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I am curious about feasibility and costs of setting up a video/thermal image monitoring system at a general aviation airport whose purpose would be to collect data on the length of time jets run their engines while on the ground. This data would be used to help determine the extent of fumes and other emissions. The idea would be to set up enough cameras to see jets where they are parked, note when pilots turn systems on, and track them until takeoff. If anyone knows whether such a system exists already, that would interest me. If not, the question is whether this idea makes sense, how much real estate such a camera can cover, what sort of info gathering hub would be required, how would data be best reviewed, stored and frequency of recycling recording media. Cost is big, of course. I am not a technician but a community member of the commission that advises my city on airport issues. Thanks

I am curious about feasibility and costs of setting up a video/thermal image monitoring system at a general aviation airport whose purpose would be to collect data on the length of time jets run their engines while on the ground. This data would be used to help determine the extent of fumes and other emissions. The idea would be to set up enough cameras to see jets where they are parked, note when pilots turn systems on, and track them until takeoff. If anyone knows whether such a system exists already, that would interest me. If not, the question is whether this idea makes sense, how much real estate such a camera can cover, what sort of info gathering hub would be required, how would data be best reviewed, stored and frequency of recycling recording media. Cost is big, of course. I am not a technician but a community member of the commission that advises my city on airport issues. Thanks

Well first off, I can tell you that this is not a problem suited to the arduino.  I would imagine you having dozens of ethernet-enabled cameras all feeding through an intranet into one central server that could do some intense image processing tasks.  This project would be large and expensive, but certainly not impossible.

You might consider asking your security system vendor for the Airport, if they have CCVs that are infrared or near-infrared sensative. 

If you have both a visable video feed that goes along with a infrared feed, you could use that to determine which planes it is (by N-number or other identifying information).  If you have good vantage points you could put a system of continuously scanning cameras to cover a lot of area, depending on your airports geometry.

I am thinking your big cost will come in people to review the footage, or find some kind of software that can scan the images might be expensive, but it might be cheaper than a couple of full time people just to scan the images.

Let us know how it goes!

Thanks for the replies. I was just referred to this site by a possible camera supplier but am not certain how to use it properly.  If there is someone else who might be more expert at specifying what this project would involve, along with ballpark costs -- either an expert or supplier -- I'd love to be in touch. I have been tasked as a committee of one by the commission I sit on to come back with some estimates, but I'm in no position to actually attempt to design such a system myself.

@Servant74

Do you work for or with the Airport? Something that might save you a ton of money is the fact that each Airport should have a record as to when each jet starts it's engines, when it taxi's and when the jet took off as each of these things require permission from the Tower.