From the National Forest Service .
Helicopters equipped with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors and high-resolution imagery technology will evaluate PG&E powerlines and adjacent trees in rural areas. At each inspection point, the helicopter may hover for 10 minutes.
Flights will occur in and around these communities Sept. 6 – 9
Mendocino County – In and around the areas of Fort Bragg, Redwood Lodge, Rockport, Caspar, Whiskey Springs, Crowley, Manchester, Little River, Melbourne, Ingram, Philo, Reilly Heights and Cape Horn.
Sonoma County – North of Santa Rosa (near Pepperwood Preserve Road), Wilson Grove, northeast Windsor, Grant, Black Oaks, Caldwell Pines and Castle Rock Springs.
Napa County – Middleton, Creston and Skaggs Island.
The helicopter surveys will be along distribution powerlines Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. each weekday. Helicopters will be flying low at an altitude of about 500 feet but will occasionally hover at times as low as 200 feet.
A surveyor in the helicopter will collect the data on PG&E’s powerlines, poles, and the surrounding trees and brush located along distribution circuits within or adjacent to extreme (Tier 3) and elevated (Tier 2) wildfire risk areas (as defined by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) High Fire-Threat District Map). This data is used to create a 3-D simulation of our facilities.
The visual representation of PG&E’s facilities gives the utility an accurate and unique picture to determine if there are potential encroachments near its equipment which could require safety improvements or maintenance. Incorporating the data from these technologies will support the safe and reliable delivery of electricity to the communities PG&E serves.
Additionally, the data is used to inform PG&E’s machine learning artificial intelligence risk models to predict the potential risk of catastrophic wildfires from vegetation contacting electric lines.
Utilizing multiple methods to gather data—including ground, aerial and climbing patrols, physical testing of poles and the use of infrared and LiDAR sensing —PG&E plans to complete inspections of transmission and distribution structures in extreme fire-threat areas, which includes more than 390,000 distribution poles and nearly 39,000 transmission structures.
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