Integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems into the National Airspace System-Efforts by the University of Alaska to Support the FAA/NASA UAS Traffic Management Program

Catherine Cahill,Michael Hatfield,Jessica Garron,Rebecca Beltran,Peter Webley

doi:10.3390/rs12193112

Catherine Cahill, Michael Hatfield + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12193112

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Journal: Remote Sensing	Publication Date: Sep 23, 2020
Citations: 13	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Alaska Fairbanks

Abstract

Over the past decade Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS, aka “drones”) have become pervasive, touching virtually all aspects of our world. While UAS offer great opportunity to better our lives and strengthen economies, at the same time these can significantly disrupt manned flight operations and put our very lives in peril. Balancing the demanding and competing requirements of safely integrating UAS into the United States (US) National Airspace System (NAS) has been a top priority of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for several years. This paper outlines efforts taken by the FAA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to create the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system as a means to address this capability gap. It highlights the perspectives and experiences gained by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) as one of the FAA’s six UAS test sites participating in the NASA-led UTM program. The paper summarizes UAF’s participation in the UTM Technical Capability Level (TCL1-3) campaigns, including flight results, technical capabilities achieved, lessons learned, and continuing challenges regarding the implementation of UTM in the NAS. It also details future efforts needed to enable practical Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) flights for UAS operations in rural Alaska.

Highlights

This paper describes efforts by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) program to safely integrate UAS into the United States (US) National Airspace System (NAS)
This paper describes efforts by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)/NASA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) program to safely integrate UAS into the US National Airspace System (NAS)
UAF flew four UAS simultaneously in support of NASA goals for the demonstration. This was a significant accomplishment due to a myriad of challenging factors: (1) the short flight times (10–15 min) of most UAS assets; (2) stringent computer-communications requirements for the effort; (3) limitations imposed by early prototype NASA and third party software; (4) changing weather; and lastly (5) the need to coordinate the aforementioned factors with six test sites in four time zones across the US to get all 24 UAS in the air simultaneously

Summary

Introduction

This paper describes efforts by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)/NASA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) program to safely integrate UAS into the US National Airspace System (NAS). It details the flight campaigns of UAF’s Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI), an FAA UAS Test Site, in supporting the program goals and objectives. BBaacckkggrroouunndd:: TThhee UUSS aanndd tthhee wwoorrlldd hhaavvee sseeeenn aa ddrraammaattiicc rriissee iinn ppooppuullaarriittyy aanndd aapppplliiccaattiioonn ooff UUnnmmaannnneedd AAiirrccrraafftt SSyysstteemmss ((UUAASS)) iinn rreecceenntt yyeeaarrss. UUAASS ooff mmaannyy ssiizzeess,, sshhaappeess,, aanndd cchhaarraacctteerriissttiiccss aarree bbeeiinngg flfloowwnn iinnuunnpprreecceeddeenntteedd nnuummbbeerrss aanndd aapppplliiccaattiioonnss ttooddaayy. UUAASS iinniittiiaallllyy wweerree eexxppeennssiivvee aanndd ooff lliimmiitteedd uuttiilliittyy ttoo tthhee ggeenneerraall ppuubblliicc,, bbuutt rreecceenntt tteecchhnnoollooggiiccaall iimmpprroovveemmeennttss aanndd mmaarrkkeett ffoorrcceess aass sshhoowwnn iinn FFiigguurree 11AA,, hhaavvee rreessuulltteedd iinn aa vviirrttuuaall eexxpplloossiioonn iinn tthhee aavvaaiillaabbiilliittyy ooff ccoommpplleexx aanndd aaffffoorrddaabbllee UUAASS ccaappaabbllee ooff ssaattiissffyyiinngg aa wwiiddee ssppeeccttrruummooffmmiissssiioonnsseettssaannddooppeerraattiinnggrreeqquuirireemmeennttss[1[1]](p(p. .55).)

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