(Apr 21, 2016)

The Airspace Operations Lab (AOL) participated in a major unmanned aerial system (UAS) test involving six Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) test sites. The AOL hosted new UAS Traffic Management (UTM) displays to help with the coordination. Local reporters visited the AOL to observe this study because of strong public interest in low altitude UAS operations. Many beneficial civilian applications of UAS have been proposed, from goods delivery and infrastructure surveillance, to search and rescue, and agricultural monitoring. The UTM system is designed to enable safe and efficient low-altitude airspace operations by providing services such as airspace design, corridors, dynamic geofencing, severe weather and wind avoidance, congestion management, terrain avoidance, route planning and re-routing, separation management, sequencing and spacing, and contingency management. UTM is essential to enable the accelerated development and use of civilian UAS applications. Ames researchers have developed a UTM simulation environment in the AOL which is frequently used to demonstrate UTM to stakeholders, executives and media.