Airborne Sensor Operator
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| Occupation | |
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| Names | Airborne Sensor Operator, Airborne Electronic Sensor Operator, Payload Operator etc |
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Occupation type
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Aircrew |
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Activity sectors
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Aviation |
| Description | |
| Competencies | Conducting aerial remote-sensing operations |
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Education required
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Qualifications in terms of statutory regulations according to national, state, or provincial legislation in each country |
An airborne sensor operator (aerial sensor operator, ASO, Aerial Remote Sensing Data Acquisition Specialist, Aerial Payload Operator, Police Tactical Flight Officer, Tactical Coordinator etc) is the functional profession of gathering information from an airborne platform (Manned or Unmanned) and/or oversee mission management systems for academic, commercial, public safety or military remote sensing purposes. The airborne sensor operator is considered a principal flight crew or aircrew member.
The modern airborne sensor operator profession began in 1858 when Gaspard-Felix Tournachon “Nadar” first took aerial photographs of Paris from a hot air balloon. Remote sensing and airborne sensor operator duties continued to grow from there; one of the first planned uses of remote sensing and operators occurred during the U.S. Civil War when manned and unmanned balloons were flown over enemy territory with cameras.
The first governmental-organized air photography missions were developed for military surveillance during World Wars I and II but reached a climax during the Cold War. However, the airborne sensor operator profession developed ever so more in all industry sectors during these decades with the advancement of radar, lasers, radio/signal receivers and electro-optical/infra-red technology.
Today, with the advancement of smaller and more powerful remote sensing systems along with smaller and economical manned and unmanned platforms, the airborne remote sensing industry is expanding in line with many other expanding industry sectors that in the past could not afford and/or try to apply this capability. With this, the airborne sensor operator profession continues to expand and support the need for ever more precision Information.
The primary responsibilities of an airborne sensor operator are to ensure the safe operation of the aircraft, effectively operate assigned remote sensing systems and Support the processing, exploitation and dissemination of collected information.
Some of the general duties of an airborne sensor operator are:
• Flight and sensor planning,
• Sensor Installation, testing & Maintenance
• Flight & crew management
• Collection management
• Sensor Operations
• Quality Control (QC) of acquired data
• Processing, exploitation and dissemination of acquired data
The specific industry sectors that require airborne sensor operators are varied. The primary sectors are in the commercial surveying, science, public safety & security and defense. Most airborne sensor operators either work for specific government organizations or aerial surveying-imaging firms specializing in data acquisition & processing versus directly with the end user.
In the commercial sector, airborne sensor operators primarily support the agricultural, construction, power supply and mining industries. They routinely support crop monitoring, power line mapping, pipeline monitoring, and geophysical surveying. However, airborne sensor operators support many other sectors that include radio & television, private security, marketing and real estate.
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Wikipedia