Happy anniversary, 14 CFR part 107!

June 21, 2017 is the one year anniversary of the release of 14 CFR part 107, which regulates small unmanned aircraft in the public airspace. The rule relaxed many FAA restrictions on flying unmanned aircraft (drones) in the public airspace. We have no major incidents or accidents reported so far even though FAA expected to issue 600,000 remote aircraft pilot certificates before the end of 2016.  However, unmanned and manned aircraft have not shared the public airspace without incidents.

Between June 21 and December 31 2016 the Federal Aviation Administration pilots and others reported 638 UAS "events" involving sightings, which sometimes caused pilots to change course to avoid collisions (see the FAA reports about drone sightings).  The FAA's reports of sightings include many types of flying craft, including balloons, like the kind that escape from used car parking lots.  But most pilots saw multi-rotors and were close enough to identify details, like the color of the drone body and safety lighting.  In many cases, pilots saw drones just after take off and while on approach for landing.

Pilots report sighted drones' altitudes with mean sea level (MSL) as a reference, rather than the height above ground level (AGL).  However, the reports suggest that sightings were higher than the 400 foot AGL operating ceiling specified in part 107 ("Maximum altitude of 400 feet above ground level (AGL) or, if higher than 400 feet AGL, remain within 400 feet of a structure.").  Also, the drones may have been too close to airports, within the approaches for landing and the take-off corridors. Whether too high or two close to airports pilots of light planes and commercial airlines have been finding drones where they did not expect to see them.

The question is when will a piloted aircraft and a drone be in the same place at the same time?  The Know Before You Fly program should help drone pilots understand how to avoid conflicts with piloted aircraft.  The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) promotes Know Before You Fly heavily within its membership of 193,000 people, who likely follow AMA safety rules at AMA affiliated model aircraft airfields and events.  AMA also promotes safe remote control flying and publishes the National Model Aircraft Safety Code monthly in Model Aviation.  However, with a year of relaxed regulations, and many thousands of new drone owners who may not have learned about airspace and flying restrictions and who are not part of an AMA affiliated club, the chances of a headline about a collision between a drone and a piloted aircraft increase, especially if drone pilots fly within the takeoff and landing airspace for airports.  



   

Fewer restrictions, more close encounters?

A Highly Publicized Case in the Early History of sUAS:

 
Small unmanned aircraft (sUAS) were in the sky prior to completion of the part 107 regulations. This led to many reported incursions in public airspace and concerns about safety.  As an example, see Raphael Pirker's (nickname Trappy) video, compiled as a project paid for by the University of Virginia in 2011.  University of Virginia paid for Pirker's services through an advertising agency hired to create a publicity video.
 

It's the Public Safety...:

University of Virginia Campus.  Trappy's
flights took place over active streets and
sidewalks.

The video is a testament to Mr. Pirker's abilities as a radio control pilot.  For example, he flies beneath pedestrian overpasses and over traffic to create dramatic and very exciting videos of the University of Virginia campus.  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), not impressed, attempted to fine Mr. Pirker $10,000 for sale of his services in the public airspace.  Mr. Pirker's lawyer and the FAA agreed to a fine of $1100 in 2015, with no admission of fault or guilt, closing the incident.
Stable and Easy to Fly Does not Mean Safe:
 


The Ritewing Zephyr XL delta wing
(credit:  Ritewing.com)

Mr. Pirker's aircraft (a delta wing RC kit, the Ritewing Zephyr) fit within the weight range that now partially defines the sUAS category (less than 55 lbs), weighing about 5 lbs.  Mr. Pirker's flying skill and first person view (FPV) equipment took the aircraft under pedestrian bridges, directly over cars and, several times, over people who do not seem to be aware that his aircraft was overhead.  Although FAA noted that Mr. Pirker's aircraft flew close to buildings, people and public transportation routes (roads and railways) they ultimately focused on the fact that he made money as a contractor. 

Momentum = Mass x Velocity = ouch!:

 
The people on the ground in the Mr. Pirker's videos were not the first see an sUAS flying (and, in some cases, right at them).  In fact, this is now common.  In recent weeks I saw quadcopters flying over crowds at a local festival, following a water skier in a 20 knot wind over a small lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains and cruising a remote section of the Tahoe Rim Trail. Even though the sUAS that I saw were flying slowly (no more than 20 mph), an sUAS weighing 5 lbs (like Mr. Pirker's) would raise a welt or worse if it went out of control into a pedestrian.    
 

Expect More Sightings:

Expect more sightings as hobbyists and pros take advantage of the part 107 regulations to fly and capture imagery with fixed wing and multirotor sUAS.   

Why did 107 happen, part I?

DJI multirotors as a keystone species:

If there is a keystone species in the push to open up national airspace for small unmanned aircraft, it has to be the DJI quadcopter, beginning with the Phantom series.  DJI (Dà-Jiāng Innovations, based in Shenzhen, China (www.dji.com)) recognized the market for easy-to-fly multirotors when founded in 2006.  DJI sold about one million of their products during the 2015-2016 holiday season and sales continue to be hot. 



Bringing the technology to the user:

As with many amazingly sophisticated technologies (your car, your cell phone, your computer) smart companies take the technology to the user rather than expecting the user to come to, and completely understand, the technology.  The DJI multi-rotors are not simply plug and play (I have seen many crashes, even with by very experienced operators), but they are simple enough to make flying accessible to inexperienced operators.  And, DJI has equipped their multi-rotors with video cameras for the better part of their production history, with first person view options.

The Big Picture: 

A few years ago I visited Utah State University's drone programs, managed in part by the Utah Water Research Laboratory, with a separate exploratory effort managed by Cooperative Extension.  Extension's efforts showed the value of the big picture view, based on a short survey flight to examine turf health and water distribution on the agricultural college quad.  Even a short flight with a DJI Phantom 2 at about 30 feet above ground level showed the value of the quadcopter as a qualitative survey instrument.  This image from October, 2014 (courtesy of Google Earth) shows some of the watering patterns that we saw when we conducted a 10 minute flight.  While observers can see dry spots and patterns in turf by inspection on the ground, short periodic flights can provide physical plant managers with quick, accurate and complete assessments of what happens on the ground.  The key?  Bringing the technology to the user and making sure that the product meets the users needs.  

Inside-out Design:

Utah Water Research Laboratory's effort has become AggieAir (http://aggieair.usu.edu/) and their design and construction philosophy focused first on the payload (cameras and sensors) and next on the airframe and powerplant. This differs immensely from some companies that focus on airframe and powerplant first and work on function, including payload, later.  Successful applications of sUAS technology start from the perspective of solving a problem rather than looking for an application once the airframe and powerplant are perfected. 

Back to DJI:

To me, DJI's approach has been very similar to that taken by AggieAir, albeit for a much broader purpose.  The difference lies in DJI's perfect read of the consumer market.  Although the market was initially depressed by a strict regulatory environment, the recent part 107 rules will boost their sales and make these machines a common sight in our airspace.

In fact, I have seen Phantoms in three places lately that really surprised me--more on that later.

Introduction: Drones for Natural Resources Science and Management

This blog explores applications of small unmanned aircraft (drones, or sUAS) for natural resources science and management.  We will review and summarize work done by graduate students at many institutions who have successfully completed research devoted to using this new tool to add to our understanding of the world.  Unmanned and manned aircraft further our understanding of the world we see and record where we live from a new perspective, only available from the sky above us. 
 Recent changes in rules governing use of drones relaxed restrictions previously imposed by the Federal Aviation Authority on unmanned aircraft in the public airspace.  The immediate outcome?  The new rules, which became effective on August 29 (see https://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=86305) will change everything, especially in Class G airspace. 

Prior to August 29, 2016 drone pilots needed credentials and permissions that were simply out of reach of the many who wished us sUAS for research, regardless of the type of airspace.  The new regulations (summarized at http://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Part_107_Summary.pdf) dramatically changed both credentials and permissions needed to fly small unmanned aircraft (defined in part as weighing less than 55 lbs (about 25 kg)). 



Early (2012) fixed wing prototype,
University of Nevada Main Station Farm

The change in regulations represents the start of new era in drone application in the U.S., especially for natural resources science and management.  The western United States has vast expanses of Class G airspace, with the types of natural resources challenges that could
benefit from high spatial and temporal resolution surveys.  Inexpensive, unmanned fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft can enhance our understanding of basic processes and trends in natural resources management and science.  Aerial imagery has been available since approximately 1860, when James Wallace Black photographed Boston, MA from 2000 feet from the basket of a hot air balloon.  



"Boston, as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See It," New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/283189)