United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
www.epa.gov/region6
Fact Sheet
Region 6
External Affairs (6XA)
1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733
Public Information; (800) 887-6063
For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200
Subscribe to receive e-mail copies of Region 6 news releases at:
www.epa.gov/reqion6/6xa/r6news mailing list.htm
* July 29, 2005
INTRODUCTION
A partnership between EPA and the U.S.
Department of Defense has led to
development of equipment mounted in a
small aircraft that can obtain detailed
chemical information from a safe distance.
The equipment - Airborne Spectral
Photometric Environmental Collection
Technology (ASPECT) - is an emergency
response sensor package operated by EPA.
It provides first responders - emergency
workers on scene - with information on
possible chemical releases. ASPECT has
been used by EPA regions for many response
actions. They include monitoring the 2002
Winter Olympic Games, numerous fires, the
ASPECT: EPA's Flying Laboratory
ASPECT is also capable of collecting high-
resolution digital photography and video and
can take thermal and night images by using
instruments that track differences in heat
below the airplane.
Columbia shuttle recovery, and - most
recently - the California wildfires.
HOW IT WORKS
ASPECT consist of sensors mounted in an
AeroCommander 680 twin-engine aircraft. It
can detect chemicals and several different
radiological materials.
It is equipped with a Global Positioning
System and uses navigation data to match
photographic and infrared information with
physical locations. This allowed EPA staff
members to find and electronically tag the
location of debris as small as one square foot
during recovery of the Columbia shuttle
wreckage.
Quick delivery of chemical data to first
responders is an important requirement of an
emergency response. All information
ASPECT collects can be sent to a ground unit
using a wireless system.
ASPECT can also be used for non-
emergency projects, including aerial
photography, thermal imaging and radiation
surveys. Activation of the system can be
coordinated through the program manager.
The aircraft and sensor systems are available
24 hours a day, 7 days a week for emergency
response. Any EPA on-scene coordinator
can activate ASPECT. A phone call gets the
system into the air in less than an hour.
ASPECT is a time and cost-effective
response tool. It is based out of EPA Region
7's office in Kansas City, Kan., and can
deploy to any part of the continental United
States in less than nine hours.

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Image from California wildfires
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