Aviation Commons^™

A Comparison Of Airport Risks: Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Uas) Sightings, Wildlife Strikes, And Runway Incursions, Cheng Wang, Sarah M. Hubbard

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

To provide a context for the potential threat of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) sightings on airport operations, this paper compares the characteristics of UAS sightings with two common airport threats: wildlife strikes and runway incursions. This study analyzed over 60,000 events in a three-year period (September 2016 to August 2019), including 6,551 UAS sightings from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) UAS Sightings Report database, 47,574 wildlife strikes from the FAA Wildlife Strike database, and 6,041 runway incursions from the FAA Runway Safety database. The results suggest both similarities and differences among the airport threats. Both UAS sightings and wildlife strikes …

Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems To Investigate The Detectability Of Burmese Pythons In South Florida, Joseph Cerreta Ph.D., William Austin Ed.D., David Thirtyacre Ph.D., Scott S. Burgess Ph.D., Peter Miller

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Burmese pythons are an invasive, non-native species of snake to southern Florida and attempts at eradicating the snakes had yielded mixed results. The current rate of detection had been reported as 0.05%. The purpose of this research project was to determine if a UAS equipped with a near-infrared (NIR) camera could be used to detect pythons at a higher rate when compared to a RGB camera. The approach involved collecting 55 images from RGB and NIR cameras, over carcass pythons at flying heights of 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 meters. A likelihood ratio consisting of a true positive rate …

Characteristics Of Unmanned Aircraft System (Uas) Sightings And Airport Safety, Cheng Wang, Sarah M. Hubbard

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

This paper presents the characteristics of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) sightings and discusses these characteristics in the context of airport safety using airport operational data. An unmanned aircraft in the vicinity of a commercial airport may be a potential threat to aircraft operations, and may result in operational and economic impacts if it causes an airport delay or shutdown. To ensure a record of UAS activity, the Federal Aviation Administration collects and publishes a UAS Sightings Report. This study analyzed UAS sightings and found that they vary by time of year and time of day, with more sightings in the …

Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Acoustic Analysis For Noninvasive Marine Mammal Response: An Exploratory Field Study, David Thirtyacre, Gennifer Brookshire, Sarah Callan, Brittany Arvizu, Patrick Sherman

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

As in countless other fields of human endeavor, small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) have the potential to benefit pinniped (Pinnipedia; e.g., Phocidae [seals], Otariidae [sea lions], and Odobenidae [walruses]) response efforts. The employment of sUAS could give responders a close-up look at animals in distress in order to determine their condition as well as develop a response strategy. However, unlike other subjects that are regularly inspected by sUAS (e.g., croplands and civil infrastructure) pinnipeds may respond to the distinctive sound generated by small, multirotor sUAS. This reaction may include retreating into the water en masse, which could put …

Evaluating The Merit Of Implementing A Safety Management System Into An Unmanned Aerial Systems Company, Nathan Phillips, Jennifer Herr

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Safety Management System (SMS) implementation into small Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) organizations is only now beginning to happen. Because of the lack of research into this area and its cutting edge application in unmanned aviation, a look into the potential benefits as well as the differences from manned avation seems appropriate.

A Review Of Dji’S Mavic Pro Precision Landing Accuracy, Cody Yoakum, Joseph Cerreta

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Precision landing has the potential to increase the accuracy of autonomous landings. Unique applications require specific landing performance; for example, wireless charging loses efficiency with a misalignment of 100mm. Unfortunately, there is no publicly available information for the DJI Mavic Pro’s landing specifications. This research investigated the ability of a Mavic Pro to land at a specified point accurately. The purpose of this research is to determine if precision landings are more accurate than non-precision autonomous landings and if the Mavic Pro is capable of applications such as wireless charging when using precision landings. A total of 128 (64 precision …

Evaluating Small Uas Operations And National Airspace System Interference Using Aeroscope, Ryan J. Wallace, Kristy M. Kiernan, Tom Haritos, John Robbins, Jon M. Loffi

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

A recent rash of near mid-air collisions coupled with the widespread proliferation of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) raise concerns that integration is posing additional risk to the National Airspace System. In 2016, sUAS sighting reports by manned aircraft pilots averaged 147 per month. In the first three quarters of 2017, sUAS sightings jumped to 188 per month. The purpose of this study was to evaluate sUAS operator behavior to determine potential interference with aviation operations. While previous research has indeed yielded findings about operator behavior, such studies were generally based on data derived from Aviation Safety Reporting System filings …

Comparison Of Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Uas) For Agriculture Monitoring, Joseph Cerreta, Kristine M. Kiernan

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Florida citrus growers need inexpensive methods to observe citrus plants to detect disease and stress consistently. Health vegetation indices, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) collected from Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), can be used to identify variation in plant health. Simple-to-operate UAS may enable growers to determine within-field variation more frequently than with inspections from scouts, providing more frequent knowledge about the crop condition. This research compared two low-cost fixed-wing UAS, a $5,000 Parrot Disco Pro Ag and a $16,690 senseFly eBee, each equipped with a Parrot Sequoia multispectral camera, to determine if there were differences in the …

Exploring Commercial Counter-Uas Operations: A Case Study Of The 2017 Dominican Republic Festival Presidente, Ryan J. Wallace, Jon M. Loffi, Michael Quiroga, Carlos Quiroga

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The proliferation of commercial off-the-shelf unmanned aircraft technology has resulted in a growing number of illicit or hazardous UAS activities, highlighting the growing need for effective counter-UAS mitigations. The purpose of this exploratory research is to develop a better understanding of the existing tactics, techniques, procedures involved in counter-UAS operations. Using a critical paradigm approach, the authors conducted a qualitative, unstructured interview with counter-UAS professionals. The authors sought to identify mission planning considerations, counter-UAS engagement tasks, and unanticipated conditions associated with performing a commercial [non-military] counter-UAS mission. The authors codified 11 key mission planning tasks and a 22-step engagement process …

Evaluating Small Uas Near Midair Collision Risk Using Aeroscope And Ads-B, Ryan J. Wallace, Kristy W. Kiernan, Tom Haritos, John Robbins, Godfrey V. D'Souza

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

As small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) continue to proliferate in the National Airspace System (NAS), near midair collisions are becoming more common. In late 2017, the National Transportation Safety Board released a report detailing the first confirmed midair collision between a sUAS and manned aircraft in the United States. In February 2018, a video of a sUAS maneuvering around a passenger jetliner on approach to a Las Vegas airport went viral on YouTube. Just months later, a helicopter instructor pilot reported performing evasive maneuvers to avoid colliding with a sUAS, resulting in a non-fatal crash. From 2014 to 2018 the …

How Law Enforcement Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Uas) Could Improve Tactical Response To Active Shooter Situations: The Case Of The 2017 Las Vegas Shooting, Ryan J. Wallace, Jon M. Loffi

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Using a case study methodology, this paper assesses the unique tactical challenges faced by law enforcement officers responding to the October 1, 2017, Las Vegas active shooter incident. The authors assessed the tactical strengths of the assailant, Stephen Paddock, and challenges faced by law enforcement personnel. The authors present several proposed applications of unmanned aircraft systems that could have potentially mitigated the active shooter’s tactical advantages.

Seeing The Threat: Pilot Visual Detection Of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems In Visual Meteorological Conditions, Jon M. Loffi, Ryan J. Wallace, Jamey D. Jacob, Jared C. Dunlap

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

One key challenge of integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) platforms into the National Airspace System (NAS) is the potential for midair collisions between manned aircraft and the unmanned system. The lack of an established UAS benchmark for Detect, Sense & Avoid Systems put the preponderance of avoidance efforts on manned aircraft pilots to visually see and avoid potential collision threats. The small size, unusual configurations, and diverse operational applications of unmanned systems make UAS platforms difficult to visually identify. This paper sought to determine the mean visibility distance of small UAS systems (sUAS) to an alerted pilot flying a general …

A Model Of Human Harm From A Falling Unmanned Aircraft: Implications For Uas Regulation, Andrew V. Shelley

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This paper quantifies the human harm, in the form of fatalities and skull fractures, which could occur as a result of an unmanned aircraft falling from a height. The analysis is used to establish the maximum height at which an unmanned aircraft can be flown over people to achieve a level of safety consistent with the rate of ground fatalities from General Aviation. The maximum height is dependent on the aircraft mass and the population density of people on the ground below.

The results are used to inform a critical evaluation of recent recommendations from the FAA-chartered “Unmanned Aircraft Systems …