Abstract
Recent evolutions of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) concept are driving the introduction of new airspace structures and classifications, which must be suitable for low-altitude airspace and provide the required level of safety and flexibility, particularly in dense urban and suburban areas. Therefore, airspace classifications and structures need to evolve based on appropriate performance metrics, while new models and tools are needed to address UTM operational requirements, with an increasing focus on the coexistence of manned and unmanned Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles and associated Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) infrastructure. This paper presents a novel airspace model for UTM adopting Performance-Based Operation (PBO) criteria, and specifically addressing urban airspace requirements. In particular, a novel airspace discretisation methodology is introduced, which allows dynamic management of airspace resources based on navigation and surveillance performance. Additionally, an airspace sectorisation methodology is developed balancing the trade-off between communication overhead and computational complexity of trajectory planning and re-planning. Two simulation case studies are conducted: over the skyline and below the skyline in Melbourne central business district, utilising Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). The results confirm that the proposed airspace sectorisation methodology promotes operational safety and efficiency and enhances the UTM operators’ situational awareness under dense traffic conditions introducing a new effective 3D airspace visualisation scheme, which is suitable both for mission planning and pre-tactical UTM operations. Additionally, the proposed performance-based methodology can accommodate the diversity of infrastructure and vehicle performance requirements currently envisaged in the UTM context. This facilitates the adoption of this methodology for low-level airspace integration of UAS (which may differ significantly in terms of their avionics CNS capabilities) and set foundations for future work on tactical online UTM operations.
Highlights
The emerging need to integrate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) traffic in the existing airspace bears notable challenges in terms of increased traffic density and complexity in low-altitude airspace [1,2].In 2012, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act prompted research into the field of managing small UAS as civilian demand for these systems had Aerospace 2020, 7, 154; doi:10.3390/aerospace7110154 www.mdpi.com/journal/aerospaceAerospace 2020, 7, 154 grown significantly [3]
Phase 3—The UAS takes-off and climbs to its cruise altitude; Phase 4—When the UAS is enroute to the delivery location, system performance is monitored and potential threats are assessed by both remote pilot and onboard/ground-based autonomous systems; Phase 5—Upon arrival at the delivery location, the remote pilot confirms a clearance to land through UAS Traffic Management (UTM) service, which triggers a notification to the customer; Phase 6—The UAS delivers the package
This paper presented a new approach to the design of urban airspace based on the combined performance of avionics systems and supporting traffic management infrastructure
Summary
The emerging need to integrate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) traffic in the existing airspace bears notable challenges in terms of increased traffic density and complexity in low-altitude airspace [1,2]. Owing to the difference in operational complexity, traffic volumes, fleet mixes, and supporting infrastructure, it is readily apparent that airspace design and sectorisation strategies for conventional air traffic are inapplicable in their current form to the UAS/UAM traffic management problem. The doctrine applied in this paper is that the required separation of UTM traffic and subsequently, the airspace management strategy should be a direct consequence of the infrastructure supporting the operation, as originally argued in [14]. These include the hardware and software systems operating in the air (avionics systems) and on the ground (traffic management systems) as well as the personnel exercising oversight and control over the operations.
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