” Scott said the department believes it is in accordance with state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drones are not being used for surveillance purposes and can only be activated in response to police incidents. Footage is stored for up to 30 days before being deleted if not tied to a crime, Scott told reporters. Breed said the department is also increasing other surveillance technology and license plate scanners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The police department has plans to purchase 22 more drones, along with peripheral equipment and software, for an additional $324,000 this year, according to \u003ca href=\"https://sfgov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6717195&GUID=27A31B2E-869C-49A5-8E77-C85C3CA81DD9&Options=ID%7cText%7c&Search=drones\">police records\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco officials said Tuesday that the police are actively using drone technology, marking the first time in 24 years that police have had air support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police Chief William Scott said during a press conference that the department has deployed six drones in the past few months. The drones were purchased in May and cost $35,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This initial phase of the department’s drone program follows the passage of Proposition E in March. The measure allows SFPD to utilize drones and other surveillance technology, and it rolls back the city’s 2019 ban on the use of facial recognition technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While city officials said the drones are a “game changer” for the police department, some criminal justice experts and privacy advocates have pointed out concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It sort of comes up against the public square threshold for which you can reasonably expect to be observed by the state and potentially recorded by the state because drones are less visible than crime cameras,” said Jack Glaser, a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley. “Most people aren’t really aware of them and thinking about them, and yet [the cameras are] recording them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glaser warned that if not used correctly, the technology could invade privacy and that the drones’ capacity could exasperate the over-policing of marginalized communities. He said that it’s fairly unsurprising that San Francisco is implementing the technology on the heels of the recall of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin in 2022 and amid the “doom loop” rhetoric contributing to a perception of increased crime in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think when people are concerned about crime, they get more tolerant of invasive, intrusive actions by law enforcement,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drones will be used to quicken response time, improve situational awareness and precision and help avoid unnecessary police chases, according to Scott. He and Mayor London Breed said they believe the technology will further reduce crime, which was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996211/san-francisco-crime-is-down-significantly-but-its-not-clear-trend-will-last\">down significantly\u003c/a> in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is truly a force multiplier, and in light of all of our staff shortages, this could not have come at a better time,” Scott said at the press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who also spoke at the press conference, confirmed that she has filed charges in multiple auto burglary cases because of drones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco has been far behind the curve in having the technology that we need to curb crime,” Jenkins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some opposition groups have argued that the city’s use of drones violates California state law AB 481, which requires cities to go through a public approval process before acquiring items considered “military equipment.” Scott said the department believes it is in accordance with state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drones are not being used for surveillance purposes and can only be activated in response to police incidents. Footage is stored for up to 30 days before being deleted if not tied to a crime, Scott told reporters. Breed said the department is also increasing other surveillance technology and license plate scanners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The police department has plans to purchase 22 more drones, along with peripheral equipment and software, for an additional $324,000 this year, according to \u003ca href=\"https://sfgov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6717195&GUID=27A31B2E-869C-49A5-8E77-C85C3CA81DD9&Options=ID%7cText%7c&Search=drones\">police records\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "police-want-drones-in-car-chases-how-sfs-prop-e-could-affect-that",
"title": "SF's Proposition E Could Weaken Police Policy on Drones in Car Chases",
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"content": "\u003cp>Two months ago, a robbery suspect in a high-speed car chase struck Ciara Keegan’s Honda CR-V while fleeing police. Keegan, 25, had been on the phone with her boyfriend, making dinner plans, when she saw the suspect’s car bearing down on hers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All (my boyfriend) heard was the crash, my screams, the sirens of police cars,” Keegan told CalMatters in a phone interview. Seeing smoke after the crash, she worried that her car would set on fire. “As I was being loaded into the ambulance, I saw the other car completely \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/san-francisco-police-pursuit-after-chinatown-robbery-ends-in-fiery-oakland-crash/\">engulfed in flames\u003c/a>,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Matt Cagle, senior staff attorney, Northern California chapter of the ACLU\"]‘The idea of having drivers flee police cars as well as having to look over the shoulder to figure out where the police drone is as well doesn’t seem like a recipe for safer police car chases or public safety generally for pedestrians and people in the city’[/pullquote]The chase ended in Oakland but began in Chinatown in San Francisco, where in March voters will decide on Proposition E. The wide-ranging measure would loosen restrictions put on police use of surveillance technology in 2019 and allow police to use drones in high-speed chases, among other things. The local measure could have statewide implications for law enforcement, as policies adopted in one California city can be copied elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re seeing in San Francisco isn’t limited to San Francisco,” said Saira Hussain, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights advocacy group. “It has implications for other cities and jurisdictions as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police and Proposition E supporters say using drones in car chases will reduce injuries. Keegan is skeptical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m worried police chases will increase in frequency, and more people will get hurt, and there will be less safeguards for the general public, and San Franciscans will be treated like collateral damage,” said Keegan, who was born and raised in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/20231017_PoliceDepartmentMeasure.pdf?_gl=1*1giu43p*_ga*MzE5ODgwNzU5LjE3MDU5NTgxNTg.*_ga_BT9NDE0NFC*MTcwNjEyNzY5OS4yLjAuMTcwNjEyNzY5OS4wLjAuMA..*_ga_63SCS846YP*MTcwNjEyNzY5OS4yLjAuMTcwNjEyNzY5OS4wLjAuMA..\">Proposition E\u003c/a> would allow police to test surveillance technology for a year or more unless the County Board of Supervisors intervenes and gives police the power to deploy cameras and drones without oversight. Proposition E rolls back \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/us/facial-recognition-ban-san-francisco.html\">a 2019 law\u003c/a> that bans the use of face recognition by police and requires public disclosure and debate before police obtain new forms of surveillance technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an important moment where powerful interests are trying to attack oversight and limitations on their power,” said Matt Cagle, a senior staff attorney for the Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco is one of the largest major cities to adopt surveillance technology oversight championed by the ACLU. In recent years, half a dozen cities, from Oakland and Berkeley in the Bay Area to San Diego in southern California, have adopted similar policies, but efforts are underway to reduce those powers. In December 2023, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria \u003ca href=\"https://www.kpbs.org/news/public-safety/2023/12/22/gloria-pushes-for-substantial-changes-to-san-diegos-surveillance-technology-rules\">proposed\u003c/a> amendments that civil liberty advocates argue water down surveillance technology oversight. Hussein points to \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2014#99INT\">AB 2014\u003c/a>, a bill proposed last month by Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, a Democrat from Elk Grove, as another attempt in this vein. That bill would enable unarmed drone donations from the US military to state and local law enforcement agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco set a standard for civil liberties protections when it passed a law that makes public comment and local governing body approval of new police uses of surveillance technology, Hussain said. She said that if Proposition E passes, it has implications in other parts of California where lawmakers may consider a policy that puts unilateral decision-making power about tech adoption in the hands of police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pendulum has swung toward public oversight in recent years and rightfully so, said Yes on Proposition E spokesperson Joe Arellano, but people are fed up with seeing small businesses get burglarized. He said Proposition E gives police the power to initiate the pursuit of people accused of committing property crimes but doesn’t make it a mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police currently have the discretion to pursue any suspect deemed a risk to public safety regardless of the crime they’re suspected of committing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our officers are highly trained and should be trusted to make smart decisions about these incidents,” Arellano said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reggie Jones-Sawyer, the Democrat assembly member from Los Angeles and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/08/california-legislature-jones-sawyer/\">chair of the public safety committee,\u003c/a> said measures like Proposition E could have unintended consequences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You could implement this [Prop. E] and find out later that it causes more problems than you anticipated,” said Jones-Sawyer, who recalled being \u003ca href=\"https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/california-at-crossroads-over-policing-and-facial-recognition\">falsely identified\u003c/a> as a criminal by face recognition along with other members of the California legislature back in 2019. “That showed a flaw, so with any new technology, whether it’s drones or others, we really need to look at all the ramifications that can come about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Drones in car chases\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There were 42 San Francisco car chases in 2023, according to California Highway Patrol records obtained by CalMatters. By comparison, 28 car chases a year occurred on average from 2018 to 2022. There was also a higher-than-average number of injuries and deaths last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now Proposition E, which is supported \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/decision-2024/san-francisco-mayor-london-breed-prop-e/3434049/\">by San Francisco Mayor London Breed\u003c/a> and bankrolled with more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/march-2024-prop-e-tech-money-conway-larsen-police-18570659.php\">$300,000 from tech tycoons\u003c/a>, asks voters to change vehicle pursuit policy to allow police to chase suspects for misdemeanor crimes and use drones along with or in lieu of vehicular pursuits. Police in many major cities limit pursuits to violent crimes and suspects who pose a serious threat to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>High-speed vehicle pursuits resulted in 56 collisions from 2018 to 2022 in San Francisco. Forty percent of chases resulted in a collision, and 1 in 6 chases resulted in an injury to a suspect driver, police officer, or bystander, according to the California Highway Patrol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vehicle pursuits of suspects led to 52 deaths statewide in 2021, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.chp.ca.gov/Documents/2022%20Police%20Pursuits%20Report%20to%20the%20Legislature%203.pdf\">highway patrol report\u003c/a>, and roughly 1 in 3 crashes involving police pursuit of a suspect resulted in an injury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters say drones can play a role in high-speed vehicle pursuits and possibly reduce injuries to bystanders and police officers by reducing the number of police vehicles involved. The ACLU and other groups that oppose Proposition E say it guts hard-won reforms and endangers the public, officers, and suspects by authorizing high-speed chases for low-level crimes in one of the densest cities in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cagle says he wants proof that drone involvement in police car chases won’t make things worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea of having drivers flee police cars as well as having to look over the shoulder to figure out where the police drone is as well doesn’t seem like a recipe for safer police car chases or public safety generally for pedestrians and people in the city,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/documents/eye-in-the-sky-policing-needs-strict-limits\">2023 ACLU report\u003c/a> found that more than 1,400 police departments in the U.S. use drones today and that drone-as-a-first-responder programs are on the rise. In 2017, the Chula Vista Police Department in San Diego was the \u003ca href=\"https://venturebeat.com/ai/drones-are-changing-the-way-police-respond-to-911-calls/\">first in the nation\u003c/a> to receive a federal aviation administration exemption allowing drones to operate outside of the sight range of their pilots. So far this year, the Chula Vista Police Department has sent drones in response to roughly a quarter of 911 calls for service. Elsewhere in California, police in \u003ca href=\"https://www.fremont.gov/government/citywide-initiatives/public-safety-initiatives/drone-as-first-responders-dfr\">Fremont\u003c/a>, San Pablo, and Santa Monica are exploring drone-as-a-first-responder programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The claim that drones can stop high-speed vehicle pursuits features prominently in promotional material distributed by companies that sell drones to police. At a debut in San Francisco’s Marina District last fall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/new-autonomous-drone-for-cops-can-track-you-in-the-dark/\">Skydio introduced X-10\u003c/a>, a drone that can fly in the dark at speeds of 45 miles per hour. Once X-10 locks on a target, the drone can follow people and vehicles from high in the air, so speed isn’t as much of a factor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skydio CEO Adam Bry discussed ongoing efforts to enable drone-as-a-first-responder programs in other U.S. cities, including New York, where vehicle pursuits are on the rise and police envision autonomous drone deployments. Skydio partners with Axon, a company whose AI ethics oversight board resigned in protest following a pitch for autonomous Taser-mounted drones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Highway Patrol \u003ca href=\"https://www.chp.ca.gov/Documents/2022%20Police%20Pursuits%20Report%20to%20the%20Legislature%203.pdf\">found\u003c/a> that suspect apprehension is more likely with aerial support. In Los Angeles, police prioritize air support from helicopters when considering whether to pursue a fleeing suspect or known risk to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But an LAPD review ordered last year by the Board of Police Commissioners following a rise in injuries found that 1 in 4 vehicle pursuits end in a collision, and half of the people injured are bystanders. Los Angeles allows high-speed pursuits for misdemeanors, as Proposition E would allow in San Francisco. San Francisco Chief Bill Scott told the police commission the department is developing a drone use policy but currently does not use drones or helicopters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same meeting, Department of Police Accountability Policy Director Janelle Caywood evaluated the department’s vehicle pursuit policy and compiled a report on vehicle pursuit best practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She called the current vehicle pursuit policy average compared to other U.S. cities. She also noted that injuries and deaths are on the rise in some major cities. In New York City, police pursuits are \u003ca href=\"https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44477538/police-chases-up-new-york-los-angeles/\">up 600%\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caywood recommended using drones to reduce the need for pursuits and de-escalate incidents. If use is limited to crimes in progress and vehicular pursuits, she told the commission that drone use may be worth discussing but that drones should go through the surveillance tech oversight process put into place in 2019 to ensure safe use and protection of civil liberties. She also recommends exploring the use of devices that shoot GPS trackers at fleeing vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cagle said he fears increased drone use could result in privacy violations and higher levels of surveillance of communities of color. Community members expressed a similar concern in 2022 when arguing that \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/san-franciscos-killer-police-robots-threaten-the-citys-most-vulnerable/\">San Francisco’s police department should not have access to killer robots\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chinese for Affirmative Action is a civil rights group based in San Francisco that’s part of a coalition of community groups, including the ACLU, that oppose Proposition E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen how police chases have led to the deaths and injuries of our community members in San Francisco,” said the group’s community safety and justice policy manager, Nhi Nguyen, in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nguyen believes that if Proposition E passes, it could have implications for other municipalities when elected officials try to expand tools for local police in an election year. She argues the root cause of public safety concerns is access to housing, education, health care and economic opportunity. “We can’t police chase and surveillance our way out of socio-economic problems,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Body cameras and use of force\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If passed, Proposition E would also allow \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2023/04/california-police-shooting-videos/\">body-worn cameras\u003c/a> to satisfy reporting requirements in incidents involving police use of force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Police Department is 18 times as likely to use force on Black residents compared to white residents and five times as likely to use force on Hispanic residents compared to white residents, according to \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2023/11/sfpd-cant-explain-massive-racial-force-disparities/\">data released in November 2023\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ripa-board-report-2022.pdf\">2022 California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board report\u003c/a> also found that the department is more likely to use force against people who identify as transgender and people with mental health conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposition E will make it harder for community members to know how many use-of-force incidents are taking place in San Francisco, which puts lives at risk, said Sana Sethi, spokesperson for the SF Rising Action Fund, which also opposes the measure. She fears other cities may adopt similar policies and expand surveillance if Proposition E passes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since crime in San Francisco attracts so much media attention, she’s concerned that passage of Proposition E will amplify a narrative that distracts from evidence-based solutions to crime reduction like access to housing, health care, and substance abuse treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Prop. E would bring a new standard of lack of oversight on harmful tactics, not only here, but throughout California,” Sethi said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Despite higher than average number of police pursuits in 2023, Proposition E would weaken existing policy and allow drone use. Opponents say that’s a risk to public safety that could have a ripple effect for the rest of California.",
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"title": "SF's Proposition E Could Weaken Police Policy on Drones in Car Chases | KQED",
"description": "Despite higher than average number of police pursuits in 2023, Proposition E would weaken existing policy and allow drone use. Opponents say that’s a risk to public safety that could have a ripple effect for the rest of California.",
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"headline": "SF's Proposition E Could Weaken Police Policy on Drones in Car Chases",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Two months ago, a robbery suspect in a high-speed car chase struck Ciara Keegan’s Honda CR-V while fleeing police. Keegan, 25, had been on the phone with her boyfriend, making dinner plans, when she saw the suspect’s car bearing down on hers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All (my boyfriend) heard was the crash, my screams, the sirens of police cars,” Keegan told CalMatters in a phone interview. Seeing smoke after the crash, she worried that her car would set on fire. “As I was being loaded into the ambulance, I saw the other car completely \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/san-francisco-police-pursuit-after-chinatown-robbery-ends-in-fiery-oakland-crash/\">engulfed in flames\u003c/a>,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘The idea of having drivers flee police cars as well as having to look over the shoulder to figure out where the police drone is as well doesn’t seem like a recipe for safer police car chases or public safety generally for pedestrians and people in the city’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The chase ended in Oakland but began in Chinatown in San Francisco, where in March voters will decide on Proposition E. The wide-ranging measure would loosen restrictions put on police use of surveillance technology in 2019 and allow police to use drones in high-speed chases, among other things. The local measure could have statewide implications for law enforcement, as policies adopted in one California city can be copied elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re seeing in San Francisco isn’t limited to San Francisco,” said Saira Hussain, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights advocacy group. “It has implications for other cities and jurisdictions as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police and Proposition E supporters say using drones in car chases will reduce injuries. Keegan is skeptical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m worried police chases will increase in frequency, and more people will get hurt, and there will be less safeguards for the general public, and San Franciscans will be treated like collateral damage,” said Keegan, who was born and raised in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/20231017_PoliceDepartmentMeasure.pdf?_gl=1*1giu43p*_ga*MzE5ODgwNzU5LjE3MDU5NTgxNTg.*_ga_BT9NDE0NFC*MTcwNjEyNzY5OS4yLjAuMTcwNjEyNzY5OS4wLjAuMA..*_ga_63SCS846YP*MTcwNjEyNzY5OS4yLjAuMTcwNjEyNzY5OS4wLjAuMA..\">Proposition E\u003c/a> would allow police to test surveillance technology for a year or more unless the County Board of Supervisors intervenes and gives police the power to deploy cameras and drones without oversight. Proposition E rolls back \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/us/facial-recognition-ban-san-francisco.html\">a 2019 law\u003c/a> that bans the use of face recognition by police and requires public disclosure and debate before police obtain new forms of surveillance technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an important moment where powerful interests are trying to attack oversight and limitations on their power,” said Matt Cagle, a senior staff attorney for the Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco is one of the largest major cities to adopt surveillance technology oversight championed by the ACLU. In recent years, half a dozen cities, from Oakland and Berkeley in the Bay Area to San Diego in southern California, have adopted similar policies, but efforts are underway to reduce those powers. In December 2023, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria \u003ca href=\"https://www.kpbs.org/news/public-safety/2023/12/22/gloria-pushes-for-substantial-changes-to-san-diegos-surveillance-technology-rules\">proposed\u003c/a> amendments that civil liberty advocates argue water down surveillance technology oversight. Hussein points to \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2014#99INT\">AB 2014\u003c/a>, a bill proposed last month by Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, a Democrat from Elk Grove, as another attempt in this vein. That bill would enable unarmed drone donations from the US military to state and local law enforcement agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco set a standard for civil liberties protections when it passed a law that makes public comment and local governing body approval of new police uses of surveillance technology, Hussain said. She said that if Proposition E passes, it has implications in other parts of California where lawmakers may consider a policy that puts unilateral decision-making power about tech adoption in the hands of police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pendulum has swung toward public oversight in recent years and rightfully so, said Yes on Proposition E spokesperson Joe Arellano, but people are fed up with seeing small businesses get burglarized. He said Proposition E gives police the power to initiate the pursuit of people accused of committing property crimes but doesn’t make it a mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police currently have the discretion to pursue any suspect deemed a risk to public safety regardless of the crime they’re suspected of committing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our officers are highly trained and should be trusted to make smart decisions about these incidents,” Arellano said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reggie Jones-Sawyer, the Democrat assembly member from Los Angeles and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/08/california-legislature-jones-sawyer/\">chair of the public safety committee,\u003c/a> said measures like Proposition E could have unintended consequences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You could implement this [Prop. E] and find out later that it causes more problems than you anticipated,” said Jones-Sawyer, who recalled being \u003ca href=\"https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/california-at-crossroads-over-policing-and-facial-recognition\">falsely identified\u003c/a> as a criminal by face recognition along with other members of the California legislature back in 2019. “That showed a flaw, so with any new technology, whether it’s drones or others, we really need to look at all the ramifications that can come about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Drones in car chases\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There were 42 San Francisco car chases in 2023, according to California Highway Patrol records obtained by CalMatters. By comparison, 28 car chases a year occurred on average from 2018 to 2022. There was also a higher-than-average number of injuries and deaths last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now Proposition E, which is supported \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/decision-2024/san-francisco-mayor-london-breed-prop-e/3434049/\">by San Francisco Mayor London Breed\u003c/a> and bankrolled with more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/march-2024-prop-e-tech-money-conway-larsen-police-18570659.php\">$300,000 from tech tycoons\u003c/a>, asks voters to change vehicle pursuit policy to allow police to chase suspects for misdemeanor crimes and use drones along with or in lieu of vehicular pursuits. Police in many major cities limit pursuits to violent crimes and suspects who pose a serious threat to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>High-speed vehicle pursuits resulted in 56 collisions from 2018 to 2022 in San Francisco. Forty percent of chases resulted in a collision, and 1 in 6 chases resulted in an injury to a suspect driver, police officer, or bystander, according to the California Highway Patrol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vehicle pursuits of suspects led to 52 deaths statewide in 2021, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.chp.ca.gov/Documents/2022%20Police%20Pursuits%20Report%20to%20the%20Legislature%203.pdf\">highway patrol report\u003c/a>, and roughly 1 in 3 crashes involving police pursuit of a suspect resulted in an injury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters say drones can play a role in high-speed vehicle pursuits and possibly reduce injuries to bystanders and police officers by reducing the number of police vehicles involved. The ACLU and other groups that oppose Proposition E say it guts hard-won reforms and endangers the public, officers, and suspects by authorizing high-speed chases for low-level crimes in one of the densest cities in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cagle says he wants proof that drone involvement in police car chases won’t make things worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea of having drivers flee police cars as well as having to look over the shoulder to figure out where the police drone is as well doesn’t seem like a recipe for safer police car chases or public safety generally for pedestrians and people in the city,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/documents/eye-in-the-sky-policing-needs-strict-limits\">2023 ACLU report\u003c/a> found that more than 1,400 police departments in the U.S. use drones today and that drone-as-a-first-responder programs are on the rise. In 2017, the Chula Vista Police Department in San Diego was the \u003ca href=\"https://venturebeat.com/ai/drones-are-changing-the-way-police-respond-to-911-calls/\">first in the nation\u003c/a> to receive a federal aviation administration exemption allowing drones to operate outside of the sight range of their pilots. So far this year, the Chula Vista Police Department has sent drones in response to roughly a quarter of 911 calls for service. Elsewhere in California, police in \u003ca href=\"https://www.fremont.gov/government/citywide-initiatives/public-safety-initiatives/drone-as-first-responders-dfr\">Fremont\u003c/a>, San Pablo, and Santa Monica are exploring drone-as-a-first-responder programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The claim that drones can stop high-speed vehicle pursuits features prominently in promotional material distributed by companies that sell drones to police. At a debut in San Francisco’s Marina District last fall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/new-autonomous-drone-for-cops-can-track-you-in-the-dark/\">Skydio introduced X-10\u003c/a>, a drone that can fly in the dark at speeds of 45 miles per hour. Once X-10 locks on a target, the drone can follow people and vehicles from high in the air, so speed isn’t as much of a factor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skydio CEO Adam Bry discussed ongoing efforts to enable drone-as-a-first-responder programs in other U.S. cities, including New York, where vehicle pursuits are on the rise and police envision autonomous drone deployments. Skydio partners with Axon, a company whose AI ethics oversight board resigned in protest following a pitch for autonomous Taser-mounted drones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Highway Patrol \u003ca href=\"https://www.chp.ca.gov/Documents/2022%20Police%20Pursuits%20Report%20to%20the%20Legislature%203.pdf\">found\u003c/a> that suspect apprehension is more likely with aerial support. In Los Angeles, police prioritize air support from helicopters when considering whether to pursue a fleeing suspect or known risk to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But an LAPD review ordered last year by the Board of Police Commissioners following a rise in injuries found that 1 in 4 vehicle pursuits end in a collision, and half of the people injured are bystanders. Los Angeles allows high-speed pursuits for misdemeanors, as Proposition E would allow in San Francisco. San Francisco Chief Bill Scott told the police commission the department is developing a drone use policy but currently does not use drones or helicopters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same meeting, Department of Police Accountability Policy Director Janelle Caywood evaluated the department’s vehicle pursuit policy and compiled a report on vehicle pursuit best practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She called the current vehicle pursuit policy average compared to other U.S. cities. She also noted that injuries and deaths are on the rise in some major cities. In New York City, police pursuits are \u003ca href=\"https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44477538/police-chases-up-new-york-los-angeles/\">up 600%\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caywood recommended using drones to reduce the need for pursuits and de-escalate incidents. If use is limited to crimes in progress and vehicular pursuits, she told the commission that drone use may be worth discussing but that drones should go through the surveillance tech oversight process put into place in 2019 to ensure safe use and protection of civil liberties. She also recommends exploring the use of devices that shoot GPS trackers at fleeing vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cagle said he fears increased drone use could result in privacy violations and higher levels of surveillance of communities of color. Community members expressed a similar concern in 2022 when arguing that \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/san-franciscos-killer-police-robots-threaten-the-citys-most-vulnerable/\">San Francisco’s police department should not have access to killer robots\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chinese for Affirmative Action is a civil rights group based in San Francisco that’s part of a coalition of community groups, including the ACLU, that oppose Proposition E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen how police chases have led to the deaths and injuries of our community members in San Francisco,” said the group’s community safety and justice policy manager, Nhi Nguyen, in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nguyen believes that if Proposition E passes, it could have implications for other municipalities when elected officials try to expand tools for local police in an election year. She argues the root cause of public safety concerns is access to housing, education, health care and economic opportunity. “We can’t police chase and surveillance our way out of socio-economic problems,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Body cameras and use of force\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If passed, Proposition E would also allow \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2023/04/california-police-shooting-videos/\">body-worn cameras\u003c/a> to satisfy reporting requirements in incidents involving police use of force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Police Department is 18 times as likely to use force on Black residents compared to white residents and five times as likely to use force on Hispanic residents compared to white residents, according to \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2023/11/sfpd-cant-explain-massive-racial-force-disparities/\">data released in November 2023\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ripa-board-report-2022.pdf\">2022 California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board report\u003c/a> also found that the department is more likely to use force against people who identify as transgender and people with mental health conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposition E will make it harder for community members to know how many use-of-force incidents are taking place in San Francisco, which puts lives at risk, said Sana Sethi, spokesperson for the SF Rising Action Fund, which also opposes the measure. She fears other cities may adopt similar policies and expand surveillance if Proposition E passes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since crime in San Francisco attracts so much media attention, she’s concerned that passage of Proposition E will amplify a narrative that distracts from evidence-based solutions to crime reduction like access to housing, health care, and substance abuse treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Prop. E would bring a new standard of lack of oversight on harmful tactics, not only here, but throughout California,” Sethi said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "californias-fight-against-wildfires-turns-to-ai-drones-and-satellites",
"title": "California's Fight Against Wildfires Turns to AI, Drones and Satellites",
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"headTitle": "California’s Fight Against Wildfires Turns to AI, Drones and Satellites | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11954879/how-californias-firefighter-union-could-get-guaranteed-raises-forever\">Cal Fire\u003c/a> Battalion Chief Jon Heggie wasn’t expecting much to worry about when a late summer fire erupted north of Santa Cruz, home to California’s moist and cool “asbestos forests.” This place doesn’t burn, he thought, with just three notable fires there in 70 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heggie’s job was to predict for the crews where the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> might go and when, working through calculations based on topography, weather and fuels — the “immutable” basics. For fire behavior analysts like Heggie, predictable and familiar are manageable, while weird and unexpected are synonyms for danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that 2020 fire was anything but predictable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around 3 a.m. on Aug. 16, ominous thunder cells formed over the region. Tens of thousands of lightning strikes rained down, creating a convulsion of fire that became the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/16/czu-lightning-complex-including-warnella-fire/\">CZU Lightning Complex\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By noon there were nearly two dozen fires burning, and not nearly enough people to handle them. Flames were roaring throughout the Coast Range in deep-shaded forests and waist-high ferns in sight of the Pacific Ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No one had ever seen anything like it.\u003cem> \u003c/em>The blaze defied predictions and ran unchecked for a month. The fire spread to San Mateo County, burned through 86,000 acres, destroyed almost 1,500 structures and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/czu-lighting-complex-fire-victim-died-trying-to-flee-flames-6-rescued-while-trying-to-return-to-evacuated-homes/\">killed a fleeing resident\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was astonishing to see that behavior and consumption of heavy fuels,” Heggie said. “Seeing the devastation was mind-boggling. Things were burning outside the norm. I hadn’t seen anything burn that intensely in my 30 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost as troubling was what this fire \u003cem>didn’t\u003c/em> do — it didn’t back off at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would have burning periods increase in the afternoon, and we saw continuous high-intensity burns in the night,” Heggie said. “That’s when we are supposed to make up ground. That didn’t happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jon Heggie, battalion chief, Cal Fire\"]‘Seeing the devastation was mind-boggling. Things were burning outside the norm. I hadn’t seen anything burn that intensely in my 30 years.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That 2020 summer of fires, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/07/california-fires-2020/\">the worst in California history\u003c/a>, recalibrated what veteran firefighters understand about fire behavior: Nothing \u003cem>is\u003c/em> as it \u003cem>was.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Intensified by climate change, especially warmer nights and longer droughts, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-wildfires-explained/\">California’s fires often morph into megafires\u003c/a>, and even gigafires covering more than a million acres. U.S. wildfires have been \u003ca href=\"https://cires.colorado.edu/news/us-fires-four-times-larger-three-times-more-frequent-2000\">four times larger and three times more frequent\u003c/a> since 2000, according to University of Colorado researchers. And other scientists recently predicted that \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2213815120\">up to 52% more California forest acreage\u003c/a> will burn in summertime over the next two decades because of the changing climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As California now heads into its peak time for wildfires, even with last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/california-wildfires/2022/12/california-wildfires-2022/\">quiet season\u003c/a> and the end of its three-year drought, the specter of megafires hasn’t receded. Last winter’s record winter rains, rather than tamping down fire threats, have promoted lush growth, which provides more fuel for summer fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire officials warn that this year’s conditions are similar to the summer and fall of 2017 — when a rainy winter was followed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2017\">one of the state’s most destructive fire seasons\u003c/a>, killing 47 people and destroying almost 11,000 structures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955548\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955548 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured in a dark room with two, large LCD screens illuminated with maps displayed on them. Two people are observing the screens with one man pointing up toward the screen on the left.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">US Forest Service teams deploy drones to capture photographs and infrared images, which are used to map fires to find areas where flames are still active and where they might spread. \u003ccite>(Andrew Avitt/US Forest Service)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s not just the size and power of modern wildfires, but their capricious behavior that has confounded fire veterans — the feints and shifts that bedevil efforts to predict what a fire might do and then devise strategies to stop it. It’s a dangerous calculation: In the literal heat of a fire, choices are consequential. People’s lives and livelihoods are at stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire crews now often find themselves outflanked. Responding to larger and more erratic and intense fires requires more personnel and equipment. And staging crews and engines where flames are expected to go have been thrown off-kilter.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Gov. Gavin Newsom\"]‘We live in this new reality. … We’re enlisting cutting-edge technology in our efforts to fight wildfires, exploring how innovations like artificial intelligence can help us identify threats quicker and deploy resources smarter.’[/pullquote]“We live in this new reality,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a recent Cal Fire event, “where we can’t necessarily attach ourselves to some of the more predictive models of the past because of a world that is getting a lot hotter, a lot drier and a lot more uncertain because of climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalFire has responded by tapping into all the new technology — such as drones, military satellites, infrared images and AI-assisted maps — that can be brought to bear during a fire. Commanders now must consider a broader range of possibilities so they can pivot when the firefront shifts in an unexpected way. The agency also has beefed up its ability to fight nighttime fires with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/fire-protection/aviation-program\">new fleet of Fire Hawk helicopters\u003c/a> equipped to fly in darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has thrown every possible data point at the problem with its year-old \u003ca href=\"https://fireforecast.caloes.ca.gov/\">Wildfire Threat and Intelligence Integration Center\u003c/a>, which pulls information from dozens of federal, state and private sources to create a minute-by-minute picture of conditions conducive to sparking or spreading fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re enlisting cutting-edge technology in our efforts to fight wildfires,” Newsom said, “exploring how innovations like artificial intelligence can help us identify threats quicker and deploy resources smarter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An unforeseen assault on a coastal town\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2017/12/4/thomas-fire/\">2017 Thomas Fire\u003c/a> stands as an example of what happens when a massive fire, ignited after a rainy winter, veers and shifts in unexpected ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The blaze in coastal Ventura and Santa Barbara counties struck in December when fire season normally quieted down. Fire veterans knew fall and winter fires were tamed by a blanket of moist air and fog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that didn’t happen.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Tim Chavez, assistant chief, Cal Fire\"]‘I looked at the maps and we both came to the conclusion that Carpinteria would be fine, don’t worry. Sure enough, that night it burned into Carpinteria and they had to evacuate the town.’[/pullquote]“We were on day five or six, and the incident commander comes to me and asks, ‘Are we going to have to evacuate Carpinteria tonight?’,” said Cal Fire Assistant Chief Tim Chavez, who was the fire behavior analyst for the Thomas Fire.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>“I looked at the maps and we both came to the conclusion that Carpinteria would be fine, don’t worry. Sure enough, that night it burned into Carpinteria and they had to evacuate the town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Based on fire and weather data and informed hunches, no one expected the fire to continue advancing overnight. And, as the winds calmed, no one predicted the blaze would move toward the small seaside community of 13,000 south of Santa Barbara. But high temperatures, low humidity and a steep, dry landscape that hadn’t felt flames in more than 30 years drew the Thomas Fire to the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sudden shift put the town in peril. Some 300 residents were evacuated in the middle of the night as the blaze moved into the eastern edge of Carpinteria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, the fire, which was sparked by power lines downed by high winds, \u003ca href=\"https://vcfd.org/news/vcfd-determines-cause-of-the-thomas-fire/\">burned for nearly 40 days\u003c/a>, spread across 281,000 acres, destroyed more than 1,000 homes and other buildings and killed two people, including a firefighter. At the time, it was the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/23/us/thomas-fire-california/index.html\">largest wildfire\u003c/a> in California’s modern history; now, just six years later, it ranks at number eight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955543\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955543 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A wildfire rushes toward a mansion in Southern California with two palm trees seen in the home's backyard. The sky is black and the fire glows an ominous, bright orange and red.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Thomas Fire threatened homes near the 101 freeway in Ventura on Dec. 5, 2017. \u003ccite>(Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The unforeseen assault on Carpenteria was an I-told-you-so from nature, the sort of humbling slap-down that fire behavior analysts in California are experiencing more and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve learned more from being wrong than from being right,” Chavez said. “You cannot do this job and not be surprised by something you see. Even the small fires will surprise you sometimes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Warmer nights, drought and lack of fog alter fire behavior\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists say the past 20 years have brought a profound — and perhaps irreversible — \u003ca href=\"https://santamariatimes.com/photos-welcome-to-the-age-of-fire-california-wildfires-explained/collection_539ecbd3-827e-5387-aa14-518705d05980.html#1\">shift in the norms of wildfire behavior\u003c/a> and intensity. Fires burn along the coast even when there are no desert winds to drive them, fires refuse to lay down at night and fires pierced the so-called Redwood Curtain, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/04/big-basin-park-heals-wildfires/\">burning 97% of California’s oldest state park\u003c/a>, Big Basin Redwoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes in wildfires are driven by an array of factors: a megadrought from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01290-z\">driest period recorded\u003c/a> in the Western U.S.\u003cem> \u003c/em>in the past 1,200 years, the loss of fog along the California coast, and stubborn nighttime temperatures that propel flames well into the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"California's nighttime fire conditions have worsened\" aria-label=\"Map\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-jyRUo\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/jyRUo/5/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"662\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Higher temperatures and longer dry periods are linked to worsening fires in Western forests, with an eightfold increase from 1985 to 2017 in severely burned acreage, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020GL089858\">2020 study\u003c/a>. “Warmer and drier fire seasons corresponded with higher severity fire,” the researchers wrote, suggesting that “climate change will contribute to increased fire severity in future decades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we are seeing is a dramatic increase in extreme fire behavior,” Heggie said. “When you have a drought lasting 10 years, devastating the landscape, you have dead fuel loading and available fuel for when these fires start. That’s the catalyst for megafire. That’s been the driving force for change in fire behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-11955555\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/Fire-Tornado_6.9.22-SIZED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/Fire-Tornado_6.9.22-SIZED.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/Fire-Tornado_6.9.22-SIZED-160x320.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/Fire-Tornado_6.9.22-SIZED-768x1536.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 33% of coastal summer fog has vanished since the turn of the century, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0915062107\">researchers at UC Berkeley\u003c/a>. That blanket of cool, moist air that kept major fires out of coastal areas can no longer be relied upon to safeguard California’s redwood forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Firefighters are losing another ally, too, with the significant increase in overnight temperatures. \u003ca href=\"https://cires.colorado.edu/news/hotter-drier-nights-mean-more-runaway-fires\">Nighttime fires\u003c/a> were about 28% more intense in 2020 than in 2003. And there are more of them — 11 more “flammable nights” every year than 40 years ago, an increase of more than 40%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The upshot is that fires are increasingly less likely to “lie down” at night when fire crews could work to get ahead of the flames. The loss of those hours to perform critical suppression work — and the additional nighttime spread — gives California crews less time to catch up with fast-moving blazes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, fire whirls and so-called \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2022/aug/11/firenado-sparked-by-hot-winds-and-wildfires-burns-in-california-video\">firenados\u003c/a> are more common as a feature of erratic fire behavior. The twisting vortex of flames, heat and wind can rise in columns hundreds of feet high and are spun by high winds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Firenados are more than frightening to behold: They spread embers and strew debris for miles and make already dangerous fires all the more risky. One was spotted \u003ca href=\"https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2022/08/11/brush-fire-sparks-firenado-southern-california/10303678002/\">north of Los Angeles\u003c/a> last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fires are “really changing, and it’s a combination of all kinds of different changes,” said Jennifer Balch, director of the Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder and a longtime fire researcher who tracks trends that drive wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re losing fog. We’re seeing drier conditions longer and later into the season. And so what that means for California right now is, under these record heat waves, we’re also now butting up against the Santa Ana wind conditions,” she said. “I think we’re loading the dice in a certain direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A fire behaviorist’s routine\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Among the many specialists at work are fire behavior analysts, who are responsible for predicting a fire’s daily movements for the incident commander. As a fire rages, Cal Fire analysts get their information in an avalanche of highly technical data, including wind force and direction, temperature and humidity, the shape and height of slopes, the area’s burn history, which fuels are on the ground and, in some cases, how likely they are to burn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gleaned from satellites, drones, planes, remote sensors and computer mapping, the information is spat out in real-time and triaged by the fire behavior analyst, who often uses a computer program to prepare models to predict what the fire is likely to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That information is synthesized and relayed — quickly — to fire bosses. Laptops and hand-held computers are ubiquitous on modern firelines, replacing the time-honored practice of spreading a dog-eared map on the hood of a truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On a typical day I would get up at 4:30 or 5,” said Chavez, who has served as a fire behavior analyst for much of his career. “We get an infrared fire map from overnight aircraft, and that tells us where the fire is active. Other planes fly in a grid pattern and we look at those still images.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>I might look at computer models, fire spread models, and the weather forecast. There’s other data that tells you what fuels are in the area. You plug all that in to see where the fire will be 24 hours from now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the fire camp’s 8 a.m. briefing, “You get two minutes to tell people what to watch out for,” he said. Throughout the day, Chavez says he monitors available data and hitches a helicopter ride to view the fire from the air. At another meeting at 5 p.m., he and other officers prepare the next day’s incident action plan. Then he’s back to collating more weather and fire data. The aim is to get to bed before midnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955545\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955545 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with blond hair and glasses stands in front of a white board that's covered in handwritten graphs and figures. It appears she's inside a classroom or lab.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘We’re losing fog. We’re seeing drier conditions longer and later into the season … I think we’re loading the dice in a certain direction,’ said Jennifer Balch, director of the Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder. \u003ccite>(Aaron Ontivaeroz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The importance of the fire behavior analyst’s job is reflected by the sophistication of the tools available: real-time NOAA satellite data, weather information from military flights, radar, computer-generated maps showing a 100-year history of previous burns in the area as well as the current fuel load and its combustibility, airplane and drone surveillance and AI-enabled models of future fire movements. Aircraft flying over fires provide more detail, faster, about what’s inside fire plumes, critical information to fire bosses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, the National Guard is entering the fourth year of an agreement to share non-classified information pulled from military satellites that scan for heat signatures from the boost phase of ballistic missiles. When those heat images are associated with wildfires, the agency’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Article/3223104/fireguard-program-enhances-national-guard-wildfire-fighting/\">FireGuard system\u003c/a> can transmit detailed information to Cal Fire every 15 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meteorologist Craig Clements, director of the Fire Weather Research Laboratory at San Jose State University, has chased fires for a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can pull up on a fire, and the radar starts spinning and you’re peering into a plume within four minutes,” Clements said. “It gives us information about the particles inside, the structure of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955546\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955546 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of a map of California and then a pop-up screen on top of the map shows coding in various colors.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This map was produced by supercomputers at a lab at University of Colorado Boulder that is using metadata to better understand large wildfires and their increasingly erratic behavior. \u003ccite>(Aaron Ontivaeroz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fire behavior decisions are not totally reliant on outside data inputs. Seasoned fire commanders remain firmly committed to a reliable indicator: the hair on the back of their necks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fireline experience and hard-earned knowledge still count when formulating tactics. But it’s a measure of how norms have shifted that even institutional knowledge can fail.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Future of firefighting: AI crunches billions of data points\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the biggest leap is applying artificial intelligence to understand fire behavior. Neil Sahota, an AI adviser to the United Nations and a lecturer at UC Irvine, is developing systems to train a computer to review reams of data and come to a predictive conclusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea is not to replace fire behavior analysts and jettison their decades of fireline experience, Sahota said, but to augment their work — and, mostly, to move much faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can crunch billions of different data points in near real-time, in seconds,” he said. “The challenge is, what’s the right data? We may think there are seven variables that go into a wildfire, for example. AI may come back saying there are thousands.”[aside label='More Stories on California Wildfires' tag='wildfires']In order for their information to be useful, computers have to be taught: What’s the difference between a Boy Scout campfire and a wildfire? How to distinguish between an arsonist starting a fire and a firefighter setting a backfire with a drip torch?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the dizzying speed at which devices have been employed on the modern fireline, most fire behavior computer models are still based on algorithms devised by Mark Finney, a revered figure in the field of fire science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.firelab.org/\">Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory\u003c/a> in Montana, Finney has studied fire behavior through observation and, especially, by starting all manner of fires in combustion chambers and in the field. In another lab in Missoula, scientists bake all types of wood in special ovens to determine how fuels burn at different moisture levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Finney is unimpressed by much of the sophisticated technology brought to bear on wildfires as they burn. He said it provides only an illusion of control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once you are in a position to have to fight these extreme fires, you’ve already lost,” he said. “Don’t let anybody kid you, we do not suppress these fires, we don’t control them. We wait for the weather.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Mark Finney, research forester, US Forest Service\"]‘Once you are in a position to have to fight these extreme fires, you’ve already lost. Don’t let anybody kid you, we do not suppress these fires, we don’t control them. We wait for the weather.’[/pullquote]The Missoula research group developed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.firelab.org/project/national-fire-danger-rating-system\">National Fire Danger Rating System\u003c/a> in 1972, which is still in place today. Among the fire behavior tools Finney designed is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/tools/farsite\">FARSITE system\u003c/a>, a simulation of fire growth invaluable to frontline fire bosses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finney and colleagues are working on a next-generation version of the behavior prediction system, which is now undergoing real-world tests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This equation has an awful lot of assumptions in it,” he said. “We’re getting there. Nature is a lot more complicated. There are still a number of mysteries on fire behavior. We don’t have a road map to follow that tells us that this is good enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By far the best use of the predictive tools that he and others have developed is to learn how to \u003cem>avoid \u003c/em>firestarts, he said, by thinning and clearing forests to reduce the threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love to tell you that the key to solving these problems is more research. But if we just stopped doing research and just use what we know, we’d be a lot better off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, research about fire behavior races on, driven by the belief that you can’t fight an enemy you don’t understand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955547\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955547 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79.jpg\" alt=\"A man with a black and white checkered, button-up shirt, stands amid mountain and trees in Colorado.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Koontz is a postdoc researcher at University of Colorado Boulder who leads a project focusing on better understanding of California’s megafires to provide fire bosses the best information to fight fires. \u003ccite>(Aaron Ontivaeroz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://earthlab.colorado.edu/our-team/michael-koontz\">Mike Koontz\u003c/a> is on the front lines of that battle, tucked into a semicircle of supercomputers. Koontz leads a team of researchers in Boulder, Colo., studying a new, volatile and compelling topic: California megafires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We began to see a clear uptick in extreme fire behavior in California since the 2000s,” said Koontz, a postdoctoral researcher with the Earth Lab at University of Colorado Boulder. “We keyed in on fires that moved quickly and blew up over a short period of time.” California is a trove of extreme fires, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Koontz is using supercomputers to scrape databases, maps and satellite images and apply the data to an analytical framework of his devising. The team tracks significant fires that grow unexpectedly, and layers in weather conditions, topography, fire spread rates and other factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What comes out is a rough sketch of the elements driving California’s fires to grow so large. The next hurdle is to get the information quickly into the hands of fire commanders, Koontz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal: if not a new bible for fighting fires, at least an updated playbook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "California's Fight Against Wildfires Turns to AI, Drones and Satellites | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11954879/how-californias-firefighter-union-could-get-guaranteed-raises-forever\">Cal Fire\u003c/a> Battalion Chief Jon Heggie wasn’t expecting much to worry about when a late summer fire erupted north of Santa Cruz, home to California’s moist and cool “asbestos forests.” This place doesn’t burn, he thought, with just three notable fires there in 70 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heggie’s job was to predict for the crews where the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> might go and when, working through calculations based on topography, weather and fuels — the “immutable” basics. For fire behavior analysts like Heggie, predictable and familiar are manageable, while weird and unexpected are synonyms for danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that 2020 fire was anything but predictable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around 3 a.m. on Aug. 16, ominous thunder cells formed over the region. Tens of thousands of lightning strikes rained down, creating a convulsion of fire that became the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/16/czu-lightning-complex-including-warnella-fire/\">CZU Lightning Complex\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By noon there were nearly two dozen fires burning, and not nearly enough people to handle them. Flames were roaring throughout the Coast Range in deep-shaded forests and waist-high ferns in sight of the Pacific Ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No one had ever seen anything like it.\u003cem> \u003c/em>The blaze defied predictions and ran unchecked for a month. The fire spread to San Mateo County, burned through 86,000 acres, destroyed almost 1,500 structures and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/czu-lighting-complex-fire-victim-died-trying-to-flee-flames-6-rescued-while-trying-to-return-to-evacuated-homes/\">killed a fleeing resident\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was astonishing to see that behavior and consumption of heavy fuels,” Heggie said. “Seeing the devastation was mind-boggling. Things were burning outside the norm. I hadn’t seen anything burn that intensely in my 30 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost as troubling was what this fire \u003cem>didn’t\u003c/em> do — it didn’t back off at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would have burning periods increase in the afternoon, and we saw continuous high-intensity burns in the night,” Heggie said. “That’s when we are supposed to make up ground. That didn’t happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Seeing the devastation was mind-boggling. Things were burning outside the norm. I hadn’t seen anything burn that intensely in my 30 years.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That 2020 summer of fires, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/07/california-fires-2020/\">the worst in California history\u003c/a>, recalibrated what veteran firefighters understand about fire behavior: Nothing \u003cem>is\u003c/em> as it \u003cem>was.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Intensified by climate change, especially warmer nights and longer droughts, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-wildfires-explained/\">California’s fires often morph into megafires\u003c/a>, and even gigafires covering more than a million acres. U.S. wildfires have been \u003ca href=\"https://cires.colorado.edu/news/us-fires-four-times-larger-three-times-more-frequent-2000\">four times larger and three times more frequent\u003c/a> since 2000, according to University of Colorado researchers. And other scientists recently predicted that \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2213815120\">up to 52% more California forest acreage\u003c/a> will burn in summertime over the next two decades because of the changing climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As California now heads into its peak time for wildfires, even with last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/california-wildfires/2022/12/california-wildfires-2022/\">quiet season\u003c/a> and the end of its three-year drought, the specter of megafires hasn’t receded. Last winter’s record winter rains, rather than tamping down fire threats, have promoted lush growth, which provides more fuel for summer fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire officials warn that this year’s conditions are similar to the summer and fall of 2017 — when a rainy winter was followed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2017\">one of the state’s most destructive fire seasons\u003c/a>, killing 47 people and destroying almost 11,000 structures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955548\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955548 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured in a dark room with two, large LCD screens illuminated with maps displayed on them. Two people are observing the screens with one man pointing up toward the screen on the left.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/111822-USFS-Drone-Program-CM-01-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">US Forest Service teams deploy drones to capture photographs and infrared images, which are used to map fires to find areas where flames are still active and where they might spread. \u003ccite>(Andrew Avitt/US Forest Service)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s not just the size and power of modern wildfires, but their capricious behavior that has confounded fire veterans — the feints and shifts that bedevil efforts to predict what a fire might do and then devise strategies to stop it. It’s a dangerous calculation: In the literal heat of a fire, choices are consequential. People’s lives and livelihoods are at stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire crews now often find themselves outflanked. Responding to larger and more erratic and intense fires requires more personnel and equipment. And staging crews and engines where flames are expected to go have been thrown off-kilter.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We live in this new reality. … We’re enlisting cutting-edge technology in our efforts to fight wildfires, exploring how innovations like artificial intelligence can help us identify threats quicker and deploy resources smarter.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We live in this new reality,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a recent Cal Fire event, “where we can’t necessarily attach ourselves to some of the more predictive models of the past because of a world that is getting a lot hotter, a lot drier and a lot more uncertain because of climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalFire has responded by tapping into all the new technology — such as drones, military satellites, infrared images and AI-assisted maps — that can be brought to bear during a fire. Commanders now must consider a broader range of possibilities so they can pivot when the firefront shifts in an unexpected way. The agency also has beefed up its ability to fight nighttime fires with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/fire-protection/aviation-program\">new fleet of Fire Hawk helicopters\u003c/a> equipped to fly in darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has thrown every possible data point at the problem with its year-old \u003ca href=\"https://fireforecast.caloes.ca.gov/\">Wildfire Threat and Intelligence Integration Center\u003c/a>, which pulls information from dozens of federal, state and private sources to create a minute-by-minute picture of conditions conducive to sparking or spreading fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re enlisting cutting-edge technology in our efforts to fight wildfires,” Newsom said, “exploring how innovations like artificial intelligence can help us identify threats quicker and deploy resources smarter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An unforeseen assault on a coastal town\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2017/12/4/thomas-fire/\">2017 Thomas Fire\u003c/a> stands as an example of what happens when a massive fire, ignited after a rainy winter, veers and shifts in unexpected ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The blaze in coastal Ventura and Santa Barbara counties struck in December when fire season normally quieted down. Fire veterans knew fall and winter fires were tamed by a blanket of moist air and fog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that didn’t happen.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I looked at the maps and we both came to the conclusion that Carpinteria would be fine, don’t worry. Sure enough, that night it burned into Carpinteria and they had to evacuate the town.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We were on day five or six, and the incident commander comes to me and asks, ‘Are we going to have to evacuate Carpinteria tonight?’,” said Cal Fire Assistant Chief Tim Chavez, who was the fire behavior analyst for the Thomas Fire.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>“I looked at the maps and we both came to the conclusion that Carpinteria would be fine, don’t worry. Sure enough, that night it burned into Carpinteria and they had to evacuate the town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Based on fire and weather data and informed hunches, no one expected the fire to continue advancing overnight. And, as the winds calmed, no one predicted the blaze would move toward the small seaside community of 13,000 south of Santa Barbara. But high temperatures, low humidity and a steep, dry landscape that hadn’t felt flames in more than 30 years drew the Thomas Fire to the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sudden shift put the town in peril. Some 300 residents were evacuated in the middle of the night as the blaze moved into the eastern edge of Carpinteria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, the fire, which was sparked by power lines downed by high winds, \u003ca href=\"https://vcfd.org/news/vcfd-determines-cause-of-the-thomas-fire/\">burned for nearly 40 days\u003c/a>, spread across 281,000 acres, destroyed more than 1,000 homes and other buildings and killed two people, including a firefighter. At the time, it was the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/23/us/thomas-fire-california/index.html\">largest wildfire\u003c/a> in California’s modern history; now, just six years later, it ranks at number eight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955543\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955543 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A wildfire rushes toward a mansion in Southern California with two palm trees seen in the home's backyard. The sky is black and the fire glows an ominous, bright orange and red.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/040723-THOMAS-FIRE-AP-JCH-CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Thomas Fire threatened homes near the 101 freeway in Ventura on Dec. 5, 2017. \u003ccite>(Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The unforeseen assault on Carpenteria was an I-told-you-so from nature, the sort of humbling slap-down that fire behavior analysts in California are experiencing more and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve learned more from being wrong than from being right,” Chavez said. “You cannot do this job and not be surprised by something you see. Even the small fires will surprise you sometimes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Warmer nights, drought and lack of fog alter fire behavior\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists say the past 20 years have brought a profound — and perhaps irreversible — \u003ca href=\"https://santamariatimes.com/photos-welcome-to-the-age-of-fire-california-wildfires-explained/collection_539ecbd3-827e-5387-aa14-518705d05980.html#1\">shift in the norms of wildfire behavior\u003c/a> and intensity. Fires burn along the coast even when there are no desert winds to drive them, fires refuse to lay down at night and fires pierced the so-called Redwood Curtain, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/04/big-basin-park-heals-wildfires/\">burning 97% of California’s oldest state park\u003c/a>, Big Basin Redwoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes in wildfires are driven by an array of factors: a megadrought from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01290-z\">driest period recorded\u003c/a> in the Western U.S.\u003cem> \u003c/em>in the past 1,200 years, the loss of fog along the California coast, and stubborn nighttime temperatures that propel flames well into the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"California's nighttime fire conditions have worsened\" aria-label=\"Map\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-jyRUo\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/jyRUo/5/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"662\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Higher temperatures and longer dry periods are linked to worsening fires in Western forests, with an eightfold increase from 1985 to 2017 in severely burned acreage, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020GL089858\">2020 study\u003c/a>. “Warmer and drier fire seasons corresponded with higher severity fire,” the researchers wrote, suggesting that “climate change will contribute to increased fire severity in future decades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we are seeing is a dramatic increase in extreme fire behavior,” Heggie said. “When you have a drought lasting 10 years, devastating the landscape, you have dead fuel loading and available fuel for when these fires start. That’s the catalyst for megafire. That’s been the driving force for change in fire behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-11955555\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/Fire-Tornado_6.9.22-SIZED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/Fire-Tornado_6.9.22-SIZED.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/Fire-Tornado_6.9.22-SIZED-160x320.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/Fire-Tornado_6.9.22-SIZED-768x1536.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 33% of coastal summer fog has vanished since the turn of the century, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0915062107\">researchers at UC Berkeley\u003c/a>. That blanket of cool, moist air that kept major fires out of coastal areas can no longer be relied upon to safeguard California’s redwood forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Firefighters are losing another ally, too, with the significant increase in overnight temperatures. \u003ca href=\"https://cires.colorado.edu/news/hotter-drier-nights-mean-more-runaway-fires\">Nighttime fires\u003c/a> were about 28% more intense in 2020 than in 2003. And there are more of them — 11 more “flammable nights” every year than 40 years ago, an increase of more than 40%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The upshot is that fires are increasingly less likely to “lie down” at night when fire crews could work to get ahead of the flames. The loss of those hours to perform critical suppression work — and the additional nighttime spread — gives California crews less time to catch up with fast-moving blazes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, fire whirls and so-called \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2022/aug/11/firenado-sparked-by-hot-winds-and-wildfires-burns-in-california-video\">firenados\u003c/a> are more common as a feature of erratic fire behavior. The twisting vortex of flames, heat and wind can rise in columns hundreds of feet high and are spun by high winds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Firenados are more than frightening to behold: They spread embers and strew debris for miles and make already dangerous fires all the more risky. One was spotted \u003ca href=\"https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2022/08/11/brush-fire-sparks-firenado-southern-california/10303678002/\">north of Los Angeles\u003c/a> last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fires are “really changing, and it’s a combination of all kinds of different changes,” said Jennifer Balch, director of the Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder and a longtime fire researcher who tracks trends that drive wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re losing fog. We’re seeing drier conditions longer and later into the season. And so what that means for California right now is, under these record heat waves, we’re also now butting up against the Santa Ana wind conditions,” she said. “I think we’re loading the dice in a certain direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A fire behaviorist’s routine\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Among the many specialists at work are fire behavior analysts, who are responsible for predicting a fire’s daily movements for the incident commander. As a fire rages, Cal Fire analysts get their information in an avalanche of highly technical data, including wind force and direction, temperature and humidity, the shape and height of slopes, the area’s burn history, which fuels are on the ground and, in some cases, how likely they are to burn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gleaned from satellites, drones, planes, remote sensors and computer mapping, the information is spat out in real-time and triaged by the fire behavior analyst, who often uses a computer program to prepare models to predict what the fire is likely to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That information is synthesized and relayed — quickly — to fire bosses. Laptops and hand-held computers are ubiquitous on modern firelines, replacing the time-honored practice of spreading a dog-eared map on the hood of a truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On a typical day I would get up at 4:30 or 5,” said Chavez, who has served as a fire behavior analyst for much of his career. “We get an infrared fire map from overnight aircraft, and that tells us where the fire is active. Other planes fly in a grid pattern and we look at those still images.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>I might look at computer models, fire spread models, and the weather forecast. There’s other data that tells you what fuels are in the area. You plug all that in to see where the fire will be 24 hours from now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the fire camp’s 8 a.m. briefing, “You get two minutes to tell people what to watch out for,” he said. Throughout the day, Chavez says he monitors available data and hitches a helicopter ride to view the fire from the air. At another meeting at 5 p.m., he and other officers prepare the next day’s incident action plan. Then he’s back to collating more weather and fire data. The aim is to get to bed before midnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955545\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955545 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with blond hair and glasses stands in front of a white board that's covered in handwritten graphs and figures. It appears she's inside a classroom or lab.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-03-CM-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘We’re losing fog. We’re seeing drier conditions longer and later into the season … I think we’re loading the dice in a certain direction,’ said Jennifer Balch, director of the Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder. \u003ccite>(Aaron Ontivaeroz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The importance of the fire behavior analyst’s job is reflected by the sophistication of the tools available: real-time NOAA satellite data, weather information from military flights, radar, computer-generated maps showing a 100-year history of previous burns in the area as well as the current fuel load and its combustibility, airplane and drone surveillance and AI-enabled models of future fire movements. Aircraft flying over fires provide more detail, faster, about what’s inside fire plumes, critical information to fire bosses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, the National Guard is entering the fourth year of an agreement to share non-classified information pulled from military satellites that scan for heat signatures from the boost phase of ballistic missiles. When those heat images are associated with wildfires, the agency’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Article/3223104/fireguard-program-enhances-national-guard-wildfire-fighting/\">FireGuard system\u003c/a> can transmit detailed information to Cal Fire every 15 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meteorologist Craig Clements, director of the Fire Weather Research Laboratory at San Jose State University, has chased fires for a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can pull up on a fire, and the radar starts spinning and you’re peering into a plume within four minutes,” Clements said. “It gives us information about the particles inside, the structure of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955546\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955546 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of a map of California and then a pop-up screen on top of the map shows coding in various colors.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-04-CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This map was produced by supercomputers at a lab at University of Colorado Boulder that is using metadata to better understand large wildfires and their increasingly erratic behavior. \u003ccite>(Aaron Ontivaeroz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fire behavior decisions are not totally reliant on outside data inputs. Seasoned fire commanders remain firmly committed to a reliable indicator: the hair on the back of their necks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fireline experience and hard-earned knowledge still count when formulating tactics. But it’s a measure of how norms have shifted that even institutional knowledge can fail.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Future of firefighting: AI crunches billions of data points\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the biggest leap is applying artificial intelligence to understand fire behavior. Neil Sahota, an AI adviser to the United Nations and a lecturer at UC Irvine, is developing systems to train a computer to review reams of data and come to a predictive conclusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea is not to replace fire behavior analysts and jettison their decades of fireline experience, Sahota said, but to augment their work — and, mostly, to move much faster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can crunch billions of different data points in near real-time, in seconds,” he said. “The challenge is, what’s the right data? We may think there are seven variables that go into a wildfire, for example. AI may come back saying there are thousands.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In order for their information to be useful, computers have to be taught: What’s the difference between a Boy Scout campfire and a wildfire? How to distinguish between an arsonist starting a fire and a firefighter setting a backfire with a drip torch?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the dizzying speed at which devices have been employed on the modern fireline, most fire behavior computer models are still based on algorithms devised by Mark Finney, a revered figure in the field of fire science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.firelab.org/\">Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory\u003c/a> in Montana, Finney has studied fire behavior through observation and, especially, by starting all manner of fires in combustion chambers and in the field. In another lab in Missoula, scientists bake all types of wood in special ovens to determine how fuels burn at different moisture levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Finney is unimpressed by much of the sophisticated technology brought to bear on wildfires as they burn. He said it provides only an illusion of control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once you are in a position to have to fight these extreme fires, you’ve already lost,” he said. “Don’t let anybody kid you, we do not suppress these fires, we don’t control them. We wait for the weather.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Once you are in a position to have to fight these extreme fires, you’ve already lost. Don’t let anybody kid you, we do not suppress these fires, we don’t control them. We wait for the weather.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Missoula research group developed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.firelab.org/project/national-fire-danger-rating-system\">National Fire Danger Rating System\u003c/a> in 1972, which is still in place today. Among the fire behavior tools Finney designed is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/tools/farsite\">FARSITE system\u003c/a>, a simulation of fire growth invaluable to frontline fire bosses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finney and colleagues are working on a next-generation version of the behavior prediction system, which is now undergoing real-world tests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This equation has an awful lot of assumptions in it,” he said. “We’re getting there. Nature is a lot more complicated. There are still a number of mysteries on fire behavior. We don’t have a road map to follow that tells us that this is good enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By far the best use of the predictive tools that he and others have developed is to learn how to \u003cem>avoid \u003c/em>firestarts, he said, by thinning and clearing forests to reduce the threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love to tell you that the key to solving these problems is more research. But if we just stopped doing research and just use what we know, we’d be a lot better off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, research about fire behavior races on, driven by the belief that you can’t fight an enemy you don’t understand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955547\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955547 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79.jpg\" alt=\"A man with a black and white checkered, button-up shirt, stands amid mountain and trees in Colorado.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/090822-COLORADO-WILDFIRE-BEHAVIOR-AO-CM-79-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Koontz is a postdoc researcher at University of Colorado Boulder who leads a project focusing on better understanding of California’s megafires to provide fire bosses the best information to fight fires. \u003ccite>(Aaron Ontivaeroz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://earthlab.colorado.edu/our-team/michael-koontz\">Mike Koontz\u003c/a> is on the front lines of that battle, tucked into a semicircle of supercomputers. Koontz leads a team of researchers in Boulder, Colo., studying a new, volatile and compelling topic: California megafires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We began to see a clear uptick in extreme fire behavior in California since the 2000s,” said Koontz, a postdoctoral researcher with the Earth Lab at University of Colorado Boulder. “We keyed in on fires that moved quickly and blew up over a short period of time.” California is a trove of extreme fires, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Koontz is using supercomputers to scrape databases, maps and satellite images and apply the data to an analytical framework of his devising. The team tracks significant fires that grow unexpectedly, and layers in weather conditions, topography, fire spread rates and other factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What comes out is a rough sketch of the elements driving California’s fires to grow so large. The next hurdle is to get the information quickly into the hands of fire commanders, Koontz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal: if not a new bible for fighting fires, at least an updated playbook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 5:50 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it’s working closely with the FBI to investigate a drone flight that interfered with Cal Fire aircraft during the first hours of the agency’s fight to control the Dixie Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FAA’s announcement came in a one-sentence emailed statement. An agency spokesperson referred questions to the FBI’s Sacramento field office, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the scope of the investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, who is leading a probe into the fire, said his office reached out to the FBI soon after the July 13 incident. He said investigators have been taking advantage of FBI technology — what he called “trick resources” — to try to identify the drone and its operator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11884337,news_11881837]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/46320\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Federal law\u003c/a> provides for a civil penalty of as much as $20,000 for any drone operator who “knowingly or recklessly interferes with a wildfire suppression, law enforcement, or emergency response effort.” \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=402.&nodeTreePath=4.9&lawCode=PEN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California law\u003c/a> makes it a misdemeanor for a drone operator to interfere with emergency responders, including firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On July 13, a Cal Fire pilot observed a drone over the fire, just hours after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11881837/why-it-took-pge-9-5-hours-to-get-to-the-scene-where-dixie-fire-started\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it started\u003c/a> in the Feather River Canyon northeast of Oroville. The drone appeared as the agency’s air tankers and a water-dropping helicopter worked to extinguish the blaze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramsey, who’s leading a local law enforcement investigation of the incident, has said interference from the drone may have prevented the fire from being contained when it was still a minor incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The blaze escaped control and over the past four weeks has burned through more than a half-million acres of northern Sierra forest and destroyed the Plumas County town of Greenville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire units conducted a brief, unsuccessful search for the drone operator after the remotely operated aircraft was seen near the fire. The fire agency also alerted the sheriffs’ offices in Butte and Plumas counties and the California Highway Patrol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As KQED reported earlier this week, Ramsey’s office \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11884337/investigators-probing-pges-possible-link-to-fateful-dixie-fire-drone-flight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">is investigating\u003c/a> whether the drone was operated by PG&E or one of its contractors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Separately, U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco has ordered the company to say what it knows about drone flights in the area of the fire. Alsup is overseeing PG&E’s criminal probation for violating federal pipeline safety laws and obstructing a National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the company’s deadly 2010 San Bruno natural gas pipeline explosion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E says no drones authorized to do work for the company were operating in Butte and Plumas counties at the time of the incursion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire and the district attorneys’ offices in Butte and Plumas counties are investigating what started the Dixie Fire. PG&E has acknowledged in filings with the California Public Utilities Commission and Judge Alsup’s court that the blaze started at a site where a 70-foot Douglas-fir had fallen across its power lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 5:50 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it’s working closely with the FBI to investigate a drone flight that interfered with Cal Fire aircraft during the first hours of the agency’s fight to control the Dixie Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FAA’s announcement came in a one-sentence emailed statement. An agency spokesperson referred questions to the FBI’s Sacramento field office, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the scope of the investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, who is leading a probe into the fire, said his office reached out to the FBI soon after the July 13 incident. He said investigators have been taking advantage of FBI technology — what he called “trick resources” — to try to identify the drone and its operator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/46320\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Federal law\u003c/a> provides for a civil penalty of as much as $20,000 for any drone operator who “knowingly or recklessly interferes with a wildfire suppression, law enforcement, or emergency response effort.” \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=402.&nodeTreePath=4.9&lawCode=PEN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California law\u003c/a> makes it a misdemeanor for a drone operator to interfere with emergency responders, including firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On July 13, a Cal Fire pilot observed a drone over the fire, just hours after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11881837/why-it-took-pge-9-5-hours-to-get-to-the-scene-where-dixie-fire-started\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it started\u003c/a> in the Feather River Canyon northeast of Oroville. The drone appeared as the agency’s air tankers and a water-dropping helicopter worked to extinguish the blaze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramsey, who’s leading a local law enforcement investigation of the incident, has said interference from the drone may have prevented the fire from being contained when it was still a minor incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The blaze escaped control and over the past four weeks has burned through more than a half-million acres of northern Sierra forest and destroyed the Plumas County town of Greenville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire units conducted a brief, unsuccessful search for the drone operator after the remotely operated aircraft was seen near the fire. The fire agency also alerted the sheriffs’ offices in Butte and Plumas counties and the California Highway Patrol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As KQED reported earlier this week, Ramsey’s office \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11884337/investigators-probing-pges-possible-link-to-fateful-dixie-fire-drone-flight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">is investigating\u003c/a> whether the drone was operated by PG&E or one of its contractors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Separately, U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco has ordered the company to say what it knows about drone flights in the area of the fire. Alsup is overseeing PG&E’s criminal probation for violating federal pipeline safety laws and obstructing a National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the company’s deadly 2010 San Bruno natural gas pipeline explosion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E says no drones authorized to do work for the company were operating in Butte and Plumas counties at the time of the incursion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire and the district attorneys’ offices in Butte and Plumas counties are investigating what started the Dixie Fire. PG&E has acknowledged in filings with the California Public Utilities Commission and Judge Alsup’s court that the blaze started at a site where a 70-foot Douglas-fir had fallen across its power lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Federal regulators have issued new guidelines allowing drones to operate at night and over people — a change in the rules that could expand the use of the machines for commercial deliveries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules from the Federal Aviation Administration will also require remote identification technology so that the machines can be identifiable from the ground. The FAA said this standard will address security concerns and make drones easier to track.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These final rules carefully address safety, security and privacy concerns while advancing opportunities for innovation and utilization of drone technology,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=25541\">statement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final change, once in effect, will amend current policies that previously forbade drone operations over people and at night unless the FAA granted a waiver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drones represent the fastest-growing segment in the entire transportation sector – with currently over 1.7 million drone registrations and 203,000 FAA-certificated remote pilots, according to the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Companies such as Amazon, Walmart and the United Parcel Service have slowly started testing how drones can be used to deliver goods to customers. Despite some companies receiving waivers in the last year to test the technology, there is still no widespread use of drones for commercial use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UPS \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/6fc2218e436d4ee1a8b0cac0d0a5eab2\">received approval \u003c/a>last year to operate a nationwide fleet of drones and has made hundreds of deliveries on a hospital campus in North Carolina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, Amazon also \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/e1480f2cdc2700c45f8b5c53ccd6d0f3\">received\u003c/a> FAA approval to deliver packages by drone, but the service is still being tested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walmart is undergoing a \u003ca href=\"https://kvia.com/news/business-technology/2020/11/16/walmart-to-start-using-drones-to-delivery-covid-19-test-kits-to-homes-in-el-paso/\">pilot program\u003c/a> in El Paso, Texas, where drones deliver COVID-19 test kits to homes within a mile and a half of a store in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hobbyists, industry respond\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, or AUVSI, said the FAA’s new rules are welcome progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization’s President and CEO Brian Wynne said the use of remote identification will enable “more complex” drone operations “which will have additional untold benefits for American society.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similarly, allowing for drones to fly at night and over people are both “important steps towards enabling integration of drones into our national airspace,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some drone hobbyists responded negatively to the new requirements for remote identification. Taking to Twitter, they argue the new requirements will be cost prohibitive for people who use the machine for recreational purposes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some users also complained that the new rules are still unclear for non-commercial operators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Additional requirements\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Operating drones at night will require remote pilots to take updated training and a test to run the machines. Small unmanned drones flying at night will also have to be equipped with anti-collision lights that can be seen for three miles, the FAA said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final rule requires small drone operators to have their remote pilot certificate and identification in their possession when flying so as to be ready to present to authorities if needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register next month. Drone manufacturers will have 18 months to begin producing drones with remote identification. Operators get an additional year to start using drones with remote identification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=U.S.+Announces+New+Rules+For+Drones+And+Their+Operators+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Federal regulators have issued new guidelines allowing drones to operate at night and over people — a change in the rules that could expand the use of the machines for commercial deliveries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules from the Federal Aviation Administration will also require remote identification technology so that the machines can be identifiable from the ground. The FAA said this standard will address security concerns and make drones easier to track.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These final rules carefully address safety, security and privacy concerns while advancing opportunities for innovation and utilization of drone technology,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=25541\">statement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final change, once in effect, will amend current policies that previously forbade drone operations over people and at night unless the FAA granted a waiver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drones represent the fastest-growing segment in the entire transportation sector – with currently over 1.7 million drone registrations and 203,000 FAA-certificated remote pilots, according to the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Companies such as Amazon, Walmart and the United Parcel Service have slowly started testing how drones can be used to deliver goods to customers. Despite some companies receiving waivers in the last year to test the technology, there is still no widespread use of drones for commercial use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UPS \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/6fc2218e436d4ee1a8b0cac0d0a5eab2\">received approval \u003c/a>last year to operate a nationwide fleet of drones and has made hundreds of deliveries on a hospital campus in North Carolina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, Amazon also \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/e1480f2cdc2700c45f8b5c53ccd6d0f3\">received\u003c/a> FAA approval to deliver packages by drone, but the service is still being tested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walmart is undergoing a \u003ca href=\"https://kvia.com/news/business-technology/2020/11/16/walmart-to-start-using-drones-to-delivery-covid-19-test-kits-to-homes-in-el-paso/\">pilot program\u003c/a> in El Paso, Texas, where drones deliver COVID-19 test kits to homes within a mile and a half of a store in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Hobbyists, industry respond\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, or AUVSI, said the FAA’s new rules are welcome progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization’s President and CEO Brian Wynne said the use of remote identification will enable “more complex” drone operations “which will have additional untold benefits for American society.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similarly, allowing for drones to fly at night and over people are both “important steps towards enabling integration of drones into our national airspace,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some drone hobbyists responded negatively to the new requirements for remote identification. Taking to Twitter, they argue the new requirements will be cost prohibitive for people who use the machine for recreational purposes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some users also complained that the new rules are still unclear for non-commercial operators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Additional requirements\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Operating drones at night will require remote pilots to take updated training and a test to run the machines. Small unmanned drones flying at night will also have to be equipped with anti-collision lights that can be seen for three miles, the FAA said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final rule requires small drone operators to have their remote pilot certificate and identification in their possession when flying so as to be ready to present to authorities if needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register next month. Drone manufacturers will have 18 months to begin producing drones with remote identification. Operators get an additional year to start using drones with remote identification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=U.S.+Announces+New+Rules+For+Drones+And+Their+Operators+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>You may have noticed a growing number of retailers threatening to make deliveries by drone in the near future. \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/e0fcf74b9a9d46d1a7c57463cf6f668c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-drone-alphabet/faa-paves-way-for-alphabet-unit-to-make-first-u-s-drone-deliveries-idUSKCN1RZ25N\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-12/uber-announces-plans-to-deliver-big-macs-by-drone-this-summer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Uber\u003c/a> and others have all been developing their own systems, and while the technology might not be there quite yet, experts say it will be soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_11755751,news_11742154,news_11660802' label='The Future of Drone Delivery']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As those threats become reality, who’s going to manage all of that potential chaos in the skies above us? Well, the agency that already manages American airspace: the Federal Aviation Administration. Eventually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, researchers at \u003ca href=\"https://utm.arc.nasa.gov/index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NASA Ames\u003c/a> in Mountain View are developing the air traffic management system to make it possible for Amazon to deliver pizza to your neighbor without harming you in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unmanned aircraft systems are already in the skies for all sorts of uses, including law enforcement, search and rescue, firefighting, agriculture, medical supply delivery, moviemaking, journalism and even real estate. But these are limited-use cases compared to the hundreds of thousands of commercially owned vehicles expected to take to the skies when retailers and restaurants are given the go-ahead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NASA Ames researchers in Mountain View are imagining something akin to what air traffic controllers do for passenger planes, but with cloud-based software. They’ve been working on this concept since 2015, and conducted multi-drone tests this year in Nevada and Texas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11759484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11759484\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Drone operators everywhere will be able to log into a cloud-based software system NASA Ames researchers are prototyping now. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1397\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut-800x582.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut-1020x742.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut-1200x873.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drone operators everywhere will be able to log into a cloud-based software system NASA Ames researchers are prototyping now. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Don Richey)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To start with, NASA Ames researcher Abhay Borade explained, every drone operator will have to log in with a plan for every flight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That volume, that area, that time and space, altitude. Then the system will check it against various parameters. Are you flying in a restricted air space? Are you in a national park? You’ll get a message back either that you’re accepted or rejected,” Borade said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the drone is airborne, its operator can track it on the software. The system communicates in real time what the drone is encountering after it leaves the operator’s line of sight: buildings, birds, bad weather and so on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a presumption the unexpected can and will happen, but it’s the drone operator’s responsibility to decide how to manage risk, at least, outside of a law enforcement emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In such a case, package delivery drone operators would be ordered to vacate the affected area, according to Ron Johnson, project manager for the unmanned aircraft systems traffic management project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11759487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11759487\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut.jpg\" alt=\"The concept of urban air mobility involves multiple aircraft safely operating within a city. (Yellow circles are vehicles with passengers; pink circles are vehicles without passengers.)\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-800x601.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-1020x766.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-1200x901.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-1044x783.jpg 1044w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-632x474.jpg 632w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-536x402.jpg 536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The concept of urban air mobility involves multiple aircraft safely operating within a city. (Yellow circles are vehicles with passengers; pink circles are vehicles without passengers.) \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NASA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What happens if a drone operator refuses to comply? Or behaves badly in a myriad of other ways? The software can easily identify drones gone rogue, and it maintains records of the event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='small' align='right' citation='Ron Johnson, project manager at NASA Ames']‘We’re doing everything now that we’re required to. The companies themselves, it’s in their interest to keep their drones from being hijacked or fouled with.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While NASA lays the technical groundwork for this brave new world, there will be plenty of opportunity for new rules and regulations to keep bad actors in line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not going to happen all at once. When the FAA allows more and more operations, I think there’ll be constraints put on [drone traffic],” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s not just talking about the FAA establishing rules. Software can manage a nearly infinite variety of local and regional rules, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s say the good citizens of Mountain View — who already live in an area full of loud noises — don’t want drones buzzing on top of all that. Or perhaps they decide to geo-fence certain areas, and require drone traffic to travel or land in prescribed zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11759489\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 985px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11759489\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38013_tcl4-v3-qut.jpg\" alt=\"An artist's rendering of Las Vegas, Nevada, with commercial delivery drones flying about.\" width=\"985\" height=\"638\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38013_tcl4-v3-qut.jpg 985w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38013_tcl4-v3-qut-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38013_tcl4-v3-qut-800x518.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 985px) 100vw, 985px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist’s rendering of Las Vegas, Nevada, with commercial delivery drones flying about. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NASA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As of now, in the U.S., FAA rules state that delivery-style drones must weigh less than 55 pounds and fly up to a ceiling of 400 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From my experience, if a drone is flying 400 feet above, you hardly hear it,” Johnson said. “Mountain View may say, ‘OK, you can fly a drone, but it can’t be below 300 feet.’ That type of constraint would be embedded into the system here. So that when somebody proposes flying at 200 feet, that plan is going to get rejected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What happens if a hacker gets into the system, or into the drones? Johnson professes to have a high degree of confidence that won’t happen. “We’re doing everything now that we’re required to. The companies themselves, it’s in their interest to keep their drones from being hijacked or fouled with,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Ron Johnson, project manager at NASA Ames']‘Right now, they already are soliciting public feedback for rules for flying over people. It’s perhaps less than a decade, but more than a couple of years [away].’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when will you get a pizza delivered by drone?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Short answer: Not soon, even though the FAA has recently allowed a handful of companies to test drone delivery programs in urban and rural areas, and has even gone so far as to certify Alphabet’s Wing Aviation to operate as an airline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While more than 50 countries belong to Joint Authorities for Rulemaking of Unmanned Systems, a final set of standards has yet to be agreed upon. Johnson anticipates other countries are looking to the U.S. to take the lead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He went on to say, “We finish our major testing this summer. It will take us several months to document what we found and then the FAA gets into their processes. Right now, they already are soliciting public feedback for rules for flying over people. It’s perhaps less than a decade, but more than a couple of years [away].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That should give us all a little more time to get used to the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, NASA researchers on another team are developing a similar construct for what they call urban air mobility, or what we proverbially call air taxis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>You may have noticed a growing number of retailers threatening to make deliveries by drone in the near future. \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/e0fcf74b9a9d46d1a7c57463cf6f668c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-drone-alphabet/faa-paves-way-for-alphabet-unit-to-make-first-u-s-drone-deliveries-idUSKCN1RZ25N\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-12/uber-announces-plans-to-deliver-big-macs-by-drone-this-summer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Uber\u003c/a> and others have all been developing their own systems, and while the technology might not be there quite yet, experts say it will be soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As those threats become reality, who’s going to manage all of that potential chaos in the skies above us? Well, the agency that already manages American airspace: the Federal Aviation Administration. Eventually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, researchers at \u003ca href=\"https://utm.arc.nasa.gov/index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NASA Ames\u003c/a> in Mountain View are developing the air traffic management system to make it possible for Amazon to deliver pizza to your neighbor without harming you in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unmanned aircraft systems are already in the skies for all sorts of uses, including law enforcement, search and rescue, firefighting, agriculture, medical supply delivery, moviemaking, journalism and even real estate. But these are limited-use cases compared to the hundreds of thousands of commercially owned vehicles expected to take to the skies when retailers and restaurants are given the go-ahead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NASA Ames researchers in Mountain View are imagining something akin to what air traffic controllers do for passenger planes, but with cloud-based software. They’ve been working on this concept since 2015, and conducted multi-drone tests this year in Nevada and Texas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11759484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11759484\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Drone operators everywhere will be able to log into a cloud-based software system NASA Ames researchers are prototyping now. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1397\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut-800x582.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut-1020x742.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38011_ACD16-0170-023orig-qut-1200x873.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drone operators everywhere will be able to log into a cloud-based software system NASA Ames researchers are prototyping now. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Don Richey)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To start with, NASA Ames researcher Abhay Borade explained, every drone operator will have to log in with a plan for every flight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That volume, that area, that time and space, altitude. Then the system will check it against various parameters. Are you flying in a restricted air space? Are you in a national park? You’ll get a message back either that you’re accepted or rejected,” Borade said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the drone is airborne, its operator can track it on the software. The system communicates in real time what the drone is encountering after it leaves the operator’s line of sight: buildings, birds, bad weather and so on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a presumption the unexpected can and will happen, but it’s the drone operator’s responsibility to decide how to manage risk, at least, outside of a law enforcement emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In such a case, package delivery drone operators would be ordered to vacate the affected area, according to Ron Johnson, project manager for the unmanned aircraft systems traffic management project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11759487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11759487\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut.jpg\" alt=\"The concept of urban air mobility involves multiple aircraft safely operating within a city. (Yellow circles are vehicles with passengers; pink circles are vehicles without passengers.)\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-800x601.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-1020x766.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-1200x901.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-1044x783.jpg 1044w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-632x474.jpg 632w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38012_UAM-Landscape-Finalorig-qut-536x402.jpg 536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The concept of urban air mobility involves multiple aircraft safely operating within a city. (Yellow circles are vehicles with passengers; pink circles are vehicles without passengers.) \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NASA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What happens if a drone operator refuses to comply? Or behaves badly in a myriad of other ways? The software can easily identify drones gone rogue, and it maintains records of the event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While NASA lays the technical groundwork for this brave new world, there will be plenty of opportunity for new rules and regulations to keep bad actors in line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not going to happen all at once. When the FAA allows more and more operations, I think there’ll be constraints put on [drone traffic],” Johnson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s not just talking about the FAA establishing rules. Software can manage a nearly infinite variety of local and regional rules, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s say the good citizens of Mountain View — who already live in an area full of loud noises — don’t want drones buzzing on top of all that. Or perhaps they decide to geo-fence certain areas, and require drone traffic to travel or land in prescribed zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11759489\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 985px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11759489\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38013_tcl4-v3-qut.jpg\" alt=\"An artist's rendering of Las Vegas, Nevada, with commercial delivery drones flying about.\" width=\"985\" height=\"638\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38013_tcl4-v3-qut.jpg 985w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38013_tcl4-v3-qut-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/07/RS38013_tcl4-v3-qut-800x518.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 985px) 100vw, 985px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist’s rendering of Las Vegas, Nevada, with commercial delivery drones flying about. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NASA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As of now, in the U.S., FAA rules state that delivery-style drones must weigh less than 55 pounds and fly up to a ceiling of 400 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From my experience, if a drone is flying 400 feet above, you hardly hear it,” Johnson said. “Mountain View may say, ‘OK, you can fly a drone, but it can’t be below 300 feet.’ That type of constraint would be embedded into the system here. So that when somebody proposes flying at 200 feet, that plan is going to get rejected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What happens if a hacker gets into the system, or into the drones? Johnson professes to have a high degree of confidence that won’t happen. “We’re doing everything now that we’re required to. The companies themselves, it’s in their interest to keep their drones from being hijacked or fouled with,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when will you get a pizza delivered by drone?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Short answer: Not soon, even though the FAA has recently allowed a handful of companies to test drone delivery programs in urban and rural areas, and has even gone so far as to certify Alphabet’s Wing Aviation to operate as an airline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While more than 50 countries belong to Joint Authorities for Rulemaking of Unmanned Systems, a final set of standards has yet to be agreed upon. Johnson anticipates other countries are looking to the U.S. to take the lead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He went on to say, “We finish our major testing this summer. It will take us several months to document what we found and then the FAA gets into their processes. Right now, they already are soliciting public feedback for rules for flying over people. It’s perhaps less than a decade, but more than a couple of years [away].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That should give us all a little more time to get used to the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, NASA researchers on another team are developing a similar construct for what they call urban air mobility, or what we proverbially call air taxis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The Federal Aviation Administration has certified Alphabet’s Wing Aviation to operate as an airline, in a first for U.S. drone delivery companies. Wing, which began as a \u003ca href=\"https://x.company/projects/wing/\">Google X project\u003c/a>, has been testing its autonomous drones in southwest Virginia and elsewhere. Alphabet is also Google’s parent company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Air Carrier Certification means that we can begin a commercial service delivering goods from local businesses to homes in the United States,” Wing said in a statement posted to \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/wing-aviation/wing-becomes-first-certified-air-carrier-for-drones-in-the-us-43401883f20b\">the Medium website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company has touted many advantages of using unmanned drones to deliver packages, from reducing carbon emissions and road congestion to increasing connections between communities and local businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11660802]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an important step forward for the safe testing and integration of drones into our economy. Safety continues to be our Number One priority as this technology continues to develop and realize its full potential,” Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao said in a statement from the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement to NPR, the FAA said Wing was able to qualify for an air carrier certificate because it has shown “its operations met the FAA’s rigorous safety requirements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wing’s electric drones are powered by 14 propellers, nearly all of which are top-mounted to help carry loads of up to 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds). They’re meant to deliver a wide range of everyday items, from food and drinks to medicine and emergency supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By developing delivery drones — and a retail system that would connect customers with local merchants — Google’s parent company is directly competing with Amazon, which has been readying its own unmanned delivery system, called Prime Air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/12/02/248170316/drone-delivery-amazon-says-a-new-era-looms\">As early as 2013\u003c/a>, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos predicted that the online retail giant’s “octocopter” drones would start buzzing out of fulfillment centers in the coming years. At the time, Bezos said his company’s drones would be built to carry around 5 pounds — a weight limit that would allow about 85 percent of the products sold by Amazon to be delivered by drone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Bezos also said it would take time to develop a safe and reliable drone system — and to get federal approvals. It wasn’t until late 2016 that Amazon announced its first fully autonomous Prime Air delivery. Since then, like Google, it’s been testing its delivery drones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The use of unmanned aircraft in the U.S. has been growing by leaps and bounds. At the end of 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/e0fcf74b9a9d46d1a7c57463cf6f668c\">The Associated Press reported\u003c/a> that “110,000 commercial drones are operating in U.S. airspace,” citing government figures that also projected the number would more than quadruple in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11742158\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11742158\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400-800x1267.jpg\" alt=\"Customers who took part in Wing's drone delivery test program in Virginia approach their package after it was dropped on their lawn.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1267\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400-800x1267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400-160x253.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400-1020x1615.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400-758x1200.jpg 758w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400.jpg 1293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Customers who took part in Wing’s drone delivery test program in Virginia approach their package after it was dropped on their lawn. \u003ccite>(Wing)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wing has been testing its drone delivery systems from an FAA-approved test area at Virginia Tech since the autumn of 2016. With its new air carrier certification in hand, the company says it hopes to expand deliveries in southwest Virginia, recruiting businesses and potential customers in the Blacksburg and Christiansburg areas who want to try out the delivery system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That expansion is planned for later this year. In the meantime, Wing “will begin its first trial in Europe in the spring, delivering to homes in Helsinki, Finland,” a company representative said in an email to NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the earliest Wing drone tests took place in Canberra, Australia, in 2014. Since then, the company says, its drones have flown more than 70,000 test flights and delivered thousands of packages there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Wing officially launched its commercial delivery service in northern Canberra after gaining regulatory approval. \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/wing-aviation/wing-launches-commercial-air-delivery-service-in-canberra-5da134312474\">Its initial partners\u003c/a> in that venture range from local coffee, bakery and gelato shops to chocolate makers and a taqueria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to Google and Amazon, delivery companies such as United Parcel Service and DHL Express also have been developing their own drone systems. And like many human endeavors that rely on technology, a main hurdle has been a relatively simple constraint: battery life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have to recharge them every other hour, then you need so many drones, and you have to orchestrate that. So good luck with that,” Frank Appel, the CEO of DHL parent Deutsche Post AG, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/e0fcf74b9a9d46d1a7c57463cf6f668c\">told the AP\u003c/a> last December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NPR.org\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=FAA+Certifies+Google%27s+Wing+Drone+Delivery+Company+To+Operate+As+An+Airline&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Federal Aviation Administration has certified Alphabet’s Wing Aviation to operate as an airline, in a first for U.S. drone delivery companies. Wing, which began as a \u003ca href=\"https://x.company/projects/wing/\">Google X project\u003c/a>, has been testing its autonomous drones in southwest Virginia and elsewhere. Alphabet is also Google’s parent company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Air Carrier Certification means that we can begin a commercial service delivering goods from local businesses to homes in the United States,” Wing said in a statement posted to \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/wing-aviation/wing-becomes-first-certified-air-carrier-for-drones-in-the-us-43401883f20b\">the Medium website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company has touted many advantages of using unmanned drones to deliver packages, from reducing carbon emissions and road congestion to increasing connections between communities and local businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an important step forward for the safe testing and integration of drones into our economy. Safety continues to be our Number One priority as this technology continues to develop and realize its full potential,” Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao said in a statement from the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement to NPR, the FAA said Wing was able to qualify for an air carrier certificate because it has shown “its operations met the FAA’s rigorous safety requirements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wing’s electric drones are powered by 14 propellers, nearly all of which are top-mounted to help carry loads of up to 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds). They’re meant to deliver a wide range of everyday items, from food and drinks to medicine and emergency supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By developing delivery drones — and a retail system that would connect customers with local merchants — Google’s parent company is directly competing with Amazon, which has been readying its own unmanned delivery system, called Prime Air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/12/02/248170316/drone-delivery-amazon-says-a-new-era-looms\">As early as 2013\u003c/a>, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos predicted that the online retail giant’s “octocopter” drones would start buzzing out of fulfillment centers in the coming years. At the time, Bezos said his company’s drones would be built to carry around 5 pounds — a weight limit that would allow about 85 percent of the products sold by Amazon to be delivered by drone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Bezos also said it would take time to develop a safe and reliable drone system — and to get federal approvals. It wasn’t until late 2016 that Amazon announced its first fully autonomous Prime Air delivery. Since then, like Google, it’s been testing its delivery drones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The use of unmanned aircraft in the U.S. has been growing by leaps and bounds. At the end of 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/e0fcf74b9a9d46d1a7c57463cf6f668c\">The Associated Press reported\u003c/a> that “110,000 commercial drones are operating in U.S. airspace,” citing government figures that also projected the number would more than quadruple in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11742158\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11742158\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400-800x1267.jpg\" alt=\"Customers who took part in Wing's drone delivery test program in Virginia approach their package after it was dropped on their lawn.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1267\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400-800x1267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400-160x253.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400-1020x1615.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400-758x1200.jpg 758w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/wing-testers-receiving-package-as-part-of-faa-testing_custom-b8e453cc8a74800a344da95377130dcc41fb934d-s1400.jpg 1293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Customers who took part in Wing’s drone delivery test program in Virginia approach their package after it was dropped on their lawn. \u003ccite>(Wing)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wing has been testing its drone delivery systems from an FAA-approved test area at Virginia Tech since the autumn of 2016. With its new air carrier certification in hand, the company says it hopes to expand deliveries in southwest Virginia, recruiting businesses and potential customers in the Blacksburg and Christiansburg areas who want to try out the delivery system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That expansion is planned for later this year. In the meantime, Wing “will begin its first trial in Europe in the spring, delivering to homes in Helsinki, Finland,” a company representative said in an email to NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the earliest Wing drone tests took place in Canberra, Australia, in 2014. Since then, the company says, its drones have flown more than 70,000 test flights and delivered thousands of packages there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Wing officially launched its commercial delivery service in northern Canberra after gaining regulatory approval. \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/wing-aviation/wing-launches-commercial-air-delivery-service-in-canberra-5da134312474\">Its initial partners\u003c/a> in that venture range from local coffee, bakery and gelato shops to chocolate makers and a taqueria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to Google and Amazon, delivery companies such as United Parcel Service and DHL Express also have been developing their own drone systems. And like many human endeavors that rely on technology, a main hurdle has been a relatively simple constraint: battery life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have to recharge them every other hour, then you need so many drones, and you have to orchestrate that. 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"disqusTitle": "Could Robots Save Us From Natural Disasters?",
"title": "Could Robots Save Us From Natural Disasters?",
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"content": "\u003cp>Perched atop the desks and wall shelves at \u003ca href=\"http://cast.caltech.edu\">Caltech's CAST lab\u003c/a> are an array of cutting-edge tech toys made by and for some of the country's top robotics brains. Then there's Buzz Lightyear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The battery-powered \u003ci>Toy Story\u003c/i> action figure was a gift from Disney Research, and it's a sign of things to come at the brand-new autonomous systems research lab, which opened in October as a collaboration between Caltech and NASA's \u003ca href=\"https://www.jpl.nasa.gov\">Jet Propulsion Lab\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all, says Soon-Jo Chung, a Caltech aerospace professor and JPL research scientist, CAST researchers hope to develop \"a robot that can walk or run and occasionally can fly.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11660829\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11660829\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-800x552.jpg\" alt=\"Soon-Jo Chung, associate professor of aerospace at Caltech and a Jet Propulsion Laboratory research scientist, stands behind a scale model of the air ambulance. Its design is modeled on a puffer fish.\" width=\"800\" height=\"552\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-800x552.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-160x110.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-1020x703.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-1180x814.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-960x662.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-240x166.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-375x259.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-520x359.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Soon-Jo Chung, associate professor of aerospace at Caltech and a Jet Propulsion Laboratory research scientist, stands behind a scale model of the air ambulance. Its design is modeled on a puffer fish. \u003ccite>(Marcus Teply/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A space-suited cartoon hero makes an appropriate mascot for a facility dedicated not only to creating self-reliant robots and drones, but to trumpeting their usefulness to the society of the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The philosophy of CAST is to try to create ... good robots, good partners that can help us to do what we want to do, better,” says CAST director and Caltech professor Morteza Gharib.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To that end, the lab has set a series of ambitious “moonshot” goals, among them, a future of robot “guardians\" -- artificially intelligent first responders that can monitor the environment for trouble like fires or earthquakes, and step in when disaster strikes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gharib envisions firefighting robots that could deploy when sensors detect wildfires, or earthquake monitors that could set up connectivity services for first responders when the Big One hits, \"like an Alexa for earthquakes.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11660832\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11660832\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"Graduate researcher Chris Dougherty prepares a scale model air ambulance robot for a demonstration flight.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-1180x784.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-960x638.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-375x249.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-520x346.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Graduate researcher Chris Dougherty prepares a scale model air ambulance robot for a demonstration flight. \u003ccite>(Marcus Teply/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first of these to take flight is what CAST engineers call an autonomous flying ambulance: a design for a self-flying, one-person rescue pod that Gharib imagines might one day zoom into disasters to rescue people who human first responders can't reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Project engineers envision something the size of a Prius, with folding airplane wings and helicopter rotors, able to fly itself and a passenger out of fires, mudslides and earthquake zones. A working scale model, the size of a backpack and made of high-density surfboard foam, takes design inspiration from beetles and blowfish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it takes off amid a flurry of beeps and whirrs in CAST's indoor-outdoor drone arena on a sunny morning, red-and-blue lights flash underneath. \"Because it's an ambulance, of course,\" says graduate researcher Chris Dougherty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Engineers are teaching it to fly, unaided, in adverse conditions, with help from a drone-training wind machine that can simulate fire-season storm winds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11660836\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11660836\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"The scale-model ambulance robot comes in for a landing at CAST's indoor-outdoor drone arena.\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-800x530.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-1180x782.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-960x637.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-240x159.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-375x249.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-520x345.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The scale-model ambulance robot comes in for a landing at CAST's indoor-outdoor drone arena. \u003ccite>(Marcus Teply/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite the flashing emergency lights, the future of this technology isn't all about catastrophe. The capabilities CAST engineers are developing for the ambulance -- flying autonomously, handling adverse weather conditions, picking up and delivering cargo, people or payloads -- have potential applications from today's deliveries to tomorrow's defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CAST's work is funded in part by defense and aerospace companies \u003ca href=\"https://www.raytheon.com/news/feature/future_of_autonomy\">Raytheon and Aerovironment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a press release on the lab's inauguration in October, Raytheon pointed out that some of the lab's research “will be directed to topics of high interest to Raytheon,” including the autonomous navigation on which a self-flying air ambulance would rely. It has a team in place to adapt CAST-developed technologies for the company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in an era of heightened public concerns about the future of artificial intelligence, Gharib says applying autonomous systems research to disaster response is a feel-good way to both develop those capabilities and highlight robots' potential as human helpers. If you’re up at night worrying about a world overrun by robots, you might feel better knowing they’ve got your back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11660841\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11660841\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The scale-model ambulance robot sits on a desk at Caltech's CAST lab.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-1180x785.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-960x639.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-520x346.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The scale-model ambulance robot sits on a desk at Caltech's CAST lab. \u003ccite>(Marcus Teply/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\"That's why we came up with an ambulance, because hey, this is something to help us, not to harm us,” says Gharib. “Here, you don't take anybody's jobs. You're trying to help people. That's the strategy that we think it's important for centers like ours to take.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robot firefighting squads may still be a long way off, but an autonomous flying ambulance is on the horizon. Gharib says a full-scale working model could be ready in just three to five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plans are shaping up to send a scale model on a solo test flight this summer from Caltech to JPL's campus a few miles away. If conditions are right, Chung says, its first passenger could be a symbol of one vision of a robotic future: Buzz Lightyear himself.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Perched atop the desks and wall shelves at \u003ca href=\"http://cast.caltech.edu\">Caltech's CAST lab\u003c/a> are an array of cutting-edge tech toys made by and for some of the country's top robotics brains. Then there's Buzz Lightyear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The battery-powered \u003ci>Toy Story\u003c/i> action figure was a gift from Disney Research, and it's a sign of things to come at the brand-new autonomous systems research lab, which opened in October as a collaboration between Caltech and NASA's \u003ca href=\"https://www.jpl.nasa.gov\">Jet Propulsion Lab\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all, says Soon-Jo Chung, a Caltech aerospace professor and JPL research scientist, CAST researchers hope to develop \"a robot that can walk or run and occasionally can fly.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11660829\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11660829\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-800x552.jpg\" alt=\"Soon-Jo Chung, associate professor of aerospace at Caltech and a Jet Propulsion Laboratory research scientist, stands behind a scale model of the air ambulance. Its design is modeled on a puffer fish.\" width=\"800\" height=\"552\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-800x552.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-160x110.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-1020x703.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-1180x814.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-960x662.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-240x166.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-375x259.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CalTechChung-520x359.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Soon-Jo Chung, associate professor of aerospace at Caltech and a Jet Propulsion Laboratory research scientist, stands behind a scale model of the air ambulance. Its design is modeled on a puffer fish. \u003ccite>(Marcus Teply/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A space-suited cartoon hero makes an appropriate mascot for a facility dedicated not only to creating self-reliant robots and drones, but to trumpeting their usefulness to the society of the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The philosophy of CAST is to try to create ... good robots, good partners that can help us to do what we want to do, better,” says CAST director and Caltech professor Morteza Gharib.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To that end, the lab has set a series of ambitious “moonshot” goals, among them, a future of robot “guardians\" -- artificially intelligent first responders that can monitor the environment for trouble like fires or earthquakes, and step in when disaster strikes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gharib envisions firefighting robots that could deploy when sensors detect wildfires, or earthquake monitors that could set up connectivity services for first responders when the Big One hits, \"like an Alexa for earthquakes.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11660832\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11660832\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"Graduate researcher Chris Dougherty prepares a scale model air ambulance robot for a demonstration flight.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-1180x784.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-960x638.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-375x249.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DoughertyWithRobot-520x346.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Graduate researcher Chris Dougherty prepares a scale model air ambulance robot for a demonstration flight. \u003ccite>(Marcus Teply/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first of these to take flight is what CAST engineers call an autonomous flying ambulance: a design for a self-flying, one-person rescue pod that Gharib imagines might one day zoom into disasters to rescue people who human first responders can't reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Project engineers envision something the size of a Prius, with folding airplane wings and helicopter rotors, able to fly itself and a passenger out of fires, mudslides and earthquake zones. A working scale model, the size of a backpack and made of high-density surfboard foam, takes design inspiration from beetles and blowfish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it takes off amid a flurry of beeps and whirrs in CAST's indoor-outdoor drone arena on a sunny morning, red-and-blue lights flash underneath. \"Because it's an ambulance, of course,\" says graduate researcher Chris Dougherty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Engineers are teaching it to fly, unaided, in adverse conditions, with help from a drone-training wind machine that can simulate fire-season storm winds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11660836\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11660836\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"The scale-model ambulance robot comes in for a landing at CAST's indoor-outdoor drone arena.\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-800x530.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-1180x782.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-960x637.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-240x159.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-375x249.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/DroneLands-520x345.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The scale-model ambulance robot comes in for a landing at CAST's indoor-outdoor drone arena. \u003ccite>(Marcus Teply/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite the flashing emergency lights, the future of this technology isn't all about catastrophe. The capabilities CAST engineers are developing for the ambulance -- flying autonomously, handling adverse weather conditions, picking up and delivering cargo, people or payloads -- have potential applications from today's deliveries to tomorrow's defense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CAST's work is funded in part by defense and aerospace companies \u003ca href=\"https://www.raytheon.com/news/feature/future_of_autonomy\">Raytheon and Aerovironment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a press release on the lab's inauguration in October, Raytheon pointed out that some of the lab's research “will be directed to topics of high interest to Raytheon,” including the autonomous navigation on which a self-flying air ambulance would rely. It has a team in place to adapt CAST-developed technologies for the company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in an era of heightened public concerns about the future of artificial intelligence, Gharib says applying autonomous systems research to disaster response is a feel-good way to both develop those capabilities and highlight robots' potential as human helpers. If you’re up at night worrying about a world overrun by robots, you might feel better knowing they’ve got your back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11660841\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11660841\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The scale-model ambulance robot sits on a desk at Caltech's CAST lab.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-1180x785.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-960x639.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/RobotAmbulanceWLaptop-520x346.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The scale-model ambulance robot sits on a desk at Caltech's CAST lab. \u003ccite>(Marcus Teply/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\"That's why we came up with an ambulance, because hey, this is something to help us, not to harm us,” says Gharib. “Here, you don't take anybody's jobs. You're trying to help people. That's the strategy that we think it's important for centers like ours to take.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robot firefighting squads may still be a long way off, but an autonomous flying ambulance is on the horizon. Gharib says a full-scale working model could be ready in just three to five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plans are shaping up to send a scale model on a solo test flight this summer from Caltech to JPL's campus a few miles away. If conditions are right, Chung says, its first passenger could be a symbol of one vision of a robotic future: Buzz Lightyear himself.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "LAPD Using Drones? The Police Commission Is Considering It",
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"content": "\u003cp>The prospect of Los Angeles police officers using drones flew a step closer to reality Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Los Angeles Police Commission, a civilian group that oversees the department, is considering a pilot program that would allow officers to fly drones for tactical purposes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/05/31/44468/lapd-gets-two-free-draganflyer-drones-from-seattle/\">Two Draganflyer drones were gifted to the LAPD\u003c/a> from the Seattle Police Department in May 2014. The police department has maintained that the drones would be used only for SWAT calls such as barricaded suspects or hostage situations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"If we use them, it would be in a tactical situation and not any kind of general surveillance. By tactical situation I mean a SWAT standoff, barricaded suspect, that kind of thing where it's much safer to put one of these vehicles overhead than a helicopter,” said Chief Charlie Beck during an AirTalk interview in 2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the public who are against drone use in law enforcement made themselves heard Tuesday morning at a rally before the commissioners’ meeting and even during the meeting itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/KNXmargaret/status/894993370078076928\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/01/12/68076/sheriff-launches-first-police-drones-in-la-county/\">Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department started using a drone\u003c/a> in January to help out deputies on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While sheriff’s officials tout the possibilities that unmanned aircraft can offer, critics have worried about the prospect of “mission creep.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A group called Drone-Free LAPD/No Drones, LA! Campaign wrote a letter to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti in November 2015, warning against the use of drones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The use of drone technology further militarizes law enforcement tactics, linking local law enforcement to garrison style military rule,\" the campaign wrote.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The prospect of Los Angeles police officers using drones flew a step closer to reality Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Los Angeles Police Commission, a civilian group that oversees the department, is considering a pilot program that would allow officers to fly drones for tactical purposes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/05/31/44468/lapd-gets-two-free-draganflyer-drones-from-seattle/\">Two Draganflyer drones were gifted to the LAPD\u003c/a> from the Seattle Police Department in May 2014. The police department has maintained that the drones would be used only for SWAT calls such as barricaded suspects or hostage situations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"If we use them, it would be in a tactical situation and not any kind of general surveillance. By tactical situation I mean a SWAT standoff, barricaded suspect, that kind of thing where it's much safer to put one of these vehicles overhead than a helicopter,” said Chief Charlie Beck during an AirTalk interview in 2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the public who are against drone use in law enforcement made themselves heard Tuesday morning at a rally before the commissioners’ meeting and even during the meeting itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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},
"radiolab": {
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
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"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
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"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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