R-600 LR(Long Range)
surveillance and reconnaissance,
radiation monitoring

UAVia Pte. Ltd and the Institute of Ecological and Medical Systems INEMS present remote radiation monitoring system P-600 ASPEK.

The method is based on MAGATE n-323 recommendation and is meant for integrated assessment of the environment radiation situation.

ASPEK System has been created in the context of execution of the State program The Complex Mapping of Man-Caused Radioactive Pollution of the Territory as a Consequence of Chernobil Nuclear Power Plant Emergency.

The expert system of radiation remote monitoring providing the remote identification of sources of little intensity radio-activity with visualization of their spatial distribution and identification of isotope composition according to spectrum of gamma-ray emanation is suggested.

P-600 ASPEK is an integrated multifunction system created on the basis of modern development and information technologies which allows to record levels of locality radio-active pollution in real-time mode, to receive resulting information (in the form of a map) about a way of distribution radioactive substance on the surface with high spatial thin-bed vertical resolution and sensitivity up to 0.01 Ku/km at the altitude of 100 m. directly on a board of unmanned air vehicle (UAV).

The System allows:

1. In the Background mode (background monitoring):


• to organize search and definition of exact location of local gamma-ray radioactive spots (or point sources), their type and activity identification;
• to find radioactively polluted grounds and reservoirs, determine their boundaries;
• to hold and update database of radioactive burial grounds using elements of geographical information system;
• to make an examination and define the effectiveness of locality decontamination activities;
• to perform inspection of nuclear burial grounds and nuclear technologies;
• to perform periodical control of radiation environment at places of authorized and non-authorized burial grounds of nuclear waste, nuclear based materials storage.


2. in the Mode of Emergency (crisis monitoring):
• " to organize the radiation environment development on-line inspection in case of emergency at places of radioactive waste burials with the aim of assessment of a scale of radioactive pollution distribution and forecasting their consequences for a whole region (taking into account hydrometeorological and other factors influencing processes of distribution of environment radiation pollution passing);
• " to organize radiation environment control during postemergency state in order to define more precisely the distribution of radioactive spot, exposure of carrying out decontamination measures effectiveness, boundaries and terms of radiation conditions normalization forecasting

Modern technology of remote researches

Worked out remote methods and equipment allow to receive information about environment conditions more than thousand times quicker than using landline methods and with much more low costs of works.

UAV R-600 flies over investigated zone by traverses. A Grid constitutes practically a rectangle with horizontal sidelength 250 m., for large-scale map - 2 km (at the cost of main and auxiliary meridian routes) with the stride parameter sufficient for receiving the target detail in advance. Airspeed can vary from 50 to 150 km/h. Cruising altitude is from 50 m till 300 m. Information is noted in the airborne computer every second. The multichannel analyzer on the basis of the detector Nal(TI) registers radiant energy in the range of 60-3000 (keV) using characteristic (particular) gamma lines. The final data processing and the map construction are made on the earth station.

System R-600 ASPEK Description

According to the "ideology" of construction, R-600 ASPEK is the system of new generation with using of geoinformation system and global satellite navigation system.

In the mode of the real time this system is able to ensure radiation monitoring of territories with high spatial thin-bed resolution and receiving the information directly on an aircraft board .

In the system were implemented some Know-How which are enriching arial photography efficiency, sensitivity and productivity.

The following technical means and elements of systems sharing log in the system:

• specialized multiprocessor system of set and processing;
• detection system;
• satellite navigation system Navstar and Glonas;
• ground station of information receiving, processing and visualization.

R-600 ASPEK consists of two complexes: on-board and stationary.
On-board complex includes:

1. gamma-spectrometer on the basis of scintillation detector with the volume from 4,5 till 25 liters (volume depends on the UAV size), specialized multiprocessor system of information preprocessing. The detector mount equipment allows to change a viewing angle of the earth from 50 to 150 degrees for selection of an optimal spatial resolution during various flight conditions;
2. navigation and toponymy binding system including satellite navigation system Navstar and altimeter. The system is designed for determination of a UAV location to 10m and its cruising altitude over the earth (+ 1 m);
3. computer system, designed for devices on-line inspection and control. The set of programs ensures on-line situation and equipment condition control (summary doses, landscape, map of a place where arial photography is making, position data and cruising altitude etc).

Ground mobile launch complex includes:
computer navigation system for flight control and calculation system for detailed processing and visualization of received information. Programs of processing accept information received during the flight, transform it (taking into consideration the landscape, the cruising altitude), and calculate Gausse-Kruger coordinates of measured part. During the next step following operations are executed: interpolation of received data inside one portion, their averaging and extrapolation on portions which fall on the circle of data transfer into a log book. Received data are basic for reflection of measurement results on a display and a graph plotter. They are also used for pollution field mapping at grid sites and isolines map plotting.

Stationary complex includes:
Peripheral devices for graphic information mapping.

A ground complex is intended for processing from removable data storage devise of the airborne complex, information accumulation and mapping in the form of maps and tables. At the ground complex listed below operations take place: input data is analyzed, concentration and power of doses of stored calibrated data is calculated, availability of local sources is analyzed, maps of radioactive elements concentration isolines of investigated region are drawn.

System's distinctive features are:

• high flight safety in comparison to existing flying vehicles which are able to fly on extremely low altitude (dangerous altitudes);
• low price of work fulfillment because of reasonable low operational expenses;
• high efficiency - efficiency of one UAV is about two times bigger than of manned piloted vehicle because of the ability of night flying;
• dynamic mode and complete automation of control procedure of potentially dangerous objects; measuring, processing and providence of information are included;
• receiving of information about the object state and environment in completed form convenient for making effective decisions without extra analytical laboratories and expertsproceedings.

Practical experience

From 1988 till 2000, there were designed and produced the following systems:

1. Remote radiation control system of Chernobil Nuclear Power Plant industrial site (project Cover) ASPEK-01
2. The State system of the continuous radiation monitoring of the Ukrainian territory ASPEK-02
3. Expert remote system of radiation environment observation, on-line estimation and forecasting system of crisis monitoring of emergency and extreme situations ASPEK-03
4. On-line remote radiation monitoring of 30 km zone of Chernobil APP system ASPEK-04

ASPEK system maintenance was made on different kinds of aircrafts (airplanes and helicopters): AN-2, KA-26, MI-8. Causing altitude varied from 60 to 850 m, speed - from 50 to 250 km per hour.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Wingspan	4,9m
Lenght	3,2m
Max range	700km
Endurance of flight	10hour
Speed	80-250 km/h
Ceiling	4000м
Piston engine, 2cycle, 2 cylinders, volume 210 cm3, power	29 h.p.
Fuel consumption	6,5 l/h
Take off modes: from a small runway or from catapult; Landing modes: parachuting or on a small runway;
Quantity of videoterminals (including night)	1-3 pieces
Take-off weight	160kg
Payload (up to)	50kg
Transportation up to two planes in mobile ground station based on a van.