Traffic Management for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS): Towards the Development of a Concept of Operations and System Architecture

Within the past few years, civilian demand for small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS), commonly referred to as drones, has skyrocketed. The passage of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act in 2012 acknowledged this fact, and has since prompted expedited research and development for civilian sUAS. As proposed at a recent NASA Convention, central to the safe and efficient operations of sUAS will be an unmanned aerial traffic management (UTM) system. Such a UTM system will borrow fundamental ideas from large-scale air-traffic control, albeit with several key differences that provide for sUAS which vary in method of control, maneuverability, function, range, and operational constraints. Ultimately, an expansion of UTM infrastructure, a decentralization of governing authority over sUAS operations, and the establishment of a web-interface for pilots to submit flight plans and access crucial data will allow for sUAS operations to shift from being a science-fiction gimmick to an element of daily life. The major objectives of this paper are to: 1) define what a UTM system is; 2) describe how sUAS pilots would use a typical UTM system to plan flights; 3) identify who has authority over UTM systems; and 4) determine what physical architecture is required in a UTM system which handles a large variety of sUAS, including those operated beyond visual line-of-sight.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AV060 Standing Committee on Airfield and Airspace Capacity and Delay. Alternate title: Traffic Management for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems: Toward Development of a Concept of Operations and System Architecture.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Geller, Jared
  • Jiang, Tao
  • Ni, Daiheng
  • Collura, John
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2016-1-10 to 2016-1-14
• Date: 2016

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 95th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air traffic control; Aircraft operations; Drones; System architecture
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Operations and Traffic Management; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01589963
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 16-3533
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 8 2016 10:36AM