Evaluation of Glare as a Hazard for General Aviation Pilots on Final Approach

Solar power is a growing source of energy for airports and for their communities. While solar power panels provide a useful means to generate revenue and to provide energy locally, it does pose a potential hazard in the form of glare. In the current study, pilots were exposed to glare during a series of flights in a flight simulator, and their perceived impairment was recorded. During the approach phase of each flight, the authors simulated glare from one of four possible angles (0, 25, 50, and 90 deg left of straight ahead) and for glare durations of either 0 (no glare control), 1, and 5 s. The glare was simulated using halogen lamps that, under the lighting conditions of the lab, approximated the visual effect of solar glare. Subjective measures of impairment were recorded for each condition. There was a significant main effect of glare duration and a significant main effect of glare angle. Impairment was perceived as being worse for glare sources that are straight ahead of the pilot and of longer duration, with a gradual decline in impairment as the glare source moves toward the side of the pilot. However, there was no significant interaction between glare duration and of glare angle.

• Record URL:
  http://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/2010s/media/201512.pdf
• 
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/57175
• Corporate Authors:

  Greensboro College

  Greensboro, NC  United States 

  Sandia National Laboratories

  P.O. Box 5800
  Albuquerque, NM  United States  87185

  Federal Aviation Administration

  Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, P.O. Box 25082
  Oklahoma City, OK  United States  73125

  Federal Aviation Administration

  Office of Aerospace Medicine, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20591
• Authors:
  • Rogers, Jason A
  • Ho, Clifford K
  • Mead, Andrew
  • Millan, Angel
  • Beben, Melissa
  • Drechsler, Gena
• Publication Date: 2015-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; Photos; References;
• Pagination: 18p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Approach; Flight simulators; General aviation pilots; Glare; Panels; Solar collectors; Time duration
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01570610
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: DOT/FAA/AM-15/12
• Contract Numbers: DE-AC04-94AL85000; AM-HRR-521
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 24 2015 12:08PM