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UAS Operations Standardization

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Ryan Torino

This is a blueprint I created to develop a standardized operations solution for UAS operations within the United States at community level jurisdictions.

Government & Nonprofit
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Application for Unmanned Aircraft Systems The Class-H Concept
Application Concept Basic Summary Table 1. Objective 2. Areas of Focus 3. Basic Concept 4. Execution of Concept 5. Additional Features 6. Potential Features 7. Data Organization Procedures & Operations **Note** For demonstration purposes, all figures and maps shown in this document are drawn for representation and not actual scale and accuracy.
Objective Provide a simplified, structured, and transparent management application for UAS operations below 500 feet above ground level (AGL) that will delegate responsibilities to the local jurisdictions and provide uniformity across the entire country for airspace use and restrictions. Area of Focus The application will focus on three components of users that will make up a triangle: Jurisdiction Component Consists of local government centers, populated subdivisions, high-density commercial plazas, and individual property stakeholders. Essentially, the individuals who authorize and restrict airspace access up to 500 feet over their jurisdictional territory Operator Component Consists of the operators of small UAS drones who will be conducting either commercial or non-commercial flights below 500 feet AGL Non-Operator Component Consists of the individuals who view or contribute information and data to both the operator and jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction The jurisdiction component consists of the entities that manage and govern a specific sector of space. The component consists of incorporated cities/towns, commercial plazas, large subdivisions or residential areas, and individual property stakeholders. This component handles the establishment of restricted airspace and authorizes and monitors UAS flights within their restricted airspace. Examples of Jurisdiction: - City of Knoxville - Tysons Corner - Subdivisions consisting of 100 or more subdivided lots - Properties consisting of apartments and condominiums - A tract of farmland The basic function of the jurisdiction is to establish, control, authorize, and monitor its area of responsibility. Operator The operator component consists of the drone operators who will be conducting drone flights below 500 feet AGL, either for commercial or non-commercial purposes. The component consists of hobbyists, businesses, individually licensed commercial operators, and government. Any individual who plans to utilize and a fly a drone is considered to be an operator. Examples of Operator: - Amazon - Law Enforcement - Aerial Surveyor - Individual who owns an sUAS aircraft - Video photographer - Engineering firm Non-Operator The non-operator component consists of those not directly involved with sUAS operations who can view or contribute information and data that will effect drone operations below 500 feet AGL. The component makes up, at its broadest level, the general public. Examples of Non-Operator: - City GIS offices - Data analysts - Utility companies - Hobbyist groups/clubs - Emergency responders - Amusement parks - Social event coordinators
Basic Concept Airspace below 500 feet AGL is established as a “Class-H” level of airspace. The FAA has established classes of air that restrict certain operations of flight by monitoring and communication. For most of its history, the FAA has assumed responsibility of all airspace. However, with the introduction and proliferation of drone platforms, and well as the rapid and non-uniform establishment of restrictions at local levels and new technological developments, the FAA will face the challenge of effectively integrating drones into airspace with manned aircraft, especially with the regulations and operating guidelines for drones. Classification The mapping system will consist of a Web-GIS platform that establishes the Class-H airspace. Class-H will be “uncontrolled, but monitored” by local jurisdictions, establishments, and communities. The airspace will be divided into two general categories: full restriction and partial restriction. Full restriction will mean airspace from ground level to 400 feet AGL at a given geographical location is restricted for drone operations and requires approval from the subject jurisdiction. Class H-R: Restricted airspace from ground level to 400 feet AGL. Examples: - Airports/Heliports & 5 mi buffer around these areas - Incorporated Communities (i.e. within town/city limits) - Government centers for unincorporated communities - Residential single-dwelling areas consisting of 20 lots or greater & an HOA - Apartment/Condominium communities - Other areas identified by local communities - Individual parcels of land where the property owner requests restriction CLASS H-R: GROUND LEVEL TO 400 FT AGL
- Areas that normally have restricted access (military installations, government properties, etc.) Operational Usage in Class H-R: In order for an operator to fly a drone within this airspace, prior permission is required (PPR) from the applicable entity that makes up the Class H-R (within town limits-a city official; within a 5-mi radius of the airport-an airport official; within a large residential area-an HOA official, etc.). Only after approval from the applicable entity is a drone operator allowed to fly within this airspace. Classes H-1, H-2, H-3, & H-4 CLASS H-1: GROUND LEVEL TO 100 FT AGL CLASS H-2: GROUND LEVEL TO 200 FT AGL CLASS H-3: GROUND LEVEL TO 300 FT AGL CLASS H-4: GROUND LEVEL TO 400 FT AGL
Classes H-1, H-2, H-3, and H-4 are designed to give sUAS operators a “tolerance zone”, that is, an area of allowable operation that does not require authorization from a jurisdiction. The purpose of the tolerance zone is to allow operators to fly their aircraft under the average height of structures on the property. The tolerance zone for Class H-1 is up to 100 feet AGL, Class H-2 up to 200 feet, Class H-3 up to 300 feet, and Class H-4 up to 400 feet. Within the tolerance zone, sUAS aircraft are not subject to monitoring from the jurisdiction. However, any flight to be conducted above the tolerance zone of a given class block must receive approval from the jurisdiction and will be subject to monitoring. For example, if an operator wishes to fly a quadcopter at 200 feet AGL in a Class H-1 airspace section, the jurisdiction must approve the flight as the flight’s altitude will be above the tolerance zone’s ceiling (100 feet AGL) for that airspace section. Establishment of Roles & Responsibilities for Active-Party Users The two sub-groups that make up the Active-Party User group consist of the operator and the monitor. Operator: These are the individuals who operate the drone aircraft. They are broken down into two categories: - Commercial - Non-commercial Monitor: This consists of an individual or group that establishes restricted airspace and reviews/authorizes the operation of sUAS flight operations. Such groups are: - City/Town officials for incorporated communities - Airport operators/managers for airports - Homeowner associations for large, single-dwelling residential areas - Board of Commissioners chairman for unincorporated areas - Landlords/Lessees for apartment and condominium properties Responsibility of Operator Commercial: The commercial operator is responsible for ensuring that proper pre-planning and authorization is approved before operating in a restricted airspace. Failure to comply will result in consequential action determined by the given jurisdiction. Commercial operators are required to “draw” their planned area of flight on the application’s map, regardless of the operating area. The commercial operator will provide a UAS identification (ID), maximum altitude at which the flight will be conducted, date of flight, block time for flight (reported 0000-2359), and a contact number. Non-commercial: The non-commercial operator will follow the same protocol as the commercial operator, but with one major exception: - The non-commercial operator is not required to “draw” their planned area of flight on the application map if the flight will be conducted within the limits of a tolerance zone. Responsibility of Monitor The monitor of a restricted area is jurisdiction’s representative responsible for reviewing planned flight areas on the monitor’s respective map area and approving the flight areas for operation of flight. If such situations should warrant a denial or modification of the planned flight area, the monitor will contact the operator and provide information regarding the conflict of the request and the proper actions to take. Reasonable consideration should be used when reviewing a planned flight area; if the flight will not jeopardize any critical operation or event, it should receive approval from the monitor.
Execution of Concept Data Organization The general structure of the concept will be a top-to-bottom order of data hierarchy. The United States will be broken down into the ten federal regions: Each state will be sub-organized as the following: - Aerodromes - Counties o Incorporated Areas o Airports o Communities o Commercial Areas o Individual Properties All Federal Properties default to Class H-R airspace. If an operator wishes to fly over any federal property, the operator must receive authorization and approval from the federal property management. Unless special circumstances are coordinated in advance, most drones will generally not be operating over a federal property. For each county, incorporated areas and 5 mile buffers around airports will be established as Class H-R airspaces by default. This means that any operator wishing to fly within city/town limits or within 5 miles of an airport must receive proper authorization and approval of flight area prior to flight. Communities, commercial areas, and individual properties that are outside of incorporated limits and/or 5 miles of a given airport will be designated as either H-1, H-2, H-3, H-4, or H-R based on the preference of the given Region 1 ME NH VT MA RI CT Region 2 NY NJ Region 3 PA MD WV VA DE Region 4 KY TN NC SC GA FL AL MS Region 5 OH IN IL MI WI MN Region 6 AR LA OK TX NM Region 7 IA MO KS NE Region 8 ND SD MT WY CO UT Region 9 HI CA NV AZ Region 10 AK WA OR ID
entity. Communities will be considered, for the purpose of this application, general residential subdivisions and condominium/apartment properties. Commercial areas will be considered plazas, town centers, and commercial establishment zones. For those areas that are residential/commercial mixes (i.e. areas with businesses and residences), they will fall under the Community category. Those areas that are commercial-only will be classified as Commercial Areas. Individual Properties will be those areas that are neither classified as Communities and Commercial Areas and are developed by individual property stakeholders (i.e. owner of a tract of land, small subdivisions with 20 or less lots). It should be noted, those areas not classified as Incorporated Areas or Airports will be optionally established, meaning that the the collective group of individuals (HOA, commercial tenants) will need to decide if they wish to establish airspace restrictions. Data Organization Example Establishing Restricted Airspace The basic concept will consist of the following features based on a sample legend below: Virginia Counties Aerodromes • Incorporated Areas • Airports Class H-R • Communities • Commercial Areas • Individual Properties Class Determined by Individual/Group Class H-R
As mentioned above, certain datasets will default to Class H-R. Class H-R airspace of City of Fredericksburg. **Figure not drawn to city limits accuracy
Federal Property Example: Fort Belvoir, VA **Installation bounds not drawn to accurate representation
5 mile-buffer: Manassas Airport **Buffer distance not drawn to scale
Shenandoah National Forest **Not drawn to forest bounds accuracy
Class H-R airspace over a residential subdivision; would be drawn and established by HOA or subdivision representative
Class H-1 airspace over a shopping plaza; buildings are less than 100 feet high
Class H-2 airspace over shopping plaza; highest building in 100-200 ft range
Class H-3 airspace over commercial plaza; highest buildings in 200-300 ft range
Sample Class H-4 airspace over tourist beach/commercial area. Highest buildings are between 400-500 ft Guidelines for Airspace over High-Rise Areas (Buildings above 500 ft in height) Although the Class H airspace system is designated to establish and monitor airspace between ground level to 400 feet AGL, in certain cases, buildings will be above the 400 feet height level. Such areas with high-rise buildings above 500 feet AGL will be considered as follows: - Incorporated Areas: If the high-rise area is within an incorporated area, Class H-R will be the designated airspace, however, if a building height is above the 400 feet mark, Class H-R will extend 200 feet above the highest building’s height in the area. o Example: If the tallest building in a city is 610 feet, the Class H-R airspace for that city will be up to 810 feet AGL - Non-Incorporated Areas: For those high-rise areas not within an incorporated area, Class H-4 will be the ideal designated airspace, and the 200 feet additional height above tallest building height in the area will be established. o Examples: Tallest building is 525 feet in a commercial high-rise area. Assuming Class H-4 is the designated airspace, the airspace will extend up to 725 feet AGL
Practical Guidelines for Establishing Airspace (Not Class H-R by Default) The basic foundation of the application will be the Class H-R airspace component. All other jurisdictions that do not fall under the Class H-R default category will be considered “open-airspace” unless the jurisdiction decides otherwise. This means that these jurisdictions may decide to choose either Classes H-1 to H-4 or Class H-R. With this range of options available, there are some considerations that should be taken into account when deciding on the optimal airspace selection: - The non-default jurisdictions should establish airspace over the entire bounds of the properties or, if other property stakeholders choose to “merge” their properties together, the bound of the entire collective properties. Airspace should not be established over portions of properties such as backyards or buildings themselves. Additionally, airspace should not be established within established airspace. o In some situations, those jurisdictions that are Class H-R by default will have airspace that cuts through properties. In these situations, property stakeholders have the option of establishing airspace over the portion of their property bounds that does not include Class H-R. - If a jurisdiction decides to choose from Classes H-1, H-2, H-3, or H-4, the tallest height of buildings within the jurisdictional bounds should be taken into consideration. For example, if a shopping plaza has buildings with the tallest heights under 100 feet AGL, they have the option to pick either Classes H-1 through H-4 or Class H-R, however, the optimal airspace, assuming the plaza stakeholders decide to not completely place the area under Class H-R, would be Class H-1 as the tallest height of the buildings within the plaza is under 100 feet. o Another example; if a high-rise commercial area has buildings with the tallest heights between 300-400 feet AGL, this area has the same options as the above example. However, the optimal airspace would be class H-4 as the tallest heights of the buildings are within the 300-400 feet range.
Examples of Airspace Establishment The following example is based off the incorporated area of Warrenton, VA (Class H-R; jurisdictional limits not drawn to accurate bounds)
A particular subdivision on the SW side of town has part of the incorporated limits cutting through the subdivision. The subdivision stakeholders have elected to establish the “open-area” not within Class H-R as Class H-1. In this case, Class H-1 covers the rest of the open area and is tangent to the Class H-R boundary.
In this example, Stafford airport in VA has a 5-mile buffer around the airport
The buffer extends into portions of commercial properties. Two of the properties have decided to establish the remaining portions of “open airspace” on their lots as Class H-1. The H-1 airspace is drawn around the remaining open area and is tangent to to the buffer boundary.
Areas Under 400 feet and Outside of Restricted Airspace Airspace under 400 feet and outside of a restricted airspace area will be considered “open and unmonitored”. Open and unmonitored means that the aircraft is permitted to fly without prior-approval. However, if a drone is to fly above 400 feet AGL, that aircraft will be within FAA airapace and subject to FAA rules and regulations to include special tracking capabilities. This airspace is considered Class-G by the FAA. Planning a Flight Area & Receiving Approval The initial process to execute a drone flight starts with the operator. An operator will be classified as either Commercial or Non-Commercial. The steps to plan the flight are as follows: 1. The operator will decide the area where he/she wishes to conduct the planned flight 2. The operator will draw the planned flight area on the application map 3. After drawing the area, the following information will be provided by the operator: a. UAS-ID number b. Maximum Altitude c. Date of Flight d. Time Range of Flight e. Type (Commercial/Non-Commercial) f. Contact Number 4. Depending on the type and the location of the planned flight area, the polygon, or flight area, will default to a specific color. If the area is within a restriction-free zone or within the Tolerance Zone of Class H-1, H-2, H-3, or H-4, the default color will be green for a Commerical operator and blue for a Non-Commercial operator. These represent a “Cleared” status for the flight area If the flight area is within a restricted zone, the default color will be orange for the Commercial operator and yellow for the Non-Commercial operator. This represents a “Planned” status for the flight area. 5. For flights within restricted zones, the designated monitor for the jurisdiction will review the flight area. If the monitor approves the flight area, the color of the flight area will default to the “Cleared” status color (Green for Commercial; Blue for Non-Commercial). a. If the monitor denies the requested flight area, the monitor will notify the operator of the discrepancy or issue regarding the denial and the courses of available action to take. The monitor should demonstrate fair consideration when denying a requested flight, especially if the flight will be conducted for commercial purposes. 6. When the flight area has been approved, it will remain in the “Cleared” status on the map until the termination of flight which will be based on the end time of the Time Range of Flight (i.e. T.R. 1400- 1600; termination of flight is 1600) at which time the flight area will automatically delete from the map.
Example of a General Flight Plan-Class H-R The area in question is the city of Fairfax, VA, an incorporated area that is Class H-R airspace
A commercial operator will be providing an aerial-videography service for the city at the city’s regional library. The operator draws a polygon over the planned flight area and provides the pertinent information for the flight. Because the flight is being conducted within Class H-R bounds, the polygon border defaults to orange (Commercial operator) and is in the “Planned” status. The flight has NOT been approved by the monitor representing the city and the operator is NOT cleared to conduct flight.
After reviewing the planned flight area, the monitor approves the flight area, and the polygon border changes to green giving the area a “Cleared” status to conduct flight on the filed date and time range.
Once the flight has terminated at 1100, the polygon and information deletes automatically from the map.
Example of a General Flight Plan-Class H-1, H-2, H-3, and H-4 The area in question is the Potomac Mills shopping area in Woodbridge, VA. The property stakeholders have decided to establish the area as Class H-1 airspace.
A commercial operator wishes to conduct an aerial survey of an open area on the easterly side of the property bounds. Because the maximum altitude for this flight is 200 feet, and the airspace is Class H-1, the flight area requires approval from the designated monitor of this property.
The monitor reviews the plan and approves the flight area for use on the given date and time range.
Example of Flight Area in Tolerance Zone Same flight area as the previous example, but the commercial operator requests a maximum altitude of 70 feet within the Class H-1 area. Since the maximum altitude is below 100 feet, the flight area does not require approval and defaults to the “Cleared” status. Note: all commercial operators are REQUIRED to draw their requested flight areas regardless if the area is within the tolerance zone.
Example of a Recreational Flight A non-commercial operator has received approval to conduct a recreational flight over the parking area of the Potomac Mills mall. Initially, the polygon border will be yellow as the maximum altitude is 300 feet; 200 feet above the tolerance zone for the H-1 airspace. It will remain yellow (Planned-status) until the monitor approves the flight which the color will then turn to blue as shown above. The same details are shown on the text box except Type is designated N for non-commercial use. If the maximum altitude were 50 feet, the polygon will default to its Cleared-status of blue. Operator Considerations for Flight Planning The purpose of the application is to provide a simple, efficient, and effective way to plan and execute a drone flight. While the purpose itself is straightforward, certain flight-planning situations may create ambiguity. To provide clarity, operators should consider the following: 1. All flight areas should be drawn with consideration as to where the aircraft will actually be flying. For example, if an operator is going to be conducting an aerial inspection of a building rooftop, the operator should draw the flight area relatively close to the building’s perimeter. The flight area polygon does not need to be precisely locked to the footprint of the structure, but it should be drawn to show a monitor or reviewer that the flight is taking place around a specific building. It would be considered “wasting” airspace to draw a polygon around the building’s entire general area if the sUAS is only going to be flying around the building.
Example of Good Flight Planning: A commercial operator is planning to inspect a rooftop at Matchbox Pizza. Since the flight area is around a specific building, the operator has exercised good judgment by drawing the polygon around and near the building, giving a monitor or reviewer a clear idea that the planned flight is around a specific building.
Example of Poor Flight Planning: This example follows the previous example, but instead of drawing near and around the Matchbox Pizza perimeter, the operator has drawn the polygon over a broader area that includes Matchbox Pizza. For a flight that will involve inspecting a specific building, this is an example of inconsideration and poor judgment on the operator’s part given the purpose of the planned flight. Conservation of Airspace and Its Purpose The previous examples demonstrate an ideal of the application which is to practice conservation of airspace usage. The operator is not bound by restrictions as to how the polygon must be drawn, but the operator is encouraged to take into consideration: 1. The Objective of the Flight 2. The Minimum Airspace Required to Accomplish the Objective
Planning a Flight in Overlaps of Restricted Areas In many instances, restricted areas will overlap each other, especially with airport buffer boundaries. In such circumstances, an operator will require approval from those monitors who are responsible for those restricted areas. In this example, The Newport News/Williamsburg Intl Airport and Felker Army Airfield create an overlap of airspace.
A recreational operator wishes to fly his drone at the Denbigh High baseball field on a Saturday afternoon. Because the planned area of flight is within the NN/W Intl Airport and Felker Army Airfield overlap, the operator will require approval from both airports. The operator is not cleared until both airports have approved the area for flight.
Very Low Beyond Visual Line of Sight (VBVLOS) Up until this section, the previous examples have dealt with drone operations covering Visual Line of Sight (VLOS). The operator drawing the closed polygon is expected to have visual contact with the drone during the entire flight. If an operator is planning to fly the drone beyond visual contact, the flight must be planned as a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS). For the purpose of this application, Very Low Beyond Visual Line of Sight (VBVLOS) will apply to aircraft flying under 200 feet Above Ground Level with routes that will be flown less than 5 miles from the operator. Planning a VBVLOS Flight For the purpose of VBVLOS operations, there will be: 1. A Return-to-Home (RTH) point 2. Information Box that lists: a. UAS ID b. Block Altitude c. Date of Flight d. Time Range of Flight e. Type f. Contact Number 3. Established Waypoints (depicted by W1, W2, ….W10) Block altitudes will be requested at 20 feet increments. The operator is restricted to flying within the requested block. So, if an operator requests a block altitude of 110-130 feet, the operator will not descend below 110 feet on the route or above 130 feet on the route. Lateral deviations will be 20 feet from centerline on each side. Waypoints will be established by defined geographical marks. These marks can include: - Buildings - Road intersections - Parking Lots The general rule of thumb is that the waypoint must be over a unique feature on the map. IMPORTANT: All VBVLOS flights MUST be drawn on the map. Routes will require approval from a jurisdiction if the route will encroach a restricted area at any given point on a leg.
Example of a VBVLOS Flight The subject area in this example is Richmond, VA-a default Class H-R area.
A commercial operator has drawn a route with the RTH point at a ball-field and has established seven waypoints on the map, following a counterclockwise pattern back to the RTH point. Because portions of this route are within Richmond city limits, the monitor for Richmond must approval this route. Note that the information box is over the RTH point. If the Richmond monitor approves the flight route, the route color will turn to green (Cleared-status). As with the VLOS operations, if the route were to encroach another restricted airspace, the operator would require approval from that jurisdiction as well. Guidelines for Waypoint Establishments When an operator chooses to establish a VBVLOS route, the operator should take into account the altitude at which he/she will be operating. At lower altitudes, more waypoints will need to be established for a route than a route at a higher altitude. However, at higher altitudes, the waypoints will need to be much more defined than those at lower altitudes.
Low Beyond Visual Line of Sight (LBVLOS) Low Beyond Visual Line of Sight (LBVLOS) flight will be identical to VBVLOS flight, but will be conducted from 200 feet to 400 feet with the route distance between 5-10 miles from the operator. The visual representation from the route will also differ from line segments between waypoints by using arrows. The following example is Norfolk, VA; a Class H-R zone. The figure is not drawn to jurisdictional accuracy
A commercial operator is planning to do a LBVLOS flight on the SE side of the city. The route consists of the RTH point and 6 waypoints. The flight will be conducted at a block altitude of 300-320 feet. Because a portion of the flight is going through Norfolk city limits, the flight route requires approval from the Norfolk monitor. If the flight route is approved, the color will turn to green (Cleared-status). Non-commercial operators The following examples depicted commercial flight operations, however, the same guidelines apply for non- commercial operators with the only difference being that the Planned-status color will be yellow and the Cleared-status color will be blue. It should be re-emphasized that all operators planning either a VBVLOS or LBVLOS flight are REQUIRED to draw their planned route.
Bring the Components Together The basic components of the application (flight areas, VBVLOS flights, and LBVLOS flight) have been identified. With this, the goal will be to integrate these components into the full scale mapping application. To streamline the process and define clear parameters, these guidelines will apply for planning a flight. Planning a Flight Area Within a Planned or Cleared Flight Route An operator can draw a planned flight within the bounds of a Flight Route provided these conditions are met: - The area must be under the lowest altitude level of the block altitude for the flight route. For example, if Operator 2 is planning to draw a flight area under Operator 1’s flight route, with a block altitude of 100- 120 feet, Operator 2 must keep the maximum altitude of the flight area below 100 feet. o This is assuming that Operator 1 will be flying at the same time as Operator 2. - If Operator 2 will not be flying within the time range of Operator 1, Operator 2 can fly at altitudes above the block altitude of Operator 1’s flight route. However, once Operator 1’s flight is active, Operator 2 will be required to descend below the block altitude of Operator 1’s flight route. Planning a Flight Area Within a Planned or Cleared Flight Area An operator can draw a flight area within the bounds of a Planned or Cleared flight area, but the operator cannot fly within the time range of the Planned or Cleared flight area’s time range. - For example, if Operator 2 is planning to fly in Operator 1’s Cleared flight area, and Operator 1’s time range is 0930-1030, Operator 2 must plan the flight to end before 0930 or start after 1030. o 0830-0929: Acceptable o 0830-0945: Not Acceptable o 1031-1200: Acceptable o 1025-1200: Not Acceptable Planning Flight Routes with Overlapping It is likely that a flight route will overlap the path of another flight route. Overlapping of flight routes is permissible provided the following conditions are met: - The block altitude of one flight route will be either above or below the block altitude of another flight route if operating within the same time range - If both flight routes will not have time ranges conflicting with each other (i.e. Route 1 will not be flown during the same time range as Route 2), the same block altitude may be used
Additional Features - U-Tracks - I-Tracks - Emergency Responders (Fire, Medical, Law Enforcement) - Hazards - Advisories - Social For the purpose of the following sections, the content is based on a visionary approach to utilizing the additional features. The development of these features will likely require revision and should not be taken as is based on the description of the features.
U-Track Layer The U-Track layer is established for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights that will be flown at long distances (greater than 10 miles). The U-Tracks will be established from 400 feet AGL to 500 feet AGL. The following diagram below shows the U-Track structure as it relates to direction and altitude: The U-Tracks will be established using cellular and water towers as track points (TPs). The tracks will be defined as three categories: - Jurisdictional - Inter-Jurisdictional - Regional For purposes related to U-Track establishments, jurisdictions will be defined as counties, inter-jurisdictional will be defined as travel across multiple counties within a state, and regional will be defined as travel across states within a federal region. Numbering of tracks will be based off the following circle below: N E W S 0-179°: 400-450 FT AGL 180-359°: 451- 500 FT AGL
Jurisdictional Track Jurisdictional tracks are based off a network of BVLOS routes that will exist in a county. By utilizing a jurisdictional track, an operator plans to fly within a specific county. Jurisdictional tracks are identified in the U-Track tier as a Class III track. Identification of a Jurisdictional track will be established on the following convention: - J: Jurisdiction - X: Number Sample Track: J-12-represents a U-Track within a county that has an east-west direction J-3 represents a U-Track within a county that has a north-south direction 45-135°: EVEN 136-225°: ODD 226-315°: EVEN 316-44°: ODD
Sample Jurisdictional track (Class III) over Stafford County, VA. Track points (TPs) are water towers Inter-Jurisdictional Track Inter-Jurisdictional tracks are based off a network of BVLOS routes that transit between counties within a state. By utilizing an inter-jurisdictional track, an operator plans to fly beyond the limits of a given county. Inter- jurisdictional tracks are identified in the U-Track tier as a Class II track. Identification of an Inter-Jurisdictional track will be established on the following convention: - IJ: Inter-Jurisdiction - X: Number Sample Track: IJ-1-represents a U-Track across multiple counties that has a north-south direction IJ-22 represents a U-Track across multiple counties that has an east-west direction
Sample IJ-track that transits Spotsylvania and Stafford counties in VA. Regional Track Regional tracks are those tracks that transit across more than one state in a given region of the U.S. By utilizing a regional track, an operator is planning to conduct a long-distance flight beyond a given state. Regional tracks are identified in the U-Tracks as a Class I track. Note that the triangles below are only used for reference. Identification of a regional track will be established on the following convention: - Region Number - X: Number Sample Track: 3-5-represents a U-Track across Region 3 that has a north-south direction
Regional track in Region 3 across VA and MD going in a north-south direction. I-Track Layer The I-Track Layer is established for BVLOS flights across infrastructure lines. The infrastructure lines will primarily be railroads, power-lines, pipelines, etc. These tracks are primarily to be used for examining/inspecting infrastructure; they are not designated for use as general transit routes. Given this, non- commercial aircraft will be restricted from traversing these tracks without special approval. Flying on an I- Track requires authorization from the entity responsible for the infrastructure line (railroad-rail dispatcher; power-line-power company).
Railroads Railroad I-Tracks will be broken down into segments along a given rail line. Signal locations along the line will serve as general entry/exit points for the railroad I-Track. The classification will be based on the following: - R-Number (i.e. R-1) Class I railroads will use the convention above. Class II & III railroads will be: - R-State-Number (i.e. R-NC-42) Railroad I-Track Flight Example The base example for the Railroad I-Track will be the CSX Peninsula Subdivision which runs from Richmond, VA to Newport News, VA. The railroad is a Class-I type, and the signal locations are listed in the table below. MP designates “Mile-post” and functions in a similar manner to mile markers on interstates. However, many mile-posts are not precise with regards to accurately measuring mile distance as many of the posts were created close to a century ago utilizing older surveying techniques. For the purpose of this map application, signal locations will be used to define the segments of the railroad.
Signals Along the CSX Peninsula Subdivision Signal Name EB MP WB MP HRT CA14.4 CA14.5 Newport News Holdout CA16.8 CA16.7 Nettles/19 CA19.0 CA18.9 Oriana CA22.6 CA22.5 Amoco CA25.6 CA25.5 Lee Hall CA27.2 CA27.1 WE Lee Hall CA29.2 CA29.1 Grove CA32.2 CA32.1 Toppings CA35.4 CA35.3 Williamsburg CA37.8 CA37.7 Magruder CA40.4 CA40.3 Lightfoot CA43.0 CA42.9 Toano CA46.2 CA46.1 Diano CA49.2 CA49.1 Diascund CA51.6 CA51.5 Lanexa CA54.2 CA54.1 Windsor Shades CA56.4 CA56.5 EE Providence Forge CA60.0 CA59.9 WE Providence Forge CA61.2 CA61.1 Mountcastle CA64.2 CA64.1 Nance CA66.0 CA65.9 Turners Cut CA68.8 CA68.7 Elko CA71.6 CA71.5 Poplar Springs CA74.2 CA74.1 Beulah CA76.2 CA76.1 Fort Lee CA78.4 CA78.3 Darbytown Road CA80.8 CA80.7 Egypt CA81.6 CA81.5 Scott Street CA82.4 CA82.3 R Cabin CA83.2 CA83.1 Louisiana Street CA83.4 CA83.3 Coney Island CA83.8 CA83.7 Rivanna Junction CA84.6 CA84.5 AM Junction CA85.6 CA85.5
This map represents a portion of the Peninsula Subdivision north of Williamsburg. Due to the scale of the map and limitation with seeing the symbol and text of the signal locations, the yellow arrow represents the approximate location of the Magruder signal and the purple arrow represents the approximate location of the Lightfoot signal. The signal locations are identified by a hexagon symbol.
A commercial operator will be inspecting the segment of railroad between the Magruder and Lightfoot signals. The pertinent information is provided, and a block altitude is requested. For I-Track usage, block altitudes will be requested in increments of 20 feet. Note that no type is given for the I-Track since these tracks will be restricted to commercial usage only. If this planned flight is cleared, the route will turn green.
Guidelines for Railroad I-Tracks Railroad I-Tracks require the operators to enter and exit from signal locations along the track. For example, in the previous map, the operator had a planned route between Magruder and Lightfoot. If the operator needed to vacate the track, the operator would need to exit from either the Magruder location or the Lightfoot location, whichever is closer. Railroad I-Tracks will have an altitude ceiling of 150 feet AGL. Any flight above 150 feet AGL over the I- Track does not require authorization from the railroad monitor. However, operators should make every effort not to “loiter” over railroads unless official business is being conducted. Any flight below the 150-foot ceiling requires authorization from the railroad monitor. It should be re-iterated; railroad I-Tracks are designed to be used for commercial purposes pertaining to rail operations (i.e. inspections). Powerline I-Tracks Powerline I-Tracks will be for those lines that traverse across more than one county. The protocol for powerline I-Track usage is similar to railroad I-Track usage, but with some differences: - Powerlines will not have entry/exit points as the railroad lines do. An operator may enter the track at any given point, but the planned flight route must be drawn on the map and approved by the power company responsible for the powerline. - The altitude floor for powerlines will be 150 feet above the powerline. Any flight to occur below the altitude floor will require authorization from the powerline monitor. Operators should exercise extreme caution when flying over powerlines as interference from electromagnetic radiation can cause control issues for the operator. - Classification of powerline I-Tracks will use the following convention: o E-Powerline designation o Line Number § Example: E-87 Pipeline I-Tracks Pipeline I-Tracks will follow the same protocol as described above for powerlines, however, there will be no altitude floor.
In this example, a commercial operator will be inspecting a section of a transmission line. The planned route will have two triangular endpoints to represent the segment. This representation will be the standard format for flight planning along energy lines such as powerlines or pipelines. As with all other procedures, if the flight is approved by the applicable monitor, the color of the segment will turn to green.
This symbolization represented above will represent an infrastructure feature other than a powerline
Point Features (Towers) Towers will be represented by a shaded white circle over the applicable feature. If an operator wishes to conduct an operation on the tower, the operator will draw a circle around the feature circle, and provide the following information: - UAS ID - Date - Time Range of Flight - Contact Number As with the I-Track layer, only commercial operators will be permitted to conduct tower operations The altitude for an operation that involves a tower will be the entire height of the structure plus an additional 50 feet above the highest point. In this example, an operator will be inspecting a cell tower. If approved, the circle border will turn green.
Emergency Responder Feature The Emergency Response Layer is designed for use by emergency responders to include fire, medical, and law enforcement. In the event that an emergency would occur, this layer can be utilized by both emergency responders and drone operators. The following symbology will be used: This example depicts an active fire incident at a GEICO headquarters building.
This example depicts an active incident that requires law enforcement. This example represents an active incident that requires medical personnel.
Special Response Situations In situations where coordinated efforts are required, such as search and rescue operations, multiple emergency responders can utilize the application to provide updated planning and execution of operations that can involve sUASs. If an emergency responder drone flight is to take place, a responder has the following options: - Plan a direct flight route - Plan a search flight route - Plan a flight buffer area For all flights that are emergency response, jurisdictional authorizations are WAIVED. All other operators that have an active flight being conduct in the vicinity of an emergency response flight will give way to the emergency responder. If a flight requires an operator to fly to a direct location, a direct flight route should be used. The only pertinent information required for planning the route is the block altitude for the sUAS. Law enforcement direct flight route to an incident location. Altitude is given in a 20-ft block.
For instances that require a search effort, an emergency responder can plan a search flight route and provide comments for others involved in the search. The application is designed to be dynamic, so the user can provide updates and/or pertinent information at any time. Because search operations would likely be conducted at very low altitudes, an operator would provide only information applicable to the search operation. Sample search operation in a state park. The circle represents the general flight area of the emergency responder. To provide more coverage area, search areas can overlap as need be.
In many situations, there will be a need for fire, medical, and law enforcement simultaneously. In these situations, a user can draw a flight buffer area and include multiple symbols to depict requirements for the given situation An incident in an industrial section that requires all emergency responders.
Guidelines for Emergency Response Layer This feature is designed to be utilized primarily by emergency responders. There is no strict conformity as to how drone operations will be conducted for emergency responses, but the examples previously shown serve as a general format as to how the feature will be constructed. Because there is no defined timeline for an emergency situation, the user will manually clear the flight route, area, or buffer once the situation has been resolved. For search flight routes/areas and flight buffer areas, the altitude clearance will be ground level to 100 feet AGL. This means that other drones may fly above 100 feet over an emergency response area, but no lower. As indicated previously, all other aircraft must give way to the emergency response aircraft. If an emergency responder requires a higher altitude, this will be mentioned in the comments section, and other aircraft not involved with the emergency situation at hand must comply with the emergency responders’ requirement.
‘ Hazards Feature The Hazards feature is designed to give drone operators visual representation of hazards that may affect an aircraft operation in their given area. These hazards can include, but are not limited to: - Electrical lines - High-traffic areas - Areas with large concentrations of birds - Ranges (shooting/golf; anything that is considered a flying projectile) The hazards layer is designed to be used at small-scale levels (i.e. community). There will be no general requirements as to having a hazard layer, but any valuable information that may serve as a hazard to sUAS operations will be beneficial to include. A golf course has been marked as a hazard area.
This example has a pond area marked as a bird hazard area.
This example depicts a live music concert where mass crowds have gathered.
Advisories Feature The advisories feature is designed to give notice to drone operators on conditions that could affect flight operations. Unlike the hazards feature, the advisories feature is designed to give operators notice of conditions such as weather, notices to airmen (NOTAMS), & manned flight operations, and nuisance notifications. Other additions can include environmentally-sensitive areas, crime areas, and other information that jurisdictions deem valuable. Sample weather advisory layer for Roanoke VA.
Sample NOTAM layer in Virginia Beach, VA, detailing low level aircraft flights off the beach.
Sample nuisance report where aircraft is flying low over homes. Because this is a Class H-R area, all operators would be required to draw their planned flight area and have it approved by the H-R jurisdiction. In this instance, no flight area has been drawn over this residential area, and the operator of this reported nuisance drone would likely face consequential action from the local authorities.
Sample rotary Visual Flight Rule (VFR) flight plan for an active manned operation in the airport vicinity drone operators will have better situational awareness if a flight is to be conducted near this helicopter’s planned route.
Social Feature The social feature is designed for situations where social interaction will take place. Example situations that would fall under the “social” category would be multiple sUAS flights in a given area such as hobbyist meet- ups, recreational gaming, and/or interactive connection. Flights that Involve Multiple Aircraft Flights that will consist of more than one aircraft will follow the planning convention used for single-operator operations, but instead of having all individuals file an individual plan, one operator from the group will serve as the designated operator (DO) of the group and use his/her UAS ID when flight planning. Sample flight area consisting of 9 drones being flown for recreational purposes. Note that the designated operator (DO) has provided the flight information and will serve as the individual in charge of the group flight.
Commercial VBVLOS flight consisting of 2 drones that will conduct an aerial survey to gather technical data for a civil engineering firm planning a restoration project of a section of Accotink Creek.
Interactive Connection The interactive connection component of the social feature is designed to “connect” individuals socially. This is designed to serve as a “by-individual use” option, meaning that individuals accessing the map application will have the option to connect socially if they so desire. There will be two components that make up the interactive connection: - Social Media Component - Messaging Component The social media component is designed to connect individuals via a social media medium. Examples can include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, a personal website, Youtube, etc. This will allow the non-operator component of the application (i.e. those not directly involved with UAS operations) to connect with the operator component. For example, if a local realtor accesses the map for the realtor’s given area, the realtor can see where the commercial operators are flying and, if the commercial operators allow access to their social media profiles from the map, the realtor can connect with the commercial operators for potential business opportunities. A commercial operator has opted for users to connect to his social media profiles. Any map viewer can click the social media icon and be directed to that operator’s social media profile.
The messaging component is designed to be used for jurisdiction-operator communication. In the event that an operator or jurisdiction would be required to send a quick message, the message feature would be utilized. Some examples below illustrate when the message feature could be utilized: - Jurisdiction communicating to an operator (i.e. terminate flight at this time; descend to maximum altitude of X feet; be advised of single-prop, fixed-wing aircraft operating near your area) - Operator communicating to a jurisdiction (i.e. terminating flight at this time; requesting maximum altitude adjustment to compensate for weather, requesting assistance) - Jurisdiction to emergency response operator (i.e. requesting UAS for active search; requesting UAS to scout out reported fire in a given area; request UAS to provide medical assistance) The Richmond jurisdictional monitor sending a message to a commercial operator to terminate a flight early due to a short-notice tour being given at the museum.
Armed robbery has occurred in a Safeway grocery store in Silver Spring, MD. The Silver Spring jurisdictional monitor has sent a notice to all emergency response UAS operators within the vicinity requesting support to conduct an aerial search in the nearby area.
MAP APPLICATION DATA PROTOCOLS
Protocols Basic Summary Table 1. General Organization 2. Accessibility 3. Operational Visualization of Application 4. Privacy & Restrictions 5. Special Data Layers Note: This section is only a summation of an application that could be used to execute the Class H concept.
General Organization The map application will organize the U.S. by federal regions as described in the Concept section. There are ten federal regions that make up the U.S., and for each region, the jurisdictional order will be as follows: Region State County Community
The regional order described will form the organizational of geodatabases. The following examples will detail data organization by each level: At the Region Level Reservations Layer - National Parks/Forests - Military Reservations - Other Areas designated as Federal Property Networks Layer - Towers o Used for U-Track establishments - Power-lines o Used for I-Track establishments w/ power-lines - Infrastructure lines o Windmill areas o Energy plants/stations o Other identified infrastructure areas - Regional U-Tracks o Created by using the Towers component for reference and constructing line feature shapefiles - I-Tracks o Railroads o Power-line tracks Region ReservationsStates - Federal Properties (covering multiple states) - - Networks - Towers - Power-lines - Infrastructure - Regional U-Tracks - I-Tracks - Aerodromes - Counties - IJ-Tracks
§ Created by using Power-lines component for reference and constructing shapefiles o Pipelines o Other infrastructure lines At the State Level IJ Tracks - Created by using Towers component in Networks layer to build shapefiles of line features At the County Level J-Tracks State Counties IJ-Tracks County Incorporated Areas (Default Class H-R) Optional Class Areas - Class H-R - Class H-1 - Class H-2 - Class H-3 - Class H-4 J-Tracks Aerodromes
- Created by using Towers component in Networks layer to build shapefiles of line features Establishment of U-Tracks Regional Tracks - Will work on longitudinal tracks (north-south) first and work westerly o Start with southerly trackpoints (TPs) and connect to northerly TPs § No standard process for creating routes; will likely approach using “see-and-create” methodology - After creating longitudinal tracks, will work on latitudinal tracks (east-west) in a northerly fashion o Start with easterly TPs and work westward Visual of Regional Track Establishment Visual Process of Establishing J & IJ Tracks Longitudinal Tracks START END START END Latitudinal Tracks
To establish the J & IJ Tracks within a specific state, geo-processing will be utilized to create the shapefiles for these tracks - With the Towers layer, will likely use a selection by attributes process to select towers within a specific state and export the selected data to a shapefile to the States geodatabase. o After exporting the shapefile, the IJ Tracks can be established For the counties, the same process for creating the Towers shapefile for the state-level will be applied, but selection by attributes will be for the county-level. The selected data will be exported as a shapefile to the county geodatabase. o After exporting the shapefile, the J Tracks can be established Establishing the Class H-R Airspace for Reservations From the visual representation, spatial data will be pulled from resources that provide the data into the Reservations geodatabase folder. From this folder, the spatial data will be distributed down to the applicable region for storage in the Region folder. Spatial Data for National Parks & Forests Spatial Data for Military Reservations Spatial Data for Other Federal Properties Region Region 1 Reservations Region 2 Reservations Region 3 Reservations Region 4 Reservations Region 5 Reservations Region 6 Reservations Region 7 Reservations Region 8 Reservations Region 9 Reservations Region 10 Reservations
Establishing the Class H-R Airspace for States From the illustration, spatial data for the counties and aerodromes will be sent to the Region folder and distributed down to the applicable region and state for storage Spatial Data for Aerodromes Spatial Data for Counties Region Region 1 States Region 2 States Region 3 States Region 4 States Region 5 States Region 6 States Region 7 States Region 8 States Region 9 States Region 10 States CT MA ME NH RI VT NJ NY DE PA MD WV DC VA NC SC GA FL KY TN AL MS OH MI IN IL WI MN AR LA TX OK NM MO KS IA NE ND SD MT WY CO UT AZ CA NV HI OR WA ID AK
Example 1: Little Rock National Airport - Region 6 o AR Example 2: Miami, FL - Region 4 o FL § Miami-Dade County • Miami **As stated, all incorporated areas and aerodromes will be established as Class H-R by default.
Establishing Airspace at the County Level Process Flow for Optional Class Areas As the diagram above represents, a user who wishes to establish a Class H area will create a Jurisdictional account. By creating this account, the user is essentially becoming the monitor of the area to be established. Once the account is created, the user goes to the property in question and draws the desired restriction around the property based on the legend previously shown. Once the polygon is created, it will be saved as a shapefile in the applicable storage folder for the given county as either Class H-R, H-1, H-2, H-3, or H-4 depending on the user’s selection. Class H-R Default Areas Optional Class Areas County User creates Jurisdictional account on application User “zooms” to property in question User creates polygon of desired Class Class H-R Class H-1 Class H-2 Class H-3 Class H-4 County geodatabase From State
Demonstration of Optional Class Area Operation (Only to Demonstrate Concept Execution) 1. User creates the account with the pertinent information: o Jurisdiction Name (subdivision name, property name, or tract name) o Monitor’s Name o Phone Number o E-mail Address o Pertinent Comments (optional) 2. The user searches for the applicable area in question
Search Draw Edit Clear User types address or general location in Search box
When the user clicks “Draw”, the following options will be presented in a drop-box where the user clicks the desired airspace to be created: Once the user clicks the desired airspace to be created, an edit session will commence where the user point- clicks segments to create a polygon around the subject jurisdiction. Once the user double-clicks and completes the segment, an information text box will pop-up for the user to provide the following information: - Jurisdiction: Name of jurisdiction (i.e. subdivision, plaza, tract land, etc.) - Designated Monitor: Name of monitor - Contact Number: Phone number - E-mail Address: - Pertinent Information: Optional information/notices that apply for operating in this area
After drawing the airspace polygon, the information text-box, as sampled above, will display with the following information to input. Once the user has finished inputting the applicable data, the user will click “Establish” and the airspace polygon will be added as a shapefile to the Optional Class Areas folder under the applicable Region, State, and County. Search Draw Edit Clear Jurisdiction Designated Monitor Contact Number E-mail Address Pertinent Information Establish
Special Data for Jurisdictions One aspect of the map application is interactivity across the components (Jurisdiction, Operator, and Non- Operator). Account users have the option of importing specialized data that can be used to better improve drone operational awareness. Such features can include: - Road Traffic Conditions - State properties - Emergency Responder locations - Topography - Detailed Hazard Areas (i.e. local powerlines) - Engineering data - Agricultural data - Local airport patterns & instrument approaches - Special low-level routes (i.e. Military Training Routes) at and/or below 500 feet AGL The diagram below details the process flow of accessory data into the application: The Special Data layers will be stored at the applicable level of hierarchy, meaning that the data layers could be stored at the county, state, or regional level. **It should be noted; the Accessory Data is not an inherent part of the system, meaning that this layer’s size, scope, and content depends on the users. Special Data Layers County State Region
The Big Picture of Data Organization Map Application Region Region State State State State Reservation Reservation Military Installations National Parks Federal Corrections County County County County Class H-R Default Areas Optional Class Areas Class H-R Default Areas Optional Class Areas Class H-R Default Areas Optional Class Areas Optional Class Areas Class H-R Default Areas Accessory Data Military Installations Accessory Data National Parks
Accessibility Within the application, components will have certain accessibilities and restrictions to edit data features. The level of accessibility with regards to editing will be dependent on the jurisdictional level. Certain data features that could be edited include: - Airspace areas - U and I Tracks - Emergency Response - Hazards - Advisories - Accessory Data Generally speaking, all component groups will have the ability to access and edit the Special Data, Advisories, and Hazards. It is the Airspace and Track layers where accessibilities and restrictions will have a larger focus with accessibility. The diagram below details the accessibility process for editing jurisdictional data (i.e. Airspaces and Tracks) As the diagram suggests, accessibility is distributed down from the application manager to the county level. Hierarchies can access down, but not up. For example, if a Jurisdictional Track (J-Track) needed to be edited in Henrico County, VA, only the Henrico County manager up to the Application Manager could edit this feature. The Hanover County manager would not be able to edit the track. Likewise, if an IJ Track needed to be edited, only the State manager and up could edit this feature since IJ Tracks will be stored at the State-level. Map Application Manager Region Region Region Region Region State State State State State County County County County County ACCESSIBLE NON-ACCESSIBLE
Distribution of Access Keys The distribution of access keys will be a large bundle issued by the application manager and distributed down in sub-bundles to the county level: - Application Manager: Has the Master Access Key; distributes Access Keys down to Region managers o Region: Receives Access Keys from Application Manager to distribute down to State managers § State: Receives Access Key from Region manager to distribute down to County managers • County: Receives Access Key from State Manager Approving Planned Flights The diagram below details the accessibility process for approving planned flights in a given area: This diagram shows that an airspace jurisdiction can approve a flight area only to have it overridden by a county, state, or region. Although not warranted for most cases, there may be certain situations where a flight plan may be denied at a higher hierarchy due to certain circumstances. Operator Flight Plan Airspace Jurisdiction Cleared to Fly fF DENIED County State Region DENIED DENIED DENIED APPROVED APPROVED APPROVED APPROVED
Operational Visualization of Application This section of the plan will detail the visualization for the map application’s looks and functions. The visualization is designed to show how the processes and operations described previously will integrate into a functional platform. It should be noted that this is a visualization representation only and not how the actual application may look when completed. Access Screen The access screen is the first location where all users arrive at upon accessing the system. When initially directed to the application, it will similar to the following figure below: Tools Review Create/Import Layers Create Account Sign-In Contact APPLICATION NAME Welcome to Map Application Disclosure Statement OK
Creating An Account When a user clicks “Create Account” on the application page, a pop-up screen will display in a fashion that displays the following content below: The “Which account is best for me?” hyperlink, when clicked, will give an informational box that displays the following information:
When a user selects the Jurisdictional radio button, the following pop-up box will display with the following information: Once the user clicks “CREATE ACCOUNT”, a Jurisdictional account will be established within the application.
When a user selects the Operator radio button, the following pop-up box will display with the following information: Once the user clicks “CREATE ACCOUNT”, an Operator account will be established within the application. R
When a user selects the Non-Operator radio button, the following pop-up box will display with the following information: Once the user clicks “CREATE ACCOUNT”, a Non-Operator account will be established within the application.
After Signing-In Once the account has been created, the Sign-In tab at the top right of the application screen will display with the User ID in its place: When a user clicks the User ID link, a drop-down box will display with two options for the user to choose from: The Notices button is designed to act a messenger tool for communication regarding the denial of flights within a jurisdiction. If a flight has been denied by a monitor, a white exclamation mark on top of a red circle will show to the ride side of the Notices text. When a user clicks “Notices”, the name of the jurisdiction that denied the planned flight will appear off to the left side, and when the user clicks the jurisdiction name, the message content from the monitor will appear. If the user clicks “Manage Account”, a drop-down box will display off to the left side of the “Manage Account” tab with a list of the following options: User ID displays in place of Sign-In tab
When a user clicks “Change User ID”, the following input box will display to allow the user to change a User ID: When “OK” is clicked, the New User ID will be created for the user. When a user clicks “Change Password”, the following input box will display to allow the user to change a Password: When “OK” is clicked, the New Password will be created for the user. The “Add UAS-ID” option is designed to allow a user the ability to add multiple UAS IDs assuming the operator possesses multiple drones for operation. When a user chooses to add additional IDs, those added IDs will be added to the user’s database. When a user clicks “Add UAS-ID”, the following input box will display to allow the user to add additional UAS IDs:
When a user types the UAS-ID and clicks “ADD”, the ID will be added to the list box below, and the user can keep adding IDs as needed. When the user has finished adding all applicable IDs and wishes to complete the process, the user clicks “OK” and all IDs from the scroll box will be added to the user’s database. When a user clicks When the user clicks “Add Contact Info”, an input box will display to allow the user to add an e-mail address and contact phone number. On initial account creations, the user will not be required to provide this information for respect of privacy. If the user chooses to add contact information, the contact number will be used for the input information when a user creates a flight area or route. When a user clicks “Add Contact Info”, the following input box will display to allow the user to add contact information: When the user clicks “ADD”, the contact information will be added to the user’s database. Tools The “Tools” tab will consist of a drop-down box that shows a list of tools to choose from with regards to creating a flight area or route:
The six tools are designed to allow the user create, edit, and/or delete a flight area or route. Draw Flight Area When a user clicks “Draw Flight Area”, the user will have a cross-hair cursor appear on the map which acts as the drawing tool. The user will then use the click-drag-click method to draw a flight polygon and double-click when the drawing is completed. When a user clicks a flight area button, the user can either select a polygon or a circle. For a circle, the click-drag-release method will be used. The following images display the pictorial of the process: When the user clicks “Draw Flight Area” or “Draw Multiple Drone Flight Area”, the following options “Draw Circle” or “Draw Polygon” will display. Draw Flight Area Draw Very-Low BVLOS Flight Route Draw Low BVLOS Flight Route Draw Multiple Drone Flight Area Draw Multiple Drone Very-Low BVLOS Flight Route Draw Multiple Drone Low BVLOS Fight Route Edit Delete Move Map Draw Circle Draw Polygon
This a sample of how the cross-hair cursor would display when the Draw features from the previous page are selected
When the user clicks, the user will drag the line and, when that segment is complete, the user will click again to complete the segment. The user will complete the described process above to complete the flight area or route, whichever is to be utilized. When a user initially draws a flight area or route, the color will be either Orange (Commercial-operator) or Yellow (Non-commercial operator). The color to be used will be based on the user’s Type selected when creating an account. The colors of the area or route will remain Orange or Yellow, until on of the following occurs: - The user draws an area or route within non-restricted airspace or within the Tolerance Zone of a Class H-1, H-2, H-3, or H-4 airspace. In this case, once the user completes the planned area or route, the color will automatically default to either Green (Commercial operator) or Blue (Non-commercial operator). - The jurisdictional monitor reviews and approves the flight, at which the area or route will then turn to Green (Commercial) or Blue (Non-commercial).
Drawing the BVLOS Flights Because BVLOS flight routes will require that waypoints be established, the following procedure detailed below will be used for creating the waypoints: The user locates the desired area in which to fly.
When the user clicks, drags to a given geographic point on the map, and clicks, an “Add Waypoint” text box will pop-up where the user can check either “Yes” or “No”. If the user checks “Yes”, the image following will display how the waypoint would appear. If the user clicks “No”, a waypoint will not be established. It is recommended that the user finds a suitable point first and then click and drag to that point and establish a waypoint. Add Waypoint: YES NO
The user checked “Yes”, and the waypoint has been added as “W1”. The user will continue the method described above and consecutive waypoints will be established “W2, W3, etc.) until the user returns to the Return-to-Home (RTH) point and completes the route. Information Text Box After Creating Area or Route Once the user has complete the planned flight area, a pop-up box will display for the user as shown on the following image:
Based on the information already provided by the user, the UAS-ID (if only 1 ID for the user) and, if the user chooses to provide it on the “Add Contact Info” step, Contact Number will automatically populate. If the user has more than 1 ID, a drop-down box will appear for the UAS-ID box in which the user selects the applicable ID. Because the user will already have provided the “Type” when creating the Operator account, Type will also automatically populate based on the type selected when creating the account.
This is how the flight area with the information box will look once completed.
For flight routes, the information box will essentially be identical to the flight area, but rather than display a Maximum Altitude, a Block Altitude (with a 20-foot increment between the lowest altitude and highest altitude) will display.
Drawing Flights with Multiple Drones The process of drawing flights with multiple drones will be identical to that of the single user; the only additional item will be the “Number of Drones” in the information box. **For flight routes, the Block Altitude will be in place of Maximum Altitude, as shown on the previous image
Image showing how a multiple-drone flight area will appear in the application Symbols for Flight Routes The following symbols below will be used to represent flight routes when a user draws a route:
Editing a Flight Area or Route When a user clicks the “Edit”, two options will drop-down for the user to select: When a user clicks the “Edit Flight Area/Route” button under the Tools button and hovers over the flight area or route, the vertices created during the click-drag-click action will display along with cross-hair circles in between the vertices’ points (midpoint). The user can click and drag either the vertex or midpoint to edit the shape and size of the flight area or route. Rough-example of how the edit will look as the user hovers over the flight-area. This format will also be used for routes. When a user clicks “Edit Flight Information”, the information box will re-appear for the user to change flight information details T Edit Flight Area/Route Edit Flight Information
Deleting Flight Areas and Routes When the user clicks the “Delete” button on the “Tools” button, the user can delete the area by clicking the vertices to re-size and re-configure the area, or the user can click two segments of the flight area or route to completely delete the area or route. Move Map The user can move over the entire map by clicking “Move Map” to scroll over map area. A Zoom bar will display on the bottom-right hand side of the map to allow the user to zoom in or out on the map. Review The “Review” button on the top right section of the application is designed to be used exclusively by monitors. When the user clicks review, a drop-down box will appear with the following options: Authorize Flight Option The “Authorize Flight” button is used if a monitor sees no conflicts with a planned flight and gives the “go- ahead” for the flight to be conducted. As described previously, the monitor will click the applicable planned flight area which will highlight white. When the user clicks, “Authorize Flight”, the flight area will turn to its “Cleared” color. Deny Flight The “Deny Flight” button is used if the monitor sees a conflict with a planned flight area and needs to inform the operator of the issue. When an area polygon is selected, and the monitor clicks “Deny Flight”, the following message box will pop-up to send a direct message to the operator: Authorize Flight Deny Flight Review Flight
Within the white box, the monitor can convey what the issues are with regards to the denial of the flight and actions to take. This message will be sent to the operator’s “Notices” within the user account. If the situation is too complex and detailed to convey in a direct message, the monitor should contact the operator via phone. Review Flight The “Review Flight” button is used if a monitor wishes to have the next higher level monitor review the flight for approval. This would occur in situations where the monitor is unsure if a planned flight will conflict with an upcoming event. When the “Review Flight” button is clicked, the same message box user in the “Deny Flight” process will pop-up for the monitor to send a message to the next-level monitor. The diagram below details the message transmission up monitor levels: Community (Default or Optional) County State Region Clicks Review Flight Clicks Review Flight Clicks Review Flight
As with the operator’s Notices section of the user account, when a monitor sends a notice to the next-level monitor, the same process described with “Deny Flight” will occur with the jurisdiction name displaying when the next-level monitor clicks “Notices” and the message content displaying when the monitor clicks the jurisdiction name. Illustration of the Message Process Flow for Deny Flight & Review Flight In this example, an operator’s planned flight was denied, and the operator will see the exclamation mark to the right side of “Notices” When the user clicks “Notices”, the jurisdiction name that denied the flight will appear off to the left, in this case a subdivision: When the user clicks the jurisdiction, the message box will appear with the message content from the monitor: The message can be brief as shown above or more detailed, depending on what the monitor needs to convey. This same illustration will also show for the higher-level monitors (i.e. County, State, and Region) only it will also show a drop-down list if a higher-level monitor is receiving multiple requests for reviews from jurisdictions within the geographic area of responsibility.
Create/Import The Create/Import task is designed to allow jurisdictional users to create airspace and allow all users to import data features. Some examples of data features that could be imported include: - Drone Planned Flights from app such as Drone Deploy; ideal for planning out flight routes - Manned aircraft flight data from an app such as ForeFlight (useful for helping drone operators visualize planned manned-aircraft operations) - Agriculture data - CAD/Sketchup data - Crime data - Imagery data - Topographic data In short, the Create/Import task is designed to act as a dynamic, interactive tool for collaboration with the drone community which gives users the ability to provide data that will not only benefit the drone community, but also communities as a whole. When the user clicks “Create/Import” on the application toolbar, a drop-down box will display with two options: Create Airspace If a user clicks “Create Airspace”, a process similar to the Optional Class Airspace Operation described previously will take place: A drop-down list box will display to the left of “Create Airspace”, and the user will be presented with the list of Class options:
When a user clicks the “What Are the Classes?” hyperlink, an informational text-box will pop-up giving an explanation of each type of airspace. When a user clicks the desired airspace class, a crosshair tool will appear on the map and the user will establish the airspace class in the same fashion as a drone operator creates a flight area. Once the polygon is drawn, a pop-up information box will display with the following information:
Once the user has entered the information into the information box and clicks “Establish”, the newly created airspace polygon will be added into the applicable airspace layer for the given county’s geodatabase. Create Emergency Response Flight If the user clicks “Create Emergency Response Flight”, a text box with the following information will pop up: When the user selects the type, a following box will display: For the drawing session, the following procedures will take place based on the criterion selected: Direct Route: 1. User will click the start point on the map, and a marker will be placed at the start point 2. The user will draw a straight line from the start point to the subject point and click the subject point (i.e. building, point on sidewalk, etc.). Once the subject point is clicked, a second marker will be placed and a pop-up box will display
Once “Establish” is clicked, the emergency response direct route will be established for the effective time range. The sample of the direct route illustration is previously shown in the document. Search: 1. User will click the start point on the map, and a marker will be placed at the start point 2. User will click on the subject area and drag a circle to the desired sized. Once the desired size is reached, the user will click and a pop up box will display with the following information to enter: Once “Establish” is clicked, the emergency search area will be established, with two lines connecting from the start point and running tangent to the search area. It should be noted that no altitude is specified with this type of emergency response flight as the effective altitude of a search flight will be 0-400 feet AGL. Buffer Area: 1. User will click over subject point or area and drag a circle to the desired size. 2. Once the desired size is reached, the user will click again and a pop up box will display with the following information:
Once “Establish” is clicked, the buffer area will be created. As with the search flight, the effective altitude of a Buffer Area will be 0-400 feet AGL. Create Hazard If a user clicks “Create Hazard”, the same methodology for creating a flight area/route will be utilized and, when the hazard is drawn, a text box will pop up with the following information: Once the user clicks “Create”, the hazard will be added to the map application.
Create Advisory If a user clicks “Create Advisory”, the same methodology for creating a flight area/route and airspace will be utilized and, when the advisory area is drawn, a text box will pop up with the following information: I Once the user clicks “Submit”, the advisory will become effective on the map
Import The Import option is designed to allow users to bring in data from outside of the map application and import the data for use within the map application. A basic simulation of this option will be described. It should be noted that this is only a visual depiction of how this option would work: Sample of Import User has part of a Visual Flight Rules (VFR) Section Chart and desires to import this into the Prince William County geodatabase User has data and desires to import into application User uses geoprocessing tools to import data Data is imported to desired County layer
After using georeference techniques, the section chart is now a data layer within the area of interest. Basic Idea Behind the Additional Data Feature The Additional Data feature is designed to be used “at-the-moment”. This means that these data features will not be saved automatically into the map application. The data imports are designed to be used for flight planning at the given time, and will be deleted once the user has logged out of the map. It is possible, however, that permanent additional data layers for given geographical locations will be added into the application over time. Contact The “Contact” tab at the top right of the application is designed to serve as an e-mail tool. When the user clicks Contact, the user can either send a message to the application webmaster or to a given e-mail address as desired. This would assist operators and other users with direct communication.
Privacy & Restrictions The map application, based on the user’s account, will have certain privacy and restrictions in place. The following information details each user type’s privacy and restrictions as it pertains to using the application: Jurisdictional A jurisdictional account will primarily have restrictions with the Tools. When the jurisdictional user clicks “Tools”, all buttons, except the “Move Map” button, will be greyed-out. This is because the jurisdictional user will primarily be using the “Review” part of the application and will not be drawing flights. Operator An operator account will have the “Review” button on the application greyed-out as well as the “Create Airspace” option under “Create/Import”. This is because the operator will primarily be drawing flights and will not review and authorize planned flights. Non-Operator The Non-Operator account will have all buttons under “Tools” greyed-out with the exception of “Move Map”, the “Review” button greyed-out, and “Create Airspace” button greyed-out. The user will be able to use the “Create Notice” action. The non-operator will also not be able to view the Contact Number that is displayed as part of the flight information. Emergency Responders Only Emergency Responders will be able to access the “Create Emergency Response Flight” feature, and this group would have the special “Emergency Responder” account created for their purpose of flights. Their flights will be symbolized with their emergency response type and the color of red.
Special Data Layers The Special Data Layers would be used for enhanced analysis and situational awareness. Some of the data features have been identified in the Create/Import section of the application. These layers would be created and maintained by the users as needed. There is no minimum requirement for the data to be included. The layer can contain many data features or none at all. Given the broad liberty with regards to using this item, these layers will be entirely dependent on the users. The Special Layer would likely be formatted as follows: Data Items that can be toggle on/off by checkbox
To further elaborate on the illustration, the user would use a scroll-list box to access the applicable Region, State, and County. Once the user selects the criterion, the data box would look like the illustration below: As mentioned, the content is going to be dependent on the users’ activity. Topography VFR Sectional Chart Agriculture Data Fire Stations Hospitals Weather
UAS Operations Standardization
UAS Operations Standardization

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UAS Operations Standardization

  • 1. Application for Unmanned Aircraft Systems The Class-H Concept
  • 2. Application Concept Basic Summary Table 1. Objective 2. Areas of Focus 3. Basic Concept 4. Execution of Concept 5. Additional Features 6. Potential Features 7. Data Organization Procedures & Operations **Note** For demonstration purposes, all figures and maps shown in this document are drawn for representation and not actual scale and accuracy.
  • 3. Objective Provide a simplified, structured, and transparent management application for UAS operations below 500 feet above ground level (AGL) that will delegate responsibilities to the local jurisdictions and provide uniformity across the entire country for airspace use and restrictions. Area of Focus The application will focus on three components of users that will make up a triangle: Jurisdiction Component Consists of local government centers, populated subdivisions, high-density commercial plazas, and individual property stakeholders. Essentially, the individuals who authorize and restrict airspace access up to 500 feet over their jurisdictional territory Operator Component Consists of the operators of small UAS drones who will be conducting either commercial or non-commercial flights below 500 feet AGL Non-Operator Component Consists of the individuals who view or contribute information and data to both the operator and jurisdiction.
  • 4. Jurisdiction The jurisdiction component consists of the entities that manage and govern a specific sector of space. The component consists of incorporated cities/towns, commercial plazas, large subdivisions or residential areas, and individual property stakeholders. This component handles the establishment of restricted airspace and authorizes and monitors UAS flights within their restricted airspace. Examples of Jurisdiction: - City of Knoxville - Tysons Corner - Subdivisions consisting of 100 or more subdivided lots - Properties consisting of apartments and condominiums - A tract of farmland The basic function of the jurisdiction is to establish, control, authorize, and monitor its area of responsibility. Operator The operator component consists of the drone operators who will be conducting drone flights below 500 feet AGL, either for commercial or non-commercial purposes. The component consists of hobbyists, businesses, individually licensed commercial operators, and government. Any individual who plans to utilize and a fly a drone is considered to be an operator. Examples of Operator: - Amazon - Law Enforcement - Aerial Surveyor - Individual who owns an sUAS aircraft - Video photographer - Engineering firm Non-Operator The non-operator component consists of those not directly involved with sUAS operations who can view or contribute information and data that will effect drone operations below 500 feet AGL. The component makes up, at its broadest level, the general public. Examples of Non-Operator: - City GIS offices - Data analysts - Utility companies - Hobbyist groups/clubs - Emergency responders - Amusement parks - Social event coordinators
  • 5. Basic Concept Airspace below 500 feet AGL is established as a “Class-H” level of airspace. The FAA has established classes of air that restrict certain operations of flight by monitoring and communication. For most of its history, the FAA has assumed responsibility of all airspace. However, with the introduction and proliferation of drone platforms, and well as the rapid and non-uniform establishment of restrictions at local levels and new technological developments, the FAA will face the challenge of effectively integrating drones into airspace with manned aircraft, especially with the regulations and operating guidelines for drones. Classification The mapping system will consist of a Web-GIS platform that establishes the Class-H airspace. Class-H will be “uncontrolled, but monitored” by local jurisdictions, establishments, and communities. The airspace will be divided into two general categories: full restriction and partial restriction. Full restriction will mean airspace from ground level to 400 feet AGL at a given geographical location is restricted for drone operations and requires approval from the subject jurisdiction. Class H-R: Restricted airspace from ground level to 400 feet AGL. Examples: - Airports/Heliports & 5 mi buffer around these areas - Incorporated Communities (i.e. within town/city limits) - Government centers for unincorporated communities - Residential single-dwelling areas consisting of 20 lots or greater & an HOA - Apartment/Condominium communities - Other areas identified by local communities - Individual parcels of land where the property owner requests restriction CLASS H-R: GROUND LEVEL TO 400 FT AGL
  • 6. - Areas that normally have restricted access (military installations, government properties, etc.) Operational Usage in Class H-R: In order for an operator to fly a drone within this airspace, prior permission is required (PPR) from the applicable entity that makes up the Class H-R (within town limits-a city official; within a 5-mi radius of the airport-an airport official; within a large residential area-an HOA official, etc.). Only after approval from the applicable entity is a drone operator allowed to fly within this airspace. Classes H-1, H-2, H-3, & H-4 CLASS H-1: GROUND LEVEL TO 100 FT AGL CLASS H-2: GROUND LEVEL TO 200 FT AGL CLASS H-3: GROUND LEVEL TO 300 FT AGL CLASS H-4: GROUND LEVEL TO 400 FT AGL
  • 7. Classes H-1, H-2, H-3, and H-4 are designed to give sUAS operators a “tolerance zone”, that is, an area of allowable operation that does not require authorization from a jurisdiction. The purpose of the tolerance zone is to allow operators to fly their aircraft under the average height of structures on the property. The tolerance zone for Class H-1 is up to 100 feet AGL, Class H-2 up to 200 feet, Class H-3 up to 300 feet, and Class H-4 up to 400 feet. Within the tolerance zone, sUAS aircraft are not subject to monitoring from the jurisdiction. However, any flight to be conducted above the tolerance zone of a given class block must receive approval from the jurisdiction and will be subject to monitoring. For example, if an operator wishes to fly a quadcopter at 200 feet AGL in a Class H-1 airspace section, the jurisdiction must approve the flight as the flight’s altitude will be above the tolerance zone’s ceiling (100 feet AGL) for that airspace section. Establishment of Roles & Responsibilities for Active-Party Users The two sub-groups that make up the Active-Party User group consist of the operator and the monitor. Operator: These are the individuals who operate the drone aircraft. They are broken down into two categories: - Commercial - Non-commercial Monitor: This consists of an individual or group that establishes restricted airspace and reviews/authorizes the operation of sUAS flight operations. Such groups are: - City/Town officials for incorporated communities - Airport operators/managers for airports - Homeowner associations for large, single-dwelling residential areas - Board of Commissioners chairman for unincorporated areas - Landlords/Lessees for apartment and condominium properties Responsibility of Operator Commercial: The commercial operator is responsible for ensuring that proper pre-planning and authorization is approved before operating in a restricted airspace. Failure to comply will result in consequential action determined by the given jurisdiction. Commercial operators are required to “draw” their planned area of flight on the application’s map, regardless of the operating area. The commercial operator will provide a UAS identification (ID), maximum altitude at which the flight will be conducted, date of flight, block time for flight (reported 0000-2359), and a contact number. Non-commercial: The non-commercial operator will follow the same protocol as the commercial operator, but with one major exception: - The non-commercial operator is not required to “draw” their planned area of flight on the application map if the flight will be conducted within the limits of a tolerance zone. Responsibility of Monitor The monitor of a restricted area is jurisdiction’s representative responsible for reviewing planned flight areas on the monitor’s respective map area and approving the flight areas for operation of flight. If such situations should warrant a denial or modification of the planned flight area, the monitor will contact the operator and provide information regarding the conflict of the request and the proper actions to take. Reasonable consideration should be used when reviewing a planned flight area; if the flight will not jeopardize any critical operation or event, it should receive approval from the monitor.
  • 8. Execution of Concept Data Organization The general structure of the concept will be a top-to-bottom order of data hierarchy. The United States will be broken down into the ten federal regions: Each state will be sub-organized as the following: - Aerodromes - Counties o Incorporated Areas o Airports o Communities o Commercial Areas o Individual Properties All Federal Properties default to Class H-R airspace. If an operator wishes to fly over any federal property, the operator must receive authorization and approval from the federal property management. Unless special circumstances are coordinated in advance, most drones will generally not be operating over a federal property. For each county, incorporated areas and 5 mile buffers around airports will be established as Class H-R airspaces by default. This means that any operator wishing to fly within city/town limits or within 5 miles of an airport must receive proper authorization and approval of flight area prior to flight. Communities, commercial areas, and individual properties that are outside of incorporated limits and/or 5 miles of a given airport will be designated as either H-1, H-2, H-3, H-4, or H-R based on the preference of the given Region 1 ME NH VT MA RI CT Region 2 NY NJ Region 3 PA MD WV VA DE Region 4 KY TN NC SC GA FL AL MS Region 5 OH IN IL MI WI MN Region 6 AR LA OK TX NM Region 7 IA MO KS NE Region 8 ND SD MT WY CO UT Region 9 HI CA NV AZ Region 10 AK WA OR ID
  • 9. entity. Communities will be considered, for the purpose of this application, general residential subdivisions and condominium/apartment properties. Commercial areas will be considered plazas, town centers, and commercial establishment zones. For those areas that are residential/commercial mixes (i.e. areas with businesses and residences), they will fall under the Community category. Those areas that are commercial-only will be classified as Commercial Areas. Individual Properties will be those areas that are neither classified as Communities and Commercial Areas and are developed by individual property stakeholders (i.e. owner of a tract of land, small subdivisions with 20 or less lots). It should be noted, those areas not classified as Incorporated Areas or Airports will be optionally established, meaning that the the collective group of individuals (HOA, commercial tenants) will need to decide if they wish to establish airspace restrictions. Data Organization Example Establishing Restricted Airspace The basic concept will consist of the following features based on a sample legend below: Virginia Counties Aerodromes • Incorporated Areas • Airports Class H-R • Communities • Commercial Areas • Individual Properties Class Determined by Individual/Group Class H-R
  • 10. As mentioned above, certain datasets will default to Class H-R. Class H-R airspace of City of Fredericksburg. **Figure not drawn to city limits accuracy
  • 11. Federal Property Example: Fort Belvoir, VA **Installation bounds not drawn to accurate representation
  • 12. 5 mile-buffer: Manassas Airport **Buffer distance not drawn to scale
  • 13. Shenandoah National Forest **Not drawn to forest bounds accuracy
  • 14. Class H-R airspace over a residential subdivision; would be drawn and established by HOA or subdivision representative
  • 15. Class H-1 airspace over a shopping plaza; buildings are less than 100 feet high
  • 16. Class H-2 airspace over shopping plaza; highest building in 100-200 ft range
  • 17. Class H-3 airspace over commercial plaza; highest buildings in 200-300 ft range
  • 18. Sample Class H-4 airspace over tourist beach/commercial area. Highest buildings are between 400-500 ft Guidelines for Airspace over High-Rise Areas (Buildings above 500 ft in height) Although the Class H airspace system is designated to establish and monitor airspace between ground level to 400 feet AGL, in certain cases, buildings will be above the 400 feet height level. Such areas with high-rise buildings above 500 feet AGL will be considered as follows: - Incorporated Areas: If the high-rise area is within an incorporated area, Class H-R will be the designated airspace, however, if a building height is above the 400 feet mark, Class H-R will extend 200 feet above the highest building’s height in the area. o Example: If the tallest building in a city is 610 feet, the Class H-R airspace for that city will be up to 810 feet AGL - Non-Incorporated Areas: For those high-rise areas not within an incorporated area, Class H-4 will be the ideal designated airspace, and the 200 feet additional height above tallest building height in the area will be established. o Examples: Tallest building is 525 feet in a commercial high-rise area. Assuming Class H-4 is the designated airspace, the airspace will extend up to 725 feet AGL
  • 19. Practical Guidelines for Establishing Airspace (Not Class H-R by Default) The basic foundation of the application will be the Class H-R airspace component. All other jurisdictions that do not fall under the Class H-R default category will be considered “open-airspace” unless the jurisdiction decides otherwise. This means that these jurisdictions may decide to choose either Classes H-1 to H-4 or Class H-R. With this range of options available, there are some considerations that should be taken into account when deciding on the optimal airspace selection: - The non-default jurisdictions should establish airspace over the entire bounds of the properties or, if other property stakeholders choose to “merge” their properties together, the bound of the entire collective properties. Airspace should not be established over portions of properties such as backyards or buildings themselves. Additionally, airspace should not be established within established airspace. o In some situations, those jurisdictions that are Class H-R by default will have airspace that cuts through properties. In these situations, property stakeholders have the option of establishing airspace over the portion of their property bounds that does not include Class H-R. - If a jurisdiction decides to choose from Classes H-1, H-2, H-3, or H-4, the tallest height of buildings within the jurisdictional bounds should be taken into consideration. For example, if a shopping plaza has buildings with the tallest heights under 100 feet AGL, they have the option to pick either Classes H-1 through H-4 or Class H-R, however, the optimal airspace, assuming the plaza stakeholders decide to not completely place the area under Class H-R, would be Class H-1 as the tallest height of the buildings within the plaza is under 100 feet. o Another example; if a high-rise commercial area has buildings with the tallest heights between 300-400 feet AGL, this area has the same options as the above example. However, the optimal airspace would be class H-4 as the tallest heights of the buildings are within the 300-400 feet range.
  • 20. Examples of Airspace Establishment The following example is based off the incorporated area of Warrenton, VA (Class H-R; jurisdictional limits not drawn to accurate bounds)
  • 21. A particular subdivision on the SW side of town has part of the incorporated limits cutting through the subdivision. The subdivision stakeholders have elected to establish the “open-area” not within Class H-R as Class H-1. In this case, Class H-1 covers the rest of the open area and is tangent to the Class H-R boundary.
  • 22. In this example, Stafford airport in VA has a 5-mile buffer around the airport
  • 23. The buffer extends into portions of commercial properties. Two of the properties have decided to establish the remaining portions of “open airspace” on their lots as Class H-1. The H-1 airspace is drawn around the remaining open area and is tangent to to the buffer boundary.
  • 24. Areas Under 400 feet and Outside of Restricted Airspace Airspace under 400 feet and outside of a restricted airspace area will be considered “open and unmonitored”. Open and unmonitored means that the aircraft is permitted to fly without prior-approval. However, if a drone is to fly above 400 feet AGL, that aircraft will be within FAA airapace and subject to FAA rules and regulations to include special tracking capabilities. This airspace is considered Class-G by the FAA. Planning a Flight Area & Receiving Approval The initial process to execute a drone flight starts with the operator. An operator will be classified as either Commercial or Non-Commercial. The steps to plan the flight are as follows: 1. The operator will decide the area where he/she wishes to conduct the planned flight 2. The operator will draw the planned flight area on the application map 3. After drawing the area, the following information will be provided by the operator: a. UAS-ID number b. Maximum Altitude c. Date of Flight d. Time Range of Flight e. Type (Commercial/Non-Commercial) f. Contact Number 4. Depending on the type and the location of the planned flight area, the polygon, or flight area, will default to a specific color. If the area is within a restriction-free zone or within the Tolerance Zone of Class H-1, H-2, H-3, or H-4, the default color will be green for a Commerical operator and blue for a Non-Commercial operator. These represent a “Cleared” status for the flight area If the flight area is within a restricted zone, the default color will be orange for the Commercial operator and yellow for the Non-Commercial operator. This represents a “Planned” status for the flight area. 5. For flights within restricted zones, the designated monitor for the jurisdiction will review the flight area. If the monitor approves the flight area, the color of the flight area will default to the “Cleared” status color (Green for Commercial; Blue for Non-Commercial). a. If the monitor denies the requested flight area, the monitor will notify the operator of the discrepancy or issue regarding the denial and the courses of available action to take. The monitor should demonstrate fair consideration when denying a requested flight, especially if the flight will be conducted for commercial purposes. 6. When the flight area has been approved, it will remain in the “Cleared” status on the map until the termination of flight which will be based on the end time of the Time Range of Flight (i.e. T.R. 1400- 1600; termination of flight is 1600) at which time the flight area will automatically delete from the map.
  • 25. Example of a General Flight Plan-Class H-R The area in question is the city of Fairfax, VA, an incorporated area that is Class H-R airspace
  • 26. A commercial operator will be providing an aerial-videography service for the city at the city’s regional library. The operator draws a polygon over the planned flight area and provides the pertinent information for the flight. Because the flight is being conducted within Class H-R bounds, the polygon border defaults to orange (Commercial operator) and is in the “Planned” status. The flight has NOT been approved by the monitor representing the city and the operator is NOT cleared to conduct flight.
  • 27. After reviewing the planned flight area, the monitor approves the flight area, and the polygon border changes to green giving the area a “Cleared” status to conduct flight on the filed date and time range.
  • 28. Once the flight has terminated at 1100, the polygon and information deletes automatically from the map.
  • 29. Example of a General Flight Plan-Class H-1, H-2, H-3, and H-4 The area in question is the Potomac Mills shopping area in Woodbridge, VA. The property stakeholders have decided to establish the area as Class H-1 airspace.
  • 30. A commercial operator wishes to conduct an aerial survey of an open area on the easterly side of the property bounds. Because the maximum altitude for this flight is 200 feet, and the airspace is Class H-1, the flight area requires approval from the designated monitor of this property.
  • 31. The monitor reviews the plan and approves the flight area for use on the given date and time range.
  • 32. Example of Flight Area in Tolerance Zone Same flight area as the previous example, but the commercial operator requests a maximum altitude of 70 feet within the Class H-1 area. Since the maximum altitude is below 100 feet, the flight area does not require approval and defaults to the “Cleared” status. Note: all commercial operators are REQUIRED to draw their requested flight areas regardless if the area is within the tolerance zone.
  • 33. Example of a Recreational Flight A non-commercial operator has received approval to conduct a recreational flight over the parking area of the Potomac Mills mall. Initially, the polygon border will be yellow as the maximum altitude is 300 feet; 200 feet above the tolerance zone for the H-1 airspace. It will remain yellow (Planned-status) until the monitor approves the flight which the color will then turn to blue as shown above. The same details are shown on the text box except Type is designated N for non-commercial use. If the maximum altitude were 50 feet, the polygon will default to its Cleared-status of blue. Operator Considerations for Flight Planning The purpose of the application is to provide a simple, efficient, and effective way to plan and execute a drone flight. While the purpose itself is straightforward, certain flight-planning situations may create ambiguity. To provide clarity, operators should consider the following: 1. All flight areas should be drawn with consideration as to where the aircraft will actually be flying. For example, if an operator is going to be conducting an aerial inspection of a building rooftop, the operator should draw the flight area relatively close to the building’s perimeter. The flight area polygon does not need to be precisely locked to the footprint of the structure, but it should be drawn to show a monitor or reviewer that the flight is taking place around a specific building. It would be considered “wasting” airspace to draw a polygon around the building’s entire general area if the sUAS is only going to be flying around the building.
  • 34. Example of Good Flight Planning: A commercial operator is planning to inspect a rooftop at Matchbox Pizza. Since the flight area is around a specific building, the operator has exercised good judgment by drawing the polygon around and near the building, giving a monitor or reviewer a clear idea that the planned flight is around a specific building.
  • 35. Example of Poor Flight Planning: This example follows the previous example, but instead of drawing near and around the Matchbox Pizza perimeter, the operator has drawn the polygon over a broader area that includes Matchbox Pizza. For a flight that will involve inspecting a specific building, this is an example of inconsideration and poor judgment on the operator’s part given the purpose of the planned flight. Conservation of Airspace and Its Purpose The previous examples demonstrate an ideal of the application which is to practice conservation of airspace usage. The operator is not bound by restrictions as to how the polygon must be drawn, but the operator is encouraged to take into consideration: 1. The Objective of the Flight 2. The Minimum Airspace Required to Accomplish the Objective
  • 36. Planning a Flight in Overlaps of Restricted Areas In many instances, restricted areas will overlap each other, especially with airport buffer boundaries. In such circumstances, an operator will require approval from those monitors who are responsible for those restricted areas. In this example, The Newport News/Williamsburg Intl Airport and Felker Army Airfield create an overlap of airspace.
  • 37. A recreational operator wishes to fly his drone at the Denbigh High baseball field on a Saturday afternoon. Because the planned area of flight is within the NN/W Intl Airport and Felker Army Airfield overlap, the operator will require approval from both airports. The operator is not cleared until both airports have approved the area for flight.
  • 38. Very Low Beyond Visual Line of Sight (VBVLOS) Up until this section, the previous examples have dealt with drone operations covering Visual Line of Sight (VLOS). The operator drawing the closed polygon is expected to have visual contact with the drone during the entire flight. If an operator is planning to fly the drone beyond visual contact, the flight must be planned as a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS). For the purpose of this application, Very Low Beyond Visual Line of Sight (VBVLOS) will apply to aircraft flying under 200 feet Above Ground Level with routes that will be flown less than 5 miles from the operator. Planning a VBVLOS Flight For the purpose of VBVLOS operations, there will be: 1. A Return-to-Home (RTH) point 2. Information Box that lists: a. UAS ID b. Block Altitude c. Date of Flight d. Time Range of Flight e. Type f. Contact Number 3. Established Waypoints (depicted by W1, W2, ….W10) Block altitudes will be requested at 20 feet increments. The operator is restricted to flying within the requested block. So, if an operator requests a block altitude of 110-130 feet, the operator will not descend below 110 feet on the route or above 130 feet on the route. Lateral deviations will be 20 feet from centerline on each side. Waypoints will be established by defined geographical marks. These marks can include: - Buildings - Road intersections - Parking Lots The general rule of thumb is that the waypoint must be over a unique feature on the map. IMPORTANT: All VBVLOS flights MUST be drawn on the map. Routes will require approval from a jurisdiction if the route will encroach a restricted area at any given point on a leg.
  • 39. Example of a VBVLOS Flight The subject area in this example is Richmond, VA-a default Class H-R area.
  • 40. A commercial operator has drawn a route with the RTH point at a ball-field and has established seven waypoints on the map, following a counterclockwise pattern back to the RTH point. Because portions of this route are within Richmond city limits, the monitor for Richmond must approval this route. Note that the information box is over the RTH point. If the Richmond monitor approves the flight route, the route color will turn to green (Cleared-status). As with the VLOS operations, if the route were to encroach another restricted airspace, the operator would require approval from that jurisdiction as well. Guidelines for Waypoint Establishments When an operator chooses to establish a VBVLOS route, the operator should take into account the altitude at which he/she will be operating. At lower altitudes, more waypoints will need to be established for a route than a route at a higher altitude. However, at higher altitudes, the waypoints will need to be much more defined than those at lower altitudes.
  • 41. Low Beyond Visual Line of Sight (LBVLOS) Low Beyond Visual Line of Sight (LBVLOS) flight will be identical to VBVLOS flight, but will be conducted from 200 feet to 400 feet with the route distance between 5-10 miles from the operator. The visual representation from the route will also differ from line segments between waypoints by using arrows. The following example is Norfolk, VA; a Class H-R zone. The figure is not drawn to jurisdictional accuracy
  • 42. A commercial operator is planning to do a LBVLOS flight on the SE side of the city. The route consists of the RTH point and 6 waypoints. The flight will be conducted at a block altitude of 300-320 feet. Because a portion of the flight is going through Norfolk city limits, the flight route requires approval from the Norfolk monitor. If the flight route is approved, the color will turn to green (Cleared-status). Non-commercial operators The following examples depicted commercial flight operations, however, the same guidelines apply for non- commercial operators with the only difference being that the Planned-status color will be yellow and the Cleared-status color will be blue. It should be re-emphasized that all operators planning either a VBVLOS or LBVLOS flight are REQUIRED to draw their planned route.
  • 43. Bring the Components Together The basic components of the application (flight areas, VBVLOS flights, and LBVLOS flight) have been identified. With this, the goal will be to integrate these components into the full scale mapping application. To streamline the process and define clear parameters, these guidelines will apply for planning a flight. Planning a Flight Area Within a Planned or Cleared Flight Route An operator can draw a planned flight within the bounds of a Flight Route provided these conditions are met: - The area must be under the lowest altitude level of the block altitude for the flight route. For example, if Operator 2 is planning to draw a flight area under Operator 1’s flight route, with a block altitude of 100- 120 feet, Operator 2 must keep the maximum altitude of the flight area below 100 feet. o This is assuming that Operator 1 will be flying at the same time as Operator 2. - If Operator 2 will not be flying within the time range of Operator 1, Operator 2 can fly at altitudes above the block altitude of Operator 1’s flight route. However, once Operator 1’s flight is active, Operator 2 will be required to descend below the block altitude of Operator 1’s flight route. Planning a Flight Area Within a Planned or Cleared Flight Area An operator can draw a flight area within the bounds of a Planned or Cleared flight area, but the operator cannot fly within the time range of the Planned or Cleared flight area’s time range. - For example, if Operator 2 is planning to fly in Operator 1’s Cleared flight area, and Operator 1’s time range is 0930-1030, Operator 2 must plan the flight to end before 0930 or start after 1030. o 0830-0929: Acceptable o 0830-0945: Not Acceptable o 1031-1200: Acceptable o 1025-1200: Not Acceptable Planning Flight Routes with Overlapping It is likely that a flight route will overlap the path of another flight route. Overlapping of flight routes is permissible provided the following conditions are met: - The block altitude of one flight route will be either above or below the block altitude of another flight route if operating within the same time range - If both flight routes will not have time ranges conflicting with each other (i.e. Route 1 will not be flown during the same time range as Route 2), the same block altitude may be used
  • 44. Additional Features - U-Tracks - I-Tracks - Emergency Responders (Fire, Medical, Law Enforcement) - Hazards - Advisories - Social For the purpose of the following sections, the content is based on a visionary approach to utilizing the additional features. The development of these features will likely require revision and should not be taken as is based on the description of the features.
  • 45. U-Track Layer The U-Track layer is established for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights that will be flown at long distances (greater than 10 miles). The U-Tracks will be established from 400 feet AGL to 500 feet AGL. The following diagram below shows the U-Track structure as it relates to direction and altitude: The U-Tracks will be established using cellular and water towers as track points (TPs). The tracks will be defined as three categories: - Jurisdictional - Inter-Jurisdictional - Regional For purposes related to U-Track establishments, jurisdictions will be defined as counties, inter-jurisdictional will be defined as travel across multiple counties within a state, and regional will be defined as travel across states within a federal region. Numbering of tracks will be based off the following circle below: N E W S 0-179°: 400-450 FT AGL 180-359°: 451- 500 FT AGL
  • 46. Jurisdictional Track Jurisdictional tracks are based off a network of BVLOS routes that will exist in a county. By utilizing a jurisdictional track, an operator plans to fly within a specific county. Jurisdictional tracks are identified in the U-Track tier as a Class III track. Identification of a Jurisdictional track will be established on the following convention: - J: Jurisdiction - X: Number Sample Track: J-12-represents a U-Track within a county that has an east-west direction J-3 represents a U-Track within a county that has a north-south direction 45-135°: EVEN 136-225°: ODD 226-315°: EVEN 316-44°: ODD
  • 47. Sample Jurisdictional track (Class III) over Stafford County, VA. Track points (TPs) are water towers Inter-Jurisdictional Track Inter-Jurisdictional tracks are based off a network of BVLOS routes that transit between counties within a state. By utilizing an inter-jurisdictional track, an operator plans to fly beyond the limits of a given county. Inter- jurisdictional tracks are identified in the U-Track tier as a Class II track. Identification of an Inter-Jurisdictional track will be established on the following convention: - IJ: Inter-Jurisdiction - X: Number Sample Track: IJ-1-represents a U-Track across multiple counties that has a north-south direction IJ-22 represents a U-Track across multiple counties that has an east-west direction
  • 48. Sample IJ-track that transits Spotsylvania and Stafford counties in VA. Regional Track Regional tracks are those tracks that transit across more than one state in a given region of the U.S. By utilizing a regional track, an operator is planning to conduct a long-distance flight beyond a given state. Regional tracks are identified in the U-Tracks as a Class I track. Note that the triangles below are only used for reference. Identification of a regional track will be established on the following convention: - Region Number - X: Number Sample Track: 3-5-represents a U-Track across Region 3 that has a north-south direction
  • 49. Regional track in Region 3 across VA and MD going in a north-south direction. I-Track Layer The I-Track Layer is established for BVLOS flights across infrastructure lines. The infrastructure lines will primarily be railroads, power-lines, pipelines, etc. These tracks are primarily to be used for examining/inspecting infrastructure; they are not designated for use as general transit routes. Given this, non- commercial aircraft will be restricted from traversing these tracks without special approval. Flying on an I- Track requires authorization from the entity responsible for the infrastructure line (railroad-rail dispatcher; power-line-power company).
  • 50. Railroads Railroad I-Tracks will be broken down into segments along a given rail line. Signal locations along the line will serve as general entry/exit points for the railroad I-Track. The classification will be based on the following: - R-Number (i.e. R-1) Class I railroads will use the convention above. Class II & III railroads will be: - R-State-Number (i.e. R-NC-42) Railroad I-Track Flight Example The base example for the Railroad I-Track will be the CSX Peninsula Subdivision which runs from Richmond, VA to Newport News, VA. The railroad is a Class-I type, and the signal locations are listed in the table below. MP designates “Mile-post” and functions in a similar manner to mile markers on interstates. However, many mile-posts are not precise with regards to accurately measuring mile distance as many of the posts were created close to a century ago utilizing older surveying techniques. For the purpose of this map application, signal locations will be used to define the segments of the railroad.
  • 51. Signals Along the CSX Peninsula Subdivision Signal Name EB MP WB MP HRT CA14.4 CA14.5 Newport News Holdout CA16.8 CA16.7 Nettles/19 CA19.0 CA18.9 Oriana CA22.6 CA22.5 Amoco CA25.6 CA25.5 Lee Hall CA27.2 CA27.1 WE Lee Hall CA29.2 CA29.1 Grove CA32.2 CA32.1 Toppings CA35.4 CA35.3 Williamsburg CA37.8 CA37.7 Magruder CA40.4 CA40.3 Lightfoot CA43.0 CA42.9 Toano CA46.2 CA46.1 Diano CA49.2 CA49.1 Diascund CA51.6 CA51.5 Lanexa CA54.2 CA54.1 Windsor Shades CA56.4 CA56.5 EE Providence Forge CA60.0 CA59.9 WE Providence Forge CA61.2 CA61.1 Mountcastle CA64.2 CA64.1 Nance CA66.0 CA65.9 Turners Cut CA68.8 CA68.7 Elko CA71.6 CA71.5 Poplar Springs CA74.2 CA74.1 Beulah CA76.2 CA76.1 Fort Lee CA78.4 CA78.3 Darbytown Road CA80.8 CA80.7 Egypt CA81.6 CA81.5 Scott Street CA82.4 CA82.3 R Cabin CA83.2 CA83.1 Louisiana Street CA83.4 CA83.3 Coney Island CA83.8 CA83.7 Rivanna Junction CA84.6 CA84.5 AM Junction CA85.6 CA85.5
  • 52. This map represents a portion of the Peninsula Subdivision north of Williamsburg. Due to the scale of the map and limitation with seeing the symbol and text of the signal locations, the yellow arrow represents the approximate location of the Magruder signal and the purple arrow represents the approximate location of the Lightfoot signal. The signal locations are identified by a hexagon symbol.
  • 53. A commercial operator will be inspecting the segment of railroad between the Magruder and Lightfoot signals. The pertinent information is provided, and a block altitude is requested. For I-Track usage, block altitudes will be requested in increments of 20 feet. Note that no type is given for the I-Track since these tracks will be restricted to commercial usage only. If this planned flight is cleared, the route will turn green.
  • 54. Guidelines for Railroad I-Tracks Railroad I-Tracks require the operators to enter and exit from signal locations along the track. For example, in the previous map, the operator had a planned route between Magruder and Lightfoot. If the operator needed to vacate the track, the operator would need to exit from either the Magruder location or the Lightfoot location, whichever is closer. Railroad I-Tracks will have an altitude ceiling of 150 feet AGL. Any flight above 150 feet AGL over the I- Track does not require authorization from the railroad monitor. However, operators should make every effort not to “loiter” over railroads unless official business is being conducted. Any flight below the 150-foot ceiling requires authorization from the railroad monitor. It should be re-iterated; railroad I-Tracks are designed to be used for commercial purposes pertaining to rail operations (i.e. inspections). Powerline I-Tracks Powerline I-Tracks will be for those lines that traverse across more than one county. The protocol for powerline I-Track usage is similar to railroad I-Track usage, but with some differences: - Powerlines will not have entry/exit points as the railroad lines do. An operator may enter the track at any given point, but the planned flight route must be drawn on the map and approved by the power company responsible for the powerline. - The altitude floor for powerlines will be 150 feet above the powerline. Any flight to occur below the altitude floor will require authorization from the powerline monitor. Operators should exercise extreme caution when flying over powerlines as interference from electromagnetic radiation can cause control issues for the operator. - Classification of powerline I-Tracks will use the following convention: o E-Powerline designation o Line Number § Example: E-87 Pipeline I-Tracks Pipeline I-Tracks will follow the same protocol as described above for powerlines, however, there will be no altitude floor.
  • 55. In this example, a commercial operator will be inspecting a section of a transmission line. The planned route will have two triangular endpoints to represent the segment. This representation will be the standard format for flight planning along energy lines such as powerlines or pipelines. As with all other procedures, if the flight is approved by the applicable monitor, the color of the segment will turn to green.
  • 56. This symbolization represented above will represent an infrastructure feature other than a powerline
  • 57. Point Features (Towers) Towers will be represented by a shaded white circle over the applicable feature. If an operator wishes to conduct an operation on the tower, the operator will draw a circle around the feature circle, and provide the following information: - UAS ID - Date - Time Range of Flight - Contact Number As with the I-Track layer, only commercial operators will be permitted to conduct tower operations The altitude for an operation that involves a tower will be the entire height of the structure plus an additional 50 feet above the highest point. In this example, an operator will be inspecting a cell tower. If approved, the circle border will turn green.
  • 58. Emergency Responder Feature The Emergency Response Layer is designed for use by emergency responders to include fire, medical, and law enforcement. In the event that an emergency would occur, this layer can be utilized by both emergency responders and drone operators. The following symbology will be used: This example depicts an active fire incident at a GEICO headquarters building.
  • 59. This example depicts an active incident that requires law enforcement. This example represents an active incident that requires medical personnel.
  • 60. Special Response Situations In situations where coordinated efforts are required, such as search and rescue operations, multiple emergency responders can utilize the application to provide updated planning and execution of operations that can involve sUASs. If an emergency responder drone flight is to take place, a responder has the following options: - Plan a direct flight route - Plan a search flight route - Plan a flight buffer area For all flights that are emergency response, jurisdictional authorizations are WAIVED. All other operators that have an active flight being conduct in the vicinity of an emergency response flight will give way to the emergency responder. If a flight requires an operator to fly to a direct location, a direct flight route should be used. The only pertinent information required for planning the route is the block altitude for the sUAS. Law enforcement direct flight route to an incident location. Altitude is given in a 20-ft block.
  • 61. For instances that require a search effort, an emergency responder can plan a search flight route and provide comments for others involved in the search. The application is designed to be dynamic, so the user can provide updates and/or pertinent information at any time. Because search operations would likely be conducted at very low altitudes, an operator would provide only information applicable to the search operation. Sample search operation in a state park. The circle represents the general flight area of the emergency responder. To provide more coverage area, search areas can overlap as need be.
  • 62. In many situations, there will be a need for fire, medical, and law enforcement simultaneously. In these situations, a user can draw a flight buffer area and include multiple symbols to depict requirements for the given situation An incident in an industrial section that requires all emergency responders.
  • 63. Guidelines for Emergency Response Layer This feature is designed to be utilized primarily by emergency responders. There is no strict conformity as to how drone operations will be conducted for emergency responses, but the examples previously shown serve as a general format as to how the feature will be constructed. Because there is no defined timeline for an emergency situation, the user will manually clear the flight route, area, or buffer once the situation has been resolved. For search flight routes/areas and flight buffer areas, the altitude clearance will be ground level to 100 feet AGL. This means that other drones may fly above 100 feet over an emergency response area, but no lower. As indicated previously, all other aircraft must give way to the emergency response aircraft. If an emergency responder requires a higher altitude, this will be mentioned in the comments section, and other aircraft not involved with the emergency situation at hand must comply with the emergency responders’ requirement.
  • 64. ‘ Hazards Feature The Hazards feature is designed to give drone operators visual representation of hazards that may affect an aircraft operation in their given area. These hazards can include, but are not limited to: - Electrical lines - High-traffic areas - Areas with large concentrations of birds - Ranges (shooting/golf; anything that is considered a flying projectile) The hazards layer is designed to be used at small-scale levels (i.e. community). There will be no general requirements as to having a hazard layer, but any valuable information that may serve as a hazard to sUAS operations will be beneficial to include. A golf course has been marked as a hazard area.
  • 65. This example has a pond area marked as a bird hazard area.
  • 66. This example depicts a live music concert where mass crowds have gathered.
  • 67. Advisories Feature The advisories feature is designed to give notice to drone operators on conditions that could affect flight operations. Unlike the hazards feature, the advisories feature is designed to give operators notice of conditions such as weather, notices to airmen (NOTAMS), & manned flight operations, and nuisance notifications. Other additions can include environmentally-sensitive areas, crime areas, and other information that jurisdictions deem valuable. Sample weather advisory layer for Roanoke VA.
  • 68. Sample NOTAM layer in Virginia Beach, VA, detailing low level aircraft flights off the beach.
  • 69. Sample nuisance report where aircraft is flying low over homes. Because this is a Class H-R area, all operators would be required to draw their planned flight area and have it approved by the H-R jurisdiction. In this instance, no flight area has been drawn over this residential area, and the operator of this reported nuisance drone would likely face consequential action from the local authorities.
  • 70. Sample rotary Visual Flight Rule (VFR) flight plan for an active manned operation in the airport vicinity drone operators will have better situational awareness if a flight is to be conducted near this helicopter’s planned route.
  • 71. Social Feature The social feature is designed for situations where social interaction will take place. Example situations that would fall under the “social” category would be multiple sUAS flights in a given area such as hobbyist meet- ups, recreational gaming, and/or interactive connection. Flights that Involve Multiple Aircraft Flights that will consist of more than one aircraft will follow the planning convention used for single-operator operations, but instead of having all individuals file an individual plan, one operator from the group will serve as the designated operator (DO) of the group and use his/her UAS ID when flight planning. Sample flight area consisting of 9 drones being flown for recreational purposes. Note that the designated operator (DO) has provided the flight information and will serve as the individual in charge of the group flight.
  • 72. Commercial VBVLOS flight consisting of 2 drones that will conduct an aerial survey to gather technical data for a civil engineering firm planning a restoration project of a section of Accotink Creek.
  • 73. Interactive Connection The interactive connection component of the social feature is designed to “connect” individuals socially. This is designed to serve as a “by-individual use” option, meaning that individuals accessing the map application will have the option to connect socially if they so desire. There will be two components that make up the interactive connection: - Social Media Component - Messaging Component The social media component is designed to connect individuals via a social media medium. Examples can include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, a personal website, Youtube, etc. This will allow the non-operator component of the application (i.e. those not directly involved with UAS operations) to connect with the operator component. For example, if a local realtor accesses the map for the realtor’s given area, the realtor can see where the commercial operators are flying and, if the commercial operators allow access to their social media profiles from the map, the realtor can connect with the commercial operators for potential business opportunities. A commercial operator has opted for users to connect to his social media profiles. Any map viewer can click the social media icon and be directed to that operator’s social media profile.
  • 74. The messaging component is designed to be used for jurisdiction-operator communication. In the event that an operator or jurisdiction would be required to send a quick message, the message feature would be utilized. Some examples below illustrate when the message feature could be utilized: - Jurisdiction communicating to an operator (i.e. terminate flight at this time; descend to maximum altitude of X feet; be advised of single-prop, fixed-wing aircraft operating near your area) - Operator communicating to a jurisdiction (i.e. terminating flight at this time; requesting maximum altitude adjustment to compensate for weather, requesting assistance) - Jurisdiction to emergency response operator (i.e. requesting UAS for active search; requesting UAS to scout out reported fire in a given area; request UAS to provide medical assistance) The Richmond jurisdictional monitor sending a message to a commercial operator to terminate a flight early due to a short-notice tour being given at the museum.
  • 75. Armed robbery has occurred in a Safeway grocery store in Silver Spring, MD. The Silver Spring jurisdictional monitor has sent a notice to all emergency response UAS operators within the vicinity requesting support to conduct an aerial search in the nearby area.
  • 76. MAP APPLICATION DATA PROTOCOLS
  • 77. Protocols Basic Summary Table 1. General Organization 2. Accessibility 3. Operational Visualization of Application 4. Privacy & Restrictions 5. Special Data Layers Note: This section is only a summation of an application that could be used to execute the Class H concept.
  • 78. General Organization The map application will organize the U.S. by federal regions as described in the Concept section. There are ten federal regions that make up the U.S., and for each region, the jurisdictional order will be as follows: Region State County Community
  • 79. The regional order described will form the organizational of geodatabases. The following examples will detail data organization by each level: At the Region Level Reservations Layer - National Parks/Forests - Military Reservations - Other Areas designated as Federal Property Networks Layer - Towers o Used for U-Track establishments - Power-lines o Used for I-Track establishments w/ power-lines - Infrastructure lines o Windmill areas o Energy plants/stations o Other identified infrastructure areas - Regional U-Tracks o Created by using the Towers component for reference and constructing line feature shapefiles - I-Tracks o Railroads o Power-line tracks Region ReservationsStates - Federal Properties (covering multiple states) - - Networks - Towers - Power-lines - Infrastructure - Regional U-Tracks - I-Tracks - Aerodromes - Counties - IJ-Tracks
  • 80. § Created by using Power-lines component for reference and constructing shapefiles o Pipelines o Other infrastructure lines At the State Level IJ Tracks - Created by using Towers component in Networks layer to build shapefiles of line features At the County Level J-Tracks State Counties IJ-Tracks County Incorporated Areas (Default Class H-R) Optional Class Areas - Class H-R - Class H-1 - Class H-2 - Class H-3 - Class H-4 J-Tracks Aerodromes
  • 81. - Created by using Towers component in Networks layer to build shapefiles of line features Establishment of U-Tracks Regional Tracks - Will work on longitudinal tracks (north-south) first and work westerly o Start with southerly trackpoints (TPs) and connect to northerly TPs § No standard process for creating routes; will likely approach using “see-and-create” methodology - After creating longitudinal tracks, will work on latitudinal tracks (east-west) in a northerly fashion o Start with easterly TPs and work westward Visual of Regional Track Establishment Visual Process of Establishing J & IJ Tracks Longitudinal Tracks START END START END Latitudinal Tracks
  • 82. To establish the J & IJ Tracks within a specific state, geo-processing will be utilized to create the shapefiles for these tracks - With the Towers layer, will likely use a selection by attributes process to select towers within a specific state and export the selected data to a shapefile to the States geodatabase. o After exporting the shapefile, the IJ Tracks can be established For the counties, the same process for creating the Towers shapefile for the state-level will be applied, but selection by attributes will be for the county-level. The selected data will be exported as a shapefile to the county geodatabase. o After exporting the shapefile, the J Tracks can be established Establishing the Class H-R Airspace for Reservations From the visual representation, spatial data will be pulled from resources that provide the data into the Reservations geodatabase folder. From this folder, the spatial data will be distributed down to the applicable region for storage in the Region folder. Spatial Data for National Parks & Forests Spatial Data for Military Reservations Spatial Data for Other Federal Properties Region Region 1 Reservations Region 2 Reservations Region 3 Reservations Region 4 Reservations Region 5 Reservations Region 6 Reservations Region 7 Reservations Region 8 Reservations Region 9 Reservations Region 10 Reservations
  • 83. Establishing the Class H-R Airspace for States From the illustration, spatial data for the counties and aerodromes will be sent to the Region folder and distributed down to the applicable region and state for storage Spatial Data for Aerodromes Spatial Data for Counties Region Region 1 States Region 2 States Region 3 States Region 4 States Region 5 States Region 6 States Region 7 States Region 8 States Region 9 States Region 10 States CT MA ME NH RI VT NJ NY DE PA MD WV DC VA NC SC GA FL KY TN AL MS OH MI IN IL WI MN AR LA TX OK NM MO KS IA NE ND SD MT WY CO UT AZ CA NV HI OR WA ID AK
  • 84. Example 1: Little Rock National Airport - Region 6 o AR Example 2: Miami, FL - Region 4 o FL § Miami-Dade County • Miami **As stated, all incorporated areas and aerodromes will be established as Class H-R by default.
  • 85. Establishing Airspace at the County Level Process Flow for Optional Class Areas As the diagram above represents, a user who wishes to establish a Class H area will create a Jurisdictional account. By creating this account, the user is essentially becoming the monitor of the area to be established. Once the account is created, the user goes to the property in question and draws the desired restriction around the property based on the legend previously shown. Once the polygon is created, it will be saved as a shapefile in the applicable storage folder for the given county as either Class H-R, H-1, H-2, H-3, or H-4 depending on the user’s selection. Class H-R Default Areas Optional Class Areas County User creates Jurisdictional account on application User “zooms” to property in question User creates polygon of desired Class Class H-R Class H-1 Class H-2 Class H-3 Class H-4 County geodatabase From State
  • 86. Demonstration of Optional Class Area Operation (Only to Demonstrate Concept Execution) 1. User creates the account with the pertinent information: o Jurisdiction Name (subdivision name, property name, or tract name) o Monitor’s Name o Phone Number o E-mail Address o Pertinent Comments (optional) 2. The user searches for the applicable area in question
  • 87. Search Draw Edit Clear User types address or general location in Search box
  • 88. When the user clicks “Draw”, the following options will be presented in a drop-box where the user clicks the desired airspace to be created: Once the user clicks the desired airspace to be created, an edit session will commence where the user point- clicks segments to create a polygon around the subject jurisdiction. Once the user double-clicks and completes the segment, an information text box will pop-up for the user to provide the following information: - Jurisdiction: Name of jurisdiction (i.e. subdivision, plaza, tract land, etc.) - Designated Monitor: Name of monitor - Contact Number: Phone number - E-mail Address: - Pertinent Information: Optional information/notices that apply for operating in this area
  • 89. After drawing the airspace polygon, the information text-box, as sampled above, will display with the following information to input. Once the user has finished inputting the applicable data, the user will click “Establish” and the airspace polygon will be added as a shapefile to the Optional Class Areas folder under the applicable Region, State, and County. Search Draw Edit Clear Jurisdiction Designated Monitor Contact Number E-mail Address Pertinent Information Establish
  • 90. Special Data for Jurisdictions One aspect of the map application is interactivity across the components (Jurisdiction, Operator, and Non- Operator). Account users have the option of importing specialized data that can be used to better improve drone operational awareness. Such features can include: - Road Traffic Conditions - State properties - Emergency Responder locations - Topography - Detailed Hazard Areas (i.e. local powerlines) - Engineering data - Agricultural data - Local airport patterns & instrument approaches - Special low-level routes (i.e. Military Training Routes) at and/or below 500 feet AGL The diagram below details the process flow of accessory data into the application: The Special Data layers will be stored at the applicable level of hierarchy, meaning that the data layers could be stored at the county, state, or regional level. **It should be noted; the Accessory Data is not an inherent part of the system, meaning that this layer’s size, scope, and content depends on the users. Special Data Layers County State Region
  • 91. The Big Picture of Data Organization Map Application Region Region State State State State Reservation Reservation Military Installations National Parks Federal Corrections County County County County Class H-R Default Areas Optional Class Areas Class H-R Default Areas Optional Class Areas Class H-R Default Areas Optional Class Areas Optional Class Areas Class H-R Default Areas Accessory Data Military Installations Accessory Data National Parks
  • 92. Accessibility Within the application, components will have certain accessibilities and restrictions to edit data features. The level of accessibility with regards to editing will be dependent on the jurisdictional level. Certain data features that could be edited include: - Airspace areas - U and I Tracks - Emergency Response - Hazards - Advisories - Accessory Data Generally speaking, all component groups will have the ability to access and edit the Special Data, Advisories, and Hazards. It is the Airspace and Track layers where accessibilities and restrictions will have a larger focus with accessibility. The diagram below details the accessibility process for editing jurisdictional data (i.e. Airspaces and Tracks) As the diagram suggests, accessibility is distributed down from the application manager to the county level. Hierarchies can access down, but not up. For example, if a Jurisdictional Track (J-Track) needed to be edited in Henrico County, VA, only the Henrico County manager up to the Application Manager could edit this feature. The Hanover County manager would not be able to edit the track. Likewise, if an IJ Track needed to be edited, only the State manager and up could edit this feature since IJ Tracks will be stored at the State-level. Map Application Manager Region Region Region Region Region State State State State State County County County County County ACCESSIBLE NON-ACCESSIBLE
  • 93. Distribution of Access Keys The distribution of access keys will be a large bundle issued by the application manager and distributed down in sub-bundles to the county level: - Application Manager: Has the Master Access Key; distributes Access Keys down to Region managers o Region: Receives Access Keys from Application Manager to distribute down to State managers § State: Receives Access Key from Region manager to distribute down to County managers • County: Receives Access Key from State Manager Approving Planned Flights The diagram below details the accessibility process for approving planned flights in a given area: This diagram shows that an airspace jurisdiction can approve a flight area only to have it overridden by a county, state, or region. Although not warranted for most cases, there may be certain situations where a flight plan may be denied at a higher hierarchy due to certain circumstances. Operator Flight Plan Airspace Jurisdiction Cleared to Fly fF DENIED County State Region DENIED DENIED DENIED APPROVED APPROVED APPROVED APPROVED
  • 94. Operational Visualization of Application This section of the plan will detail the visualization for the map application’s looks and functions. The visualization is designed to show how the processes and operations described previously will integrate into a functional platform. It should be noted that this is a visualization representation only and not how the actual application may look when completed. Access Screen The access screen is the first location where all users arrive at upon accessing the system. When initially directed to the application, it will similar to the following figure below: Tools Review Create/Import Layers Create Account Sign-In Contact APPLICATION NAME Welcome to Map Application Disclosure Statement OK
  • 95. Creating An Account When a user clicks “Create Account” on the application page, a pop-up screen will display in a fashion that displays the following content below: The “Which account is best for me?” hyperlink, when clicked, will give an informational box that displays the following information:
  • 96. When a user selects the Jurisdictional radio button, the following pop-up box will display with the following information: Once the user clicks “CREATE ACCOUNT”, a Jurisdictional account will be established within the application.
  • 97. When a user selects the Operator radio button, the following pop-up box will display with the following information: Once the user clicks “CREATE ACCOUNT”, an Operator account will be established within the application. R
  • 98. When a user selects the Non-Operator radio button, the following pop-up box will display with the following information: Once the user clicks “CREATE ACCOUNT”, a Non-Operator account will be established within the application.
  • 99. After Signing-In Once the account has been created, the Sign-In tab at the top right of the application screen will display with the User ID in its place: When a user clicks the User ID link, a drop-down box will display with two options for the user to choose from: The Notices button is designed to act a messenger tool for communication regarding the denial of flights within a jurisdiction. If a flight has been denied by a monitor, a white exclamation mark on top of a red circle will show to the ride side of the Notices text. When a user clicks “Notices”, the name of the jurisdiction that denied the planned flight will appear off to the left side, and when the user clicks the jurisdiction name, the message content from the monitor will appear. If the user clicks “Manage Account”, a drop-down box will display off to the left side of the “Manage Account” tab with a list of the following options: User ID displays in place of Sign-In tab
  • 100. When a user clicks “Change User ID”, the following input box will display to allow the user to change a User ID: When “OK” is clicked, the New User ID will be created for the user. When a user clicks “Change Password”, the following input box will display to allow the user to change a Password: When “OK” is clicked, the New Password will be created for the user. The “Add UAS-ID” option is designed to allow a user the ability to add multiple UAS IDs assuming the operator possesses multiple drones for operation. When a user chooses to add additional IDs, those added IDs will be added to the user’s database. When a user clicks “Add UAS-ID”, the following input box will display to allow the user to add additional UAS IDs:
  • 101. When a user types the UAS-ID and clicks “ADD”, the ID will be added to the list box below, and the user can keep adding IDs as needed. When the user has finished adding all applicable IDs and wishes to complete the process, the user clicks “OK” and all IDs from the scroll box will be added to the user’s database. When a user clicks When the user clicks “Add Contact Info”, an input box will display to allow the user to add an e-mail address and contact phone number. On initial account creations, the user will not be required to provide this information for respect of privacy. If the user chooses to add contact information, the contact number will be used for the input information when a user creates a flight area or route. When a user clicks “Add Contact Info”, the following input box will display to allow the user to add contact information: When the user clicks “ADD”, the contact information will be added to the user’s database. Tools The “Tools” tab will consist of a drop-down box that shows a list of tools to choose from with regards to creating a flight area or route:
  • 102. The six tools are designed to allow the user create, edit, and/or delete a flight area or route. Draw Flight Area When a user clicks “Draw Flight Area”, the user will have a cross-hair cursor appear on the map which acts as the drawing tool. The user will then use the click-drag-click method to draw a flight polygon and double-click when the drawing is completed. When a user clicks a flight area button, the user can either select a polygon or a circle. For a circle, the click-drag-release method will be used. The following images display the pictorial of the process: When the user clicks “Draw Flight Area” or “Draw Multiple Drone Flight Area”, the following options “Draw Circle” or “Draw Polygon” will display. Draw Flight Area Draw Very-Low BVLOS Flight Route Draw Low BVLOS Flight Route Draw Multiple Drone Flight Area Draw Multiple Drone Very-Low BVLOS Flight Route Draw Multiple Drone Low BVLOS Fight Route Edit Delete Move Map Draw Circle Draw Polygon
  • 104. When the user clicks, the user will drag the line and, when that segment is complete, the user will click again to complete the segment. The user will complete the described process above to complete the flight area or route, whichever is to be utilized. When a user initially draws a flight area or route, the color will be either Orange (Commercial-operator) or Yellow (Non-commercial operator). The color to be used will be based on the user’s Type selected when creating an account. The colors of the area or route will remain Orange or Yellow, until on of the following occurs: - The user draws an area or route within non-restricted airspace or within the Tolerance Zone of a Class H-1, H-2, H-3, or H-4 airspace. In this case, once the user completes the planned area or route, the color will automatically default to either Green (Commercial operator) or Blue (Non-commercial operator). - The jurisdictional monitor reviews and approves the flight, at which the area or route will then turn to Green (Commercial) or Blue (Non-commercial).
  • 105. Drawing the BVLOS Flights Because BVLOS flight routes will require that waypoints be established, the following procedure detailed below will be used for creating the waypoints: The user locates the desired area in which to fly.
  • 106. When the user clicks, drags to a given geographic point on the map, and clicks, an “Add Waypoint” text box will pop-up where the user can check either “Yes” or “No”. If the user checks “Yes”, the image following will display how the waypoint would appear. If the user clicks “No”, a waypoint will not be established. It is recommended that the user finds a suitable point first and then click and drag to that point and establish a waypoint. Add Waypoint: YES NO
  • 107. The user checked “Yes”, and the waypoint has been added as “W1”. The user will continue the method described above and consecutive waypoints will be established “W2, W3, etc.) until the user returns to the Return-to-Home (RTH) point and completes the route. Information Text Box After Creating Area or Route Once the user has complete the planned flight area, a pop-up box will display for the user as shown on the following image:
  • 108. Based on the information already provided by the user, the UAS-ID (if only 1 ID for the user) and, if the user chooses to provide it on the “Add Contact Info” step, Contact Number will automatically populate. If the user has more than 1 ID, a drop-down box will appear for the UAS-ID box in which the user selects the applicable ID. Because the user will already have provided the “Type” when creating the Operator account, Type will also automatically populate based on the type selected when creating the account.
  • 109. This is how the flight area with the information box will look once completed.
  • 110. For flight routes, the information box will essentially be identical to the flight area, but rather than display a Maximum Altitude, a Block Altitude (with a 20-foot increment between the lowest altitude and highest altitude) will display.
  • 111. Drawing Flights with Multiple Drones The process of drawing flights with multiple drones will be identical to that of the single user; the only additional item will be the “Number of Drones” in the information box. **For flight routes, the Block Altitude will be in place of Maximum Altitude, as shown on the previous image
  • 112. Image showing how a multiple-drone flight area will appear in the application Symbols for Flight Routes The following symbols below will be used to represent flight routes when a user draws a route:
  • 113. Editing a Flight Area or Route When a user clicks the “Edit”, two options will drop-down for the user to select: When a user clicks the “Edit Flight Area/Route” button under the Tools button and hovers over the flight area or route, the vertices created during the click-drag-click action will display along with cross-hair circles in between the vertices’ points (midpoint). The user can click and drag either the vertex or midpoint to edit the shape and size of the flight area or route. Rough-example of how the edit will look as the user hovers over the flight-area. This format will also be used for routes. When a user clicks “Edit Flight Information”, the information box will re-appear for the user to change flight information details T Edit Flight Area/Route Edit Flight Information
  • 114. Deleting Flight Areas and Routes When the user clicks the “Delete” button on the “Tools” button, the user can delete the area by clicking the vertices to re-size and re-configure the area, or the user can click two segments of the flight area or route to completely delete the area or route. Move Map The user can move over the entire map by clicking “Move Map” to scroll over map area. A Zoom bar will display on the bottom-right hand side of the map to allow the user to zoom in or out on the map. Review The “Review” button on the top right section of the application is designed to be used exclusively by monitors. When the user clicks review, a drop-down box will appear with the following options: Authorize Flight Option The “Authorize Flight” button is used if a monitor sees no conflicts with a planned flight and gives the “go- ahead” for the flight to be conducted. As described previously, the monitor will click the applicable planned flight area which will highlight white. When the user clicks, “Authorize Flight”, the flight area will turn to its “Cleared” color. Deny Flight The “Deny Flight” button is used if the monitor sees a conflict with a planned flight area and needs to inform the operator of the issue. When an area polygon is selected, and the monitor clicks “Deny Flight”, the following message box will pop-up to send a direct message to the operator: Authorize Flight Deny Flight Review Flight
  • 115. Within the white box, the monitor can convey what the issues are with regards to the denial of the flight and actions to take. This message will be sent to the operator’s “Notices” within the user account. If the situation is too complex and detailed to convey in a direct message, the monitor should contact the operator via phone. Review Flight The “Review Flight” button is used if a monitor wishes to have the next higher level monitor review the flight for approval. This would occur in situations where the monitor is unsure if a planned flight will conflict with an upcoming event. When the “Review Flight” button is clicked, the same message box user in the “Deny Flight” process will pop-up for the monitor to send a message to the next-level monitor. The diagram below details the message transmission up monitor levels: Community (Default or Optional) County State Region Clicks Review Flight Clicks Review Flight Clicks Review Flight
  • 116. As with the operator’s Notices section of the user account, when a monitor sends a notice to the next-level monitor, the same process described with “Deny Flight” will occur with the jurisdiction name displaying when the next-level monitor clicks “Notices” and the message content displaying when the monitor clicks the jurisdiction name. Illustration of the Message Process Flow for Deny Flight & Review Flight In this example, an operator’s planned flight was denied, and the operator will see the exclamation mark to the right side of “Notices” When the user clicks “Notices”, the jurisdiction name that denied the flight will appear off to the left, in this case a subdivision: When the user clicks the jurisdiction, the message box will appear with the message content from the monitor: The message can be brief as shown above or more detailed, depending on what the monitor needs to convey. This same illustration will also show for the higher-level monitors (i.e. County, State, and Region) only it will also show a drop-down list if a higher-level monitor is receiving multiple requests for reviews from jurisdictions within the geographic area of responsibility.
  • 117. Create/Import The Create/Import task is designed to allow jurisdictional users to create airspace and allow all users to import data features. Some examples of data features that could be imported include: - Drone Planned Flights from app such as Drone Deploy; ideal for planning out flight routes - Manned aircraft flight data from an app such as ForeFlight (useful for helping drone operators visualize planned manned-aircraft operations) - Agriculture data - CAD/Sketchup data - Crime data - Imagery data - Topographic data In short, the Create/Import task is designed to act as a dynamic, interactive tool for collaboration with the drone community which gives users the ability to provide data that will not only benefit the drone community, but also communities as a whole. When the user clicks “Create/Import” on the application toolbar, a drop-down box will display with two options: Create Airspace If a user clicks “Create Airspace”, a process similar to the Optional Class Airspace Operation described previously will take place: A drop-down list box will display to the left of “Create Airspace”, and the user will be presented with the list of Class options:
  • 118. When a user clicks the “What Are the Classes?” hyperlink, an informational text-box will pop-up giving an explanation of each type of airspace. When a user clicks the desired airspace class, a crosshair tool will appear on the map and the user will establish the airspace class in the same fashion as a drone operator creates a flight area. Once the polygon is drawn, a pop-up information box will display with the following information:
  • 119. Once the user has entered the information into the information box and clicks “Establish”, the newly created airspace polygon will be added into the applicable airspace layer for the given county’s geodatabase. Create Emergency Response Flight If the user clicks “Create Emergency Response Flight”, a text box with the following information will pop up: When the user selects the type, a following box will display: For the drawing session, the following procedures will take place based on the criterion selected: Direct Route: 1. User will click the start point on the map, and a marker will be placed at the start point 2. The user will draw a straight line from the start point to the subject point and click the subject point (i.e. building, point on sidewalk, etc.). Once the subject point is clicked, a second marker will be placed and a pop-up box will display
  • 120. Once “Establish” is clicked, the emergency response direct route will be established for the effective time range. The sample of the direct route illustration is previously shown in the document. Search: 1. User will click the start point on the map, and a marker will be placed at the start point 2. User will click on the subject area and drag a circle to the desired sized. Once the desired size is reached, the user will click and a pop up box will display with the following information to enter: Once “Establish” is clicked, the emergency search area will be established, with two lines connecting from the start point and running tangent to the search area. It should be noted that no altitude is specified with this type of emergency response flight as the effective altitude of a search flight will be 0-400 feet AGL. Buffer Area: 1. User will click over subject point or area and drag a circle to the desired size. 2. Once the desired size is reached, the user will click again and a pop up box will display with the following information:
  • 121. Once “Establish” is clicked, the buffer area will be created. As with the search flight, the effective altitude of a Buffer Area will be 0-400 feet AGL. Create Hazard If a user clicks “Create Hazard”, the same methodology for creating a flight area/route will be utilized and, when the hazard is drawn, a text box will pop up with the following information: Once the user clicks “Create”, the hazard will be added to the map application.
  • 122. Create Advisory If a user clicks “Create Advisory”, the same methodology for creating a flight area/route and airspace will be utilized and, when the advisory area is drawn, a text box will pop up with the following information: I Once the user clicks “Submit”, the advisory will become effective on the map
  • 123. Import The Import option is designed to allow users to bring in data from outside of the map application and import the data for use within the map application. A basic simulation of this option will be described. It should be noted that this is only a visual depiction of how this option would work: Sample of Import User has part of a Visual Flight Rules (VFR) Section Chart and desires to import this into the Prince William County geodatabase User has data and desires to import into application User uses geoprocessing tools to import data Data is imported to desired County layer
  • 124. After using georeference techniques, the section chart is now a data layer within the area of interest. Basic Idea Behind the Additional Data Feature The Additional Data feature is designed to be used “at-the-moment”. This means that these data features will not be saved automatically into the map application. The data imports are designed to be used for flight planning at the given time, and will be deleted once the user has logged out of the map. It is possible, however, that permanent additional data layers for given geographical locations will be added into the application over time. Contact The “Contact” tab at the top right of the application is designed to serve as an e-mail tool. When the user clicks Contact, the user can either send a message to the application webmaster or to a given e-mail address as desired. This would assist operators and other users with direct communication.
  • 125. Privacy & Restrictions The map application, based on the user’s account, will have certain privacy and restrictions in place. The following information details each user type’s privacy and restrictions as it pertains to using the application: Jurisdictional A jurisdictional account will primarily have restrictions with the Tools. When the jurisdictional user clicks “Tools”, all buttons, except the “Move Map” button, will be greyed-out. This is because the jurisdictional user will primarily be using the “Review” part of the application and will not be drawing flights. Operator An operator account will have the “Review” button on the application greyed-out as well as the “Create Airspace” option under “Create/Import”. This is because the operator will primarily be drawing flights and will not review and authorize planned flights. Non-Operator The Non-Operator account will have all buttons under “Tools” greyed-out with the exception of “Move Map”, the “Review” button greyed-out, and “Create Airspace” button greyed-out. The user will be able to use the “Create Notice” action. The non-operator will also not be able to view the Contact Number that is displayed as part of the flight information. Emergency Responders Only Emergency Responders will be able to access the “Create Emergency Response Flight” feature, and this group would have the special “Emergency Responder” account created for their purpose of flights. Their flights will be symbolized with their emergency response type and the color of red.
  • 126. Special Data Layers The Special Data Layers would be used for enhanced analysis and situational awareness. Some of the data features have been identified in the Create/Import section of the application. These layers would be created and maintained by the users as needed. There is no minimum requirement for the data to be included. The layer can contain many data features or none at all. Given the broad liberty with regards to using this item, these layers will be entirely dependent on the users. The Special Layer would likely be formatted as follows: Data Items that can be toggle on/off by checkbox
  • 127. To further elaborate on the illustration, the user would use a scroll-list box to access the applicable Region, State, and County. Once the user selects the criterion, the data box would look like the illustration below: As mentioned, the content is going to be dependent on the users’ activity. Topography VFR Sectional Chart Agriculture Data Fire Stations Hospitals Weather