Projects & Programs
Aviation OneSurvey Project
The purpose of the Aviation OneSurvey Project, sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, Mission Management Directorate, is to Characterize US Airports for imported cargo, especially as it relates to the operations of Customs and Border Protection in order to determine how to best accomplish the requirement for 100 percent scanning of all cargo imported to the USA.
RM&TD staff are supporting the project with key expertise in the characterization study and planning efforts. The study includes investigations of more than 50 U.S. airports using open-source information, on-site surveys of about a dozen major US airports, and describing and characterizing of the flow of international air cargo around the airports and into the United States (with a strong focus on Customs and Border Protection practices and policies). RM&TD staff have developed a method of analyzing flight arrival data to quantify the volume and flow of international cargo and pinpoint locations which may be used to deploy scanning equipment or identify areas where new equipment or systems may need to be developed. Staff are producing a Site Characterization and Analysis Report for each airport surveyed and for several of the open-source airports. They are also going to produce a final report detailing similarities and unique airport features and recommend equipment and methodologies to implement radiation scanning by CBP at these locations. The resulting report will be used by Homeland Security in their solutions development process to aid in the development and deployment of radiation detection equipment and processes for scanning arriving international air cargo. Staff will continue to support the solutions development process.
RMT&TD group member, Matt Portch, conducting an airport survey inside of a 747 freighter at O’Hare airport
US Customs and Border Protection officer conducting a routine radiation scan of a private aircraft
Air cargo being scanned by a Radiation Portal Monitor at Charlotte-Douglass International Airport, Charlotte, NC