2015
Completed
Jim Thomasson (Lead)
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Since 2014 a number of relatively inexpensive infrared scanning accessories that use a smartphone to display the image have become commercially available. Because many wildfire agencies now provide smartphones for their field personnel, it is likely that field staff may take the initiative to purchase these infrared scanning accessories. Smartphone infrared scanners are a recent technology and we don’t know much about their effectiveness in a wildfire operational setting. Will these scanners help or hinder field operations? Will they cost time and money from missing or falsely identifying targets? This evaluation aims to determine the usefulness of smartphone infrared scanners for wildfire operations.