(Oct 8, 2019)

The Airspace Operations Laboratory (AOL) supported the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project during the completion of two BVLOS flight tests performed in high-density, urban environments to test a potential UAS air traffic control system for enabling small UAS operations in low altitude airspace.

The UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project collected valuable field data during two Technology Capability Level-4 (TCL-4) flight demonstrations of an automated traffic control system for UAS (drone) operations in low altitude airspace. The first test was conducted in the urban canyon environments in downtown Reno, Nevada from June 17-28, and the second in Corpus Christi, Texas from August 12-23. The tests exercised beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) technology, remote identification of in-air UASs, and automated data exchanges between UAS Service Suppliers (USSs). During the tests, the AOL served as a command center for monitoring all of the operations at both locations. All real-time data from the project partners came through the AOL and could be viewed through various visualizations developed by the AOL team. Members of the AOL also travelled to both Reno and Corpus Christi to observe first-hand the operations and to gather human-factors observations to study the interactions between human operators and these highly-automated systems.