Abstract

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Technology Research and Development Branch initiated a research study in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Geodetic Survey (NGS) to evaluate the use of small unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) for collecting obstacle data at airports. The objectives of this research effort were to evaluate the accuracy of UAS obstacle data, assess the benefits and limitations of this technology, develop technical  and operational considerations for using UASs, and to identify practical use cases for the implementation of UASs for conducting obstacle data  collection at airports.

UAS obstacle data collection was conducted at five airports using a variety of UAS platforms, camera payloads, and data collection parameters. These data sets were processed utilizing two types of aerial triangulation (AT) software and analyzed using three-dimensional (3D) stereoscopic analysis techniques. The UAS data sets were evaluated based on their image quality, completeness, and accuracy relative to current FAA standards. The accuracies of UAS-derived obstacle measurements were evaluated by comparing them with data sets collected using field survey techniques and aerial surveys utilizing manned aircraft.

The results of both FAA and NGS review of the data found that UAS aerial imagery, in conjunction with 3D stereo analysis, is capable of collecting obstacle measurement data that meets current FAA Advisory Circulars 150/5300-17 and 150/5300-18 accuracy standards. Furthermore, when compared to manned aircraft data, UAS imagery is significantly higher resolution, which could provide superior accuracy in measuring obstacle heights and can identify obstacles with smaller vertical cross-sections. The accuracy of obstacle data is dependent on a variety of factors, including camera sensor and lens quality, data collection parameters such as ground sample distance and overlap settings, choice of processing software, and site attributes such as dense vegetation or terrain. Due to technical and operational limitations, UASs are currently the most practical for conducting small-scale surveys.