Incorporating terrain roughness into helicopter landing zone site selection by using the Geomorphic Oscillation Assessment Tool (GOAT) v1.0

Abstract

The Geomorphic Oscillation Assessment Tool (GOAT) quantifies terrain roughness as a mechanism to better explain forward arming and refueling point (FARP) suitability for Army aviation. An empirically driven characteristic of FARP consideration, surface roughness is a key discriminator for site utility in complex terrain. GOAT uses a spatial sampling of high-resolution elevation and land cover data to construct data frames, which enable a relational analysis of component and aggregate site suitability. By incorporating multiple criteria from various doctrinal sources, GOAT pro-duces a composite quality assessment of the areal options available to the aviation commander. This report documents and demonstrates version 1.0 of the GOAT algorithms developed by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). These details will allow users familiar with R to implement it as a stand-alone program or in R Studio.

Rotorcraft Resupply Site Selection (RRSS) v1.0 and the USACE Model Interface Platform (UMIP) : documentation and user’s guide

“…Third, a script based on GOAT is run on the parameters from the previous step and the data from step one. GOAT is a tool that incorporates surface roughness into HLZ and FARP terrain suitability assessment capabilities (see Ekegren and LeGrand 2021). It uses high-fidelity terrain elevation data, terrain suitability thresholds generated from extensive interviews with aviators, and circular sampling techniques to assess potential HLZs and their surroundings.…”

“…The overarching goal of this research effort was to provide an operational prototype of the Engineer Research and Development Center-developed helicopter landing zone (HLZ) site-selection algorithm known as the geomorphic oscillation assessment tool (GOAT), which incorporates surface roughness into terrain suitability assessment tools used in the forward arming and refueling point (FARP) site-selection process (Ekegren and LeGrand 2021). In UMIP, there now exists a prototype tool that represents to the most exact degree possible the science embedded in the established GOAT capability while also providing a user-friendly interface through which users can interact with the algorithm and view results in a spatially referenced manner.…”