Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.
Issue link: https://insideunmanned.epubxp.com/i/470284
FAA test sites 24 unmanned systems inside Spring 2014 THE PAN-PACIFIC UAS TEST RANGE COMPLEX is one of the country's most expan- sive test range consortiums. It offers seven climatic zones spread across 11 ranges that stretch from the cold waters off Alaska's North Slope to the forests on the island of Hawaii. Under its deal with the Federal Aviation Administra- tion (FAA) the Range Complex will work on standards for unmanned aircraft categories, state monitoring, navigation and safety. Remote sensing is the clear focus of the Range Complex team, which is led by University of Alaska Fairbanks. UAF is one of the country's most experienced research institutions with a 13-year track record and more than 50 FAA Certificates of Authorization (COAs). University researchers are working to refine the use of un- manned aircraft for environmental monitoring, fishery assessment, resource mapping and emer- gency response—including doing an exercise where an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) was used to map a mock aircraft accident, identifying the location of survivors using infrared cameras. In an unusual upcoming project scientists will study how to make UASs a practical aid for ships working their way through ice-choked waters. "Ice on bodies of water, especially ocean bod- ies of water, doesn't form in a smooth sheet," explained Ro Bailey, director of the Range Complex. It forms ridges that can be jagged, many feet thick and "basically impossible" to get through. With only satellite images or the view from the ship's bridge you're guessing how to get through, she told Inside Unmanned Systems. Alaska was the jumping-off point for the United States' first commercial UAS flights in September. An Insitu ScanEagle took off from a ship in the Chukchi Sea chartered by the energy company ConocoPhillips to survey ice and mammal populations. The second commercial aircraft, an AeroVironment PUMA, will do oil spill monitoring and wildlife observation off the coast of the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Circle. Hawaii and Oregon are focused on remote 1 THE TEAM The Pan-Pacifi c UAS Test Range Complex is likely the largest of the FAA test ranges both in terms of its number of participants and its geographic coverage. The University of Alaska Fairbanks manages the team, which comprises some 59 contributors including Oregon and Hawaii as well as the countries of Norway, Ireland and Canada. REMOTE SENSING Alaska 2 TEST RANGES INCLUDE The complex encompasses 11 ranges in three states—four in Alaska, four in Oregon and three in Hawaii. The Alaska ranges run from Kodiak Island in the south through the Poker Flats Research Range north to the large North Slope Range. Oregon has four test sites, largely in the northern part of the state, that encompass desert and coastal environments. Hawaii boasts three test ranges, one each on the islands of Hawaii, Niihau and Kauai University of Alaska Fairbanks Art courtesy of NBBJ Photos courtesy of Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range Complex Photo: PUMA, Courtesy AeroVironment, Inc., www.avinc.com