Background Risk Assessment Tool to Enable Airspace Design
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Civil drone operations require robust collision risk mitigation between drones and crewed aircraft to ensure safety. This presentation introduces a layered conflict management approach to mitigate collision risk to an acceptable level. The approach strategically partitions airspace into operational zones to minimize the interaction between drones and crewed aircraft. To define airspace partitions, we leverage nationwide air traffic radar data, efficient H3 geospatial indexing, and non-aviation geospatial data, such as roadway topography, for contextualization. The result is a significant expansion of usable airspace for drones compared to prior methods, enabling efficient airspace utilization. The method is demonstrated in the complex airspace surrounding Van Nuys Airport, California, highlighting its value for scalable and safe drone integration.
Author: Weinert, Andrew
Institutions: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Aerospace Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6930694172
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: