WASHINGTON - As air taxis, drones, and other innovative aircraft enter U.S. airspace, systems that communicate an aircraft’s location will be critical to ensure air traffic safety.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires aircraft to communicate their locations to other aircraft and air traffic control in real-time using an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system. NASA is currently evaluating an ADS-B system’s ability to prevent collisions in a simulated urban environment. Using NASA’s Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, researchers are investigating how these systems could handle the demands of air taxis flying at low altitudes through cities, Laura Mitchell writes for NASA. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
29 January 2025 - Using a Pilatus PC-12, researchers flew over four ADS-B ground stations, gathering data on signal dropouts based on altitude and distance. This information will guide the placement of additional ground stations to enhance signal coverage in urban settings.
These tests build on previous studies, including June 2024 flights at NASA Glenn Research Center, which showed reliable ADS-B signals with rooftop antennas, and December 2020 helicopter tests at NASA Armstrong, which provided baseline data.
"Like all antennas, those used for ADS-B signal reception do not have a constant pattern," said Brad Snelling, vehicle test team chief engineer for NASA’s Air Mobility Pathfinders project. "There are certain areas where the terrain will block ADS-B signals and depending on the type of antenna and location characteristics, there are also flight elevation angles where reception can cause signal dropouts. This would mean we need to place additional ground stations at multiple locations to boost the signal for future test flights. We can use the test results to help us configure the equipment to reduce signal loss when we conduct future air taxi flight tests."
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Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
