Abstract

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Technology Research and Development Branch personnel conducted a research effort to evaluate the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) for airport perimeter inspections and surveillance. The purpose of this effort was to develop minimum recommended performance specifications and technical/operational considerations for the use of UASs to conduct airport perimeter inspections.

This research effort was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 included tests of various flight parameters, UAS platforms, and payloads at Cape May County Airport to develop performance specifications and best practices on conducting perimeter inspections using UASs. During Phase 1, UAS flights were conducted during daylight and night conditions. Phase 2 consisted of validation testing at three airports with varying environments, Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, McGhee Tyson Airport, and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, to further evaluate the findings regarding the use of UASs for perimeter inspections in daylight, twilight, and night conditions. During testing, researchers collected feedback from airport and perimeter security stakeholders to determine the flight parameters, use cases, and technologies that provided the greatest benefit.

This report summarizes the testing conducted and recommended UAS platform and payload specifications. FAA researchers found that UASs equipped with thermal and visual cameras provided a significant benefit for inspecting hard-to-reach or inaccessible areas and detecting unauthorized persons or vehicles. However, because the detail visible during UAS inspections of fencing is limited by payload resolution and the elevated viewing angle, it is recommended that UASs be used to supplement, rather than replace, current methods of conducting visual inspections of airport perimeters. FAA researchers also set minimum performance specifications, including minimum recorded resolutions of 1080p (1920x1080) for recorded visual camera footage, 720p (1280x720) for live-streamed visual camera footage, and 640x512 for thermal camera footage.