Helicopters-of-DC Dataset

## [From our 2021 Annual Report](http://2021.copterspotter.com/)

### Mission
[HelicoptersofDC](https://twitter.com/HelicoptersofDC) is dedicated to bringing DC residents the most accurate and up-to-date information on what's overhead and to foster collaboration and education about helicopter identification and mission profiles. [2020's GAO report](https://hyp.is/eaY-THbwEeyOvH9kQEbx-g/beyer.house.gov/uploadedfiles/final_report_-_helo_noise_withlettersv2.pdf) found that 96.3% of helicopter noise complaints to the MWAA from 2018-2021 were unattributed to any specific operator - this is why we feel it's important to educate the community on helicopter identification in addition to reporting what is happening currently and why.

I'd like to thank our [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/HelicoptersofDC) supporters, their contributions cover server costs and allow me to invest in hardware to [bring radio calls to the platform](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0DhP-NPzL4).

## Unique Strengths of the CopterSpotter System
Many flight tracking sites like Flight Aware, Plane Finder and Radar Box remove flights at the owner's request. Even [ADSBExchange](https://globe.adsbexchange.com/), which doesn't filter any flights, does not receive tracking information from most military helicopters due to the Code of Federal Regulations [Title 14, Chapter I, Subchapter F rule 91.225](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14) which makes an exemption to mandatory flight transponders for "sensitive government mission for national defense, homeland security, intelligence or law enforcement."

This makes an enormous amount of helicopter flights over the NCR untraceable in any systematic way. As a result, we rely on user submitted photos and identification of helicopters in addition to a separate system that allows users to categorize helicopter radio calls to/from DCA tower.

This dataset is sourced from user-submitted photos on Twitter, and powers a computer vision program to automatically infer submissions to [@HelicoptersofDC](https://twitter.com/HelicoptersofDC) so DC residents can better identify what's over their heads.

Helicopters of DC ([@HelicoptersofDC](https://twitter.com/HelicoptersofDC))

.[@fergindc](https://twitter.com/fergindc) spotted an H60 and has 1997 points 🔭🎷 [#CopterSpotter](https://twitter.com/hashtag/CopterSpotter) Probable operators: Army/National Guard/FBI/Possibly Presidential [twitter.com/a/status/15570…](https://twitter.com/a/status/1557033630710566914) [pic.twitter.com/YOmY5VTxoX](https://twitter.com/HelicoptersofDC/status/1557033721479532546/photo/1)


[Tweet link](https://twitter.com/HelicoptersofDC/status/1557033721479532546)

### Operators around the NCR can be reasonably inferred by aircraft type:
* Air Force - `UH1(N/H)`
* Army/Navy/Nat'l Guard - `UH60` / `H60` / `UH72(A)` / `SH60(m)`
* Coast Guard - `MH65` / `AS65`
* POTUS - `V22` / `VH60(N)` / `VH3D` / `VH92(A)`
* Medical - `EC35` / `EC45` / `A109(e)` / `EC135` / `EC145`
* DC/MD/VA Police - `AS350` / `AS50` / `MD52` / `A139` / `B429`
* Park Police - `B412` / `B206`

#### We have identified the following exceptions:
* `AS50`/`AS350` is used both by DC Police and at least 3 different DHS helicopters that frequent the area
* `B412` type is included in Federal Law Enforcement and Emergency support, most frequently Park Police but can also be Dept of Energy's 'Nuke Sniffer' helicopter
* `B06` is included in Federal Law Enforcement here as Park Police #N33PP. However, it can also be [@Chopper4Brad's](https://twitter.com/Chopper4Brad) news helicopter.
* `B429` included in State and Local for Fairfax County Police, similarly `H60` used in Military, but both crafts are used less often by FBI

## Future considerations:
This dataset includes classes for three variations of `UH60 Black Hawk`: `H60`, `VH60N`, and `H60 + Aux Fuel Tanks`. We may merge this later, the initial thought process was the aux fuel tanks change the shape, and the distinct color of the `VH60N` (when photographed with front light) can be attributed uniquely to Marine Presidential Squadron unlike the rest which can be Army, National Guard, FBI or Customs and Border Patrol.

### Release Notes:
* August 19th, 2022 1.3 - Adjusted rotation to +/- 5º, retrained model from scratch

* August 5th, 2022 1.2 - Now 12,000+ images, added many photos of previously under-represented classes `R66`, `VH92A`, `S76`
* Added `CH47` class, added `bird` class, added `plane` class, added [null examples](https://blog.roboflow.com/missing-and-null-image-annotations/)
* [Rotation](https://docs.roboflow.com/image-transformations/image-augmentation#random-rotation): Between -10° and +10°

* May 6th, 2022 `1.1` - Doubled images to 4061, specifically adding previously under-represented classes such as `R66`, `V22` and `A139` - added [image augmentations](https://docs.roboflow.com/image-transformations/image-augment

自2021年度报告截取

### 任务
[华盛顿特区直升机](https://twitter.com/HelicoptersofDC) 致力于为华盛顿特区居民提供最准确、最新的空中情况信息，并促进直升机识别和任务轮廓的协作与教育。[2020年GAO报告](https://hyp.is/eaY-THbwEeyOvH9kQEbx-g/beyer.house.gov/uploadedfiles/final_report_-_helo_noise_withlettersv2.pdf) 发现，2018年至2021年期间，向国家机场管理局(MWAA)提出的96.3%直升机噪音投诉无法归因于任何特定运营商——这就是为什么我们认为教育公众进行直升机识别，除报告当前发生的情况外，同样重要。

我想感谢我们的[Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/HelicoptersofDC)支持者，他们的贡献覆盖了服务器成本，并使我能够投资于硬件，以便将[无线电通话引入平台](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0DhP-NPzL4)。

## CopterSpotter系统的独特优势

许多航班跟踪网站，如Flight Aware、Plane Finder和Radar Box，根据运营商的要求删除航班。即使[ADSBExchange](https://globe.adsbexchange.com/)不过滤任何航班，也由于联邦法规[第14卷，第一章，F分册规则91.225](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14)的规定，大多数军用直升机无法接收跟踪信息，该规定对用于国家防御、国土安全、情报或执法的“敏感政府任务”豁免了强制飞行应答器。这使得国家首都地区(NCR)上空的大量直升机飞行无法以任何系统化的方式进行追踪。因此，我们除了依靠用户提交的直升机照片和识别外，还采用了一个独立系统，允许用户对来自/前往DCA塔台的直升机无线电通话进行分类。

此数据集来源于Twitter上的用户提交的照片，并为一个计算机视觉程序提供动力，以自动推断提交给[@HelicoptersofDC](https://twitter.com/HelicoptersofDC)的信息，以便华盛顿特区居民能够更好地识别头顶上空的情况。

Helicopters of DC ([@HelicoptersofDC](https://twitter.com/HelicoptersofDC))
.[@fergindc](https://twitter.com/fergindc) 发现了一架H60，获得了1997分 🔭🎷 [#CopterSpotter](https://twitter.com/hashtag/CopterSpotter) 可能的运营商：陆军/国民警卫队/FBI/可能是总统 [twitter.com/a/status/15570…](https://twitter.com/a/status/1557033630710566914) [pic.twitter.com/YOmY5VTxoX](https://twitter.com/HelicoptersofDC/status/1557033721479532546/photo/1)

[Tweet链接](https://twitter.com/HelicoptersofDC/status/1557033721479532546)

### NCR附近的运营商可以通过飞机类型进行合理推断：
* 空军 - “UH1(N/H)”
* 陆军/海军/国民警卫队 - “UH60” / “H60” / “UH72(A)” / “SH60(m)”
* 海军陆战队 - “MH65” / “AS65”
* 总统 - “V22” / “VH60(N)” / “VH3D” / “VH92(A)”
* 医疗 - “EC35” / “EC45” / “A109(e)” / “EC135” / “EC145”
* 华盛顿特区/马里兰州/弗吉尼亚州警察 - “AS350” / “AS50” / “MD52” / “A139” / “B429”
* 公园警察 - “B412” / “B206”

#### 我们已识别以下例外情况：
* “AS50”/“AS350”既被华盛顿特区警察使用，也被至少3架经常出现在该地区的不同DHS直升机使用
* “B412”型号包括在联邦执法和紧急支援中，最常见的是公园警察，但也可以是能源部‘核嗅探器’直升机
* “B06”在此处包括在联邦执法中，作为公园警察 #N33PP。然而，它也可以是[@Chopper4Brad的](https://twitter.com/Chopper4Brad)新闻直升机。
* “B429”包括在州和地方警察中，类似地，“H60”在军事中，但两种飞机都较少被FBI使用。

## 未来考虑事项：
此数据集包括“UH60黑鹰”三种变体的类别：“H60”、“VH60N”和“H60 + 辅助燃油箱”。我们可能会稍后将其合并，最初的思考过程是辅助燃油箱改变了形状，而“VH60N”的鲜明颜色（当以正面光线拍摄时）可以独特地归因于海军陆战队总统中队，而其他则可以是陆军、国民警卫队、FBI或海关和边境巡逻队。

### 发布说明：
* 2022年8月19日 1.3 - 调整了旋转范围为±5°，从头开始重新训练模型
* 2022年8月5日 1.2 - 现有超过12,000张图片，添加了许多之前代表性不足的类别的照片，如“R66”、“VH92A”和“S76”
* 添加了“CH47”类别，添加了“鸟”类别、“飞机”类别，添加了[空值示例](https://blog.roboflow.com/missing-and-null-image-annotations/)
* [旋转](https://docs.roboflow.com/image-transformations/image-augmentation#random-rotation)：介于-10°和+10°之间
* 2022年5月6日 1.1 - 图片数量翻倍至4061，特别增加了之前代表性不足的类别，如“R66”、“V22”和“A139”
* 添加了[图像增强](https://docs.roboflow.com/image-transformations/image-augmentation)