Assessing Integration Between Emerging and Conventional Operations in Urban Airspace

Abstract

This paper investigates the use of low altitude airspace by conventional flight operations in proximity to the San Francisco, Boston, and Atlanta international airports. The purpose of the investigation is two-fold. First, the study presents an approach to develop lateral and vertical containment boundaries for arrival and departure flight trajectories. The boundaries describe the extent of the airspace actively used to support the flights. Second, the study develops containment boundaries for large transport aircraft operations at the three airports to demonstrate how these conventional operations may influence where and when emerging Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or Urban Air Mobility (UAM) networks may operate.

180 days of ASDE-X radar tracking data were analyzed to determine the location and traffic density of large transport aircraft, helicopters, and four other classes of operators. The flight trajectories for each operator class were sorted into arrivals, departures, and missed approaches to or from each runway. Containment boundaries were first developed for transport aircraft with greater than 100 passenger seats. Airspace that remained outside the containment boundary could potentially support simultaneous but non-interfering UAS or UAM operations. Variations in containment size due to airport-specific attributes were investigated. Containment boundary expansion to accommodate regional and commuter aircraft operations was assessed. Finally, airport access for UAM or UAS operators based upon conventional flight operations was considered.