Integrating RPAS - published approach procedures vs. local arrangements

The modern aeronautical scenario has welcomed the massive diffusion of new key elements, including the Remote Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), initially used for military purposes only. The current decade has seen RPAS ready to become a new airspace user in a large variety of civilian applications. Although RPAS can currently only be flown into segregated airspaces, due to national and international Flight Aviation Authorities′ (FAAs) constraints, they represent a remarkable potential growth in terms of development and economic investments for aviation. Full RPAS development will only happen when flight into non-segregated airspaces is authorized, as for manned civil and military aircraft. The preliminary requirement for disclosing the airspace to RPAS is the implementation of an ad hoc Safety Management System (SMS), as prescribed by ICAO, for every aeronautical operator. This issue arises in the context of the ongoing restructuring of airspaces management, according to SESAR-JU in Europe and NextGen in the USA (SESAR-JU has defined how RPAS research should be conducted in SESAR 2020, all in accordance with the 2015 European ATM Master Plan). This paper provides the basis to implement a risk model and general procedures/methodologies to investigate RPAS safety, according to the operational scenarios defined by EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency). The study is based on results achieved by multiple-RPAS experimental flights, performed within the RAID (RPAS-ATM Integration Demonstration) project.

Remotely-piloted aircraft systems (RPASs) present interesting and complex challenges for air traffic management. One of the most critical aspects of the integration of RPASs in non-segregated airspace is safety assessments. This paper lays out a methodology for estimating the minimum protection distance (MPD) that is required to avoid potential conflicts between RPASs and conventional aircraft. The MPD determines the final moment that air traffic control may instruct a RPAS to start climbing with a fixed rate of climb (ROC) to avoid separation minima infringement. The methodology sets out a conflict-resolution algorithm to estimate the MPD. It also models the impact of communication, navigation, and surveillance requirements on the MPD. The main difference between RPASs and conventional aircraft is that the former needs additional communication between the RPAS and pilot in the form of a required Comand and Control link performance (RLP). Finally, the authors carried out Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the value of the MPD only for the head-on encounter, which is the worst scenario. The results showed that the main factors affecting the MPD were RLP and ROC. By increasing RLP and decreasing ROC it was possible to reduce the MPD from 28 to 17 nautical miles; however, the variation in the MPD was not linear.

With rapid growth in the technologies and demand of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPASs), integration of such systems into the existing airspace system is becoming an issue in many countries. RPAS have different flight performances, communication characteristics, separation assurance mechanisms, and human machine interfaces from manned aircraft. To establish rules and regulations for RPAS integration, it is important to understand the impacts of RPASs on the airspace system. A simulation system that integrates manned aircraft, air traffic control, and RPASs is developed in Inha University to investigate these impacts through Human-in-The-Loop (HiTL) simulations. Three conflict resolution scenarios between a manned aircraft and a Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) were constructed and tested. Human factors such as the response times of pilots and controllers were measured and analyzed as well as the risk of each maneuver.

This study explores the potential of micro-credentialing and digital badges in developing and validating the knowledge, skills, and other attributes (KSaOs) required for diverse Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) operations. The rapid proliferation of drone usage has outpaced the development of necessary KSaOs for safe and efficient drone operations. This research aims to bridge this gap by identifying the unique and specific KSaOs required for different types of drone operations and examining how micro-credentialing and digital badges can provide tangible evidence of these KSaOs. The study also investigates the potential benefits and challenges of implementing digital badges in the RPAS sector and how these challenges can be addressed. Furthermore, it explores how digital badges can contribute to the standardization and recognition of RPAS competencies across different national regulatory bodies. The methodology involves observational studies of publicly available videos of drone operations, with a focus on agriculture spraying operations. The findings highlight the importance of both generic and specific KSaOs in RPAS operations and suggest that digital badges may provide an effective means of evidencing mastery of these competencies. This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on drone regulation and competency development, offering practical insights for regulators, training providers, and drone operators.

Abstract. To observe the origin, vertical and horizontal distribution and variability of aerosol particles, and especially ultrafine particles recently formed, we plan to employ the remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) Carolo-P360 "ALADINA" of TU Braunschweig. The goal of the presented project is to investigate the vertical and horizontal distribution, transport and small-scale variability of aerosol particles in the atmospheric boundary layer using RPAS. Two additional RPAS of type MASC of Tübingen University equipped with turbulence instrumentation add the opportunity to study the interaction of the aerosol concentration with turbulent transport and exchange processes of the surface and the atmosphere. The combination of different flight patterns of the three RPAS allows new insights in atmospheric boundary layer processes. Currently, the different aerosol sensors are miniaturized at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig and together with the TU Braunschweig adapted to fit into the RPAS. Moreover, an additional meteorological payload for measuring temperature, humidity and turbulence properties is constructed by Tübingen University. Two condensation particle counters determine the total aerosol number with a different lower detection threshold in order to investigate the horizontal and vertical aerosol variability and new particle formation (aerosol particles of some nm diameter). Further the aerosol size distribution in the range from about 0.300 to ~5 μm is given by an optical particle counter.

The size and great dynamism of coastal systems require faster and more automated mapping methods like the use of a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This method allows for shorter intervals between surveys. The main problem for surveying using low-altitude digital photogrammetry in beach areas is their visual homogeneity. Obviously, the fewer the homologous points defined by the program, the lower the accuracy. Moreover, some factors influence the error performed in photogrammetric techniques, such as flight height, flight time, percentage of frame overlap (side and forward), and the number of ground control points (GCPs). A total of 72 different cases were conducted varying these factors, and the results were analyzed. Among the conclusions, it should be highlighted that the error for noon flights is almost double that for the early morning flights. Secondly, there is no appreciable difference regarding the side overlap. But, on the other side, RMSE increased to three times (from 0.05 to 0.15 m) when forward overlap decreased from 85% to 70%. Moreover, relative accuracy is 0.05% of the flying height which means a significant increase in error (66%) between flights performed at 60 and 100 m height). Furthermore, the median of the error for noon flights (0.12 m) is almost double that for the early morning flights (0.07 m) because of the higher percentage of grids with data for early flights. Therefore, beach levelings must never be performed at noon when carried out by RPAS. Eventually, a new parameter has been considered: the relationship between the number of GCPs and the surface to be monitored. A minimum value of 7 GCP/Ha should be taken into account when designing a beach leveling campaign using RPAS.

A general evolution of airspace and air traffic management is ongoing in Europe including significant novelties for manned aviation. The most important one is the full integration of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) in the next future and the full integration of automated air vehicles and Driverless Personal Air Vehicles (DPAV) afterwards with manned aircraft. The economic impact of integration of RPAS with manned aircraft into not segregated airspace to perform aerial work is very important. European and worldwide Aviation Authorities and other organizations (EUROCONTROL, JARUS, RTCA, etc.) are working to elaborate new regulations and standards to maintain the current level of safety of aerial operations facing the incoming new entry in the airspace. The implementation of a comprehensive preliminary risk model is deemed to be propaedeutic to any former safety analysis of the new operational scenario: RPAS and manned aircraft flying together into a not segregated airspace. Such risk model is defined in accordance to the Safety Risk Management Pillar of Safety Management System model. The safety analysis for the implementation of the above mentioned preliminary risk model is presented and discussed in this article.

PurposeThe cadaster goes through its fifth wave of updating, seeking agility and efficiency in cadastral registration. However, despite recent advances in remote sensors and the low cost of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), on-site visits are still used to complete the cadastral form. Thus, this work aims to employ techniques and methodologies for remote characterization of buildings for cadastral updating purposes, reducing the need to enter the parcels.Design/methodology/approachThe research tools used were: RPAS and MMS (mobile mapping systems), making a three-dimensional model with RPAS data, and analyzing the results from these platforms. With the 3D model, it was possible to extract measurements and characteristics.FindingsThe analysis of the 3D model with the aerial photographs obtained better results in the characterization of the buildings and is the most indicated according to the study. There were difficulties in identifying some features, such as windows frames, and it was proposed to analyze the photographs without processing, to mitigate these identifications. The cadaster form was successfully completed using a combination of the techniques in this study.Originality/valueThis study brings a first proposal for the characterization of parcels for cadastral purposes, by remote sensing techniques, reducing the entry in the parcels for filling cadastral forms, with the evaluation of the proposal in the Brazilian case.

Traffic accident documentation worldwide is generally done by conventional methods (e.g., surveying wheel and steel tapeline) followed by sketch and plan creation. These conventional methods are time-consuming and inaccurate; therefore, they can possibly be replaced by advanced modern methods, using the remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) for obtaining data, as well as the structure from motion (SfM) for processing. For the proof of concept, we designed and performed an experiment using low-cost multi-rotor RPAS on an arranged traffic accident involving three cars. The result of this experiment was an accurate 3D model with the possibility of precise measurement. The differences in distances and reference objects’ dimensions were in general below 1% compared to real values. The presented method is time-saving (requiring 85% less time), more precise, and more efficient compared to conventional methods. Moreover, it allows better data reusability, thus is very suitable and can be recommended for usage in routine situations in traffic accident documentation.

Effects of auditory and visual feedback on remote pilot manual flying performance

ABSTRACT: Advances in the forestry sector are closely linked to scientific research and the implementation of technologies in the areas of sensors, aerial images, GPS, learning algorithms, data processing, as well as the use of computer intelligence systems to obtain and analyze data in forestry plantations, which require tools that provide a higher degree of precision, reduced costs and less time for data collection. This constant evolution of the sector, together with the improvement of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), paves the way for the use of this platform in forest data collection. In this article we discussed the use of RPAS to obtain dendrometric and morphometric variables to estimate wood volume in two Tectona grandis Linn f. stands, where field measurement and overflight were carried out using the Phantom 4 Pro RPAS. The aerial photos were processed using Pix4Dmapper software to generate the orthomosaic, digital terrain model and surface. Using these products, information was collected on the total height, crown area and crown diameter of the trees, with the aim of estimating volume (v) using the variables collected from the images (indirect method) and with the addition of the variables collected in the field (direct method). The estimates of v showed satisfactory results through the evaluation statistics, and it was possible to estimate forest production from data obtained by RPAS, obtaining an adjusted coefficient of determination of 66% in the indirect method and the estimate together with the field data showed an adjusted coefficient of determination of 94%.

INTRODUCTION: Air pollution in urban areas becomes a severe challenge to global health; exposure to polluting gases can lead to different diseases and even human mortality. In this sense, monitoring the concentration of polluting gases such as carbon monoxide and methane is important. OBJECTIVES: This document focuses on developing a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) to monitor the concentration of carbon monoxide and methane at different altitudes. METHODS: This includes a Parrot AR Drone 2.0, where the measurement prototype was mounted. The data was transmitted and reception at a ground control station through an application programmed in LabVIEW 15.0. RESULTS: The experimental measurements showed that the concentration of carbon monoxide remains almost unchanged regardless of variations in altitude. In contrast, methane concentration reduces linearly with the increase in height with respect to ground level in Puerto Maldonado. CONCLUSION: We implemented an RPAS to monitor in real time, record data in a control station and analyze the concentration of carbon monoxide and methane in the South Eastern Peruvian Amazon.

The introduction of unmanned aircraft systems into various domains of civil aviation led to the necessity to develop suitable integration concepts to coordinate flight movements of manned and unmanned aircraft especially regarding surface operations at civil airports. These remotely piloted or automatic / autonomous unmanned aircraft do not have the same capabilities as manned aircraft. However, to achieve a wide commercial success, they will have to use the same infrastructure. Air traffic control has to maintain a safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic, considering this new mixed traffic constellation. In order to do so, new operational procedures were defined. Within the scope of the SESAR 2020 project `Surface Management Operations' (SuMO), a procedural concept for ground movements of unmanned aircraft together with manned aircraft has been developed and evaluated in gaming sessions. This concept introduces so-called segmented standard taxi routes as a first and easy solution to enable mixed traffic while maintaining the same level of safety and very low system requirements for unmanned aircraft systems. In 2017, this concept was successfully validated in a dedicated workshop with operational experts, air traffic controller, remote and conventional pilots. The results of this evaluation have been published at the 37th Digital Avionics Systems Conference in September 2018. Based on this success, a fast-time simulation has been conducted in the beginning of 2019 to investigate quantitatively the operational performance of this solution in terms of the key performance areas capacity, efficiency and environmental impact. According to project objectives, the simulation scenarios were set up using as example the international airport of Stuttgart. Towing operations were used as a baseline scenario for RPAS ground movements. Selected performance parameters were then compared with those being calculated for the application of the segmented standard taxi route procedure in the solution scenario. The share of remotely piloted aircraft systems varied between 0% and 50% of the whole traffic. This paper provides a detailed description of the setup of this fast-time simulation, conducted simulation runs, defined metrics and results. In addition, these results are correlated with the recently published outcomes of the validation workshop of 2017. The paper closes with a summary and an outlook.

This paper reports the outcome of the RPAS‐based prospection of four prehistoric and early historic sites on Mainland, Rousay and South Ronaldsay Islands of the Orkney archipelago (Northern Scotland). Application of RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System) improved the effectiveness and accuracy of the mapping of the archaeological landscape, comparing to the ground‐base survey. The paper presents the workflow used to obtain the low altitude images using RPAS and photogrammetric pipeline applied to create ortophotomaps and digital elevation models. Then the interpretation of mapped remnants at the sites of Brough of Deerness, Burrian, Hashwick and Burwick is discussed. Beside reporting the new datasets for the Orkney the author is clarifying the problem of surveying “the inhospitable” landscapes ‐ the areas that for different reasons might be difficult to access by survey using ground‐based methods. Therefore Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems are advocated as a solution in such challenging conditions.

Remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) platforms are able to optimize the process of acquiring aerial images and improve the quality of the products generated in terms of spatial and temporal resolution. The exponential advance of the use of RPAS platforms in forestry, especially from the year 2010, is noteworthy. In this review, we present the global state of the art of the development and applications of RPAS technology in forestry, structured from a systematic review. Our results reveal a trend towards the use of multirotor RPAS platforms compared with fixed-wing platforms and that sensors that register in the visible spectral range are still the most widely used. More recent research has shown applications geared especially for areas such as forest inventory, with many innovations based on the detection of individual trees. Special focus has also been given to new alternatives for pest and disease mapping and phenological phenomena that occur at short intervals, as well as the monitoring of fires and postharvest areas. Therefore, there is a great potential for the use of RPAS platforms in a wide range of forest applications, whether linked to the productive sector or to the conservation of biodiversity, with great advances for spatiotemporal forest monitoring and expectations of further progress for the coming years.