UAS Integration in the NAS

What are the goals of NextGen, and how does it seek to improve future aviation operations in the NAS?

“NextGen” is the initiative to upgrade the National Air System (NAS) to a modernized air traffic management platform. Currently, the NAS is struggling to keep up with the insatiable demand for air traffic.  According to Gisele Mohler, the Director of Interagency Planning Office for NextGen, the U.S saw approximately 65 billion passengers in the first 100 years of commercial aviation (Mohler, 2014); in the next 15 years the U.S. will see the same amount of traffic (Mohler, 2014).  The growth in passengers is but one indicator in the overall growth in the air transportation industry. In order to compensate for the growth in air transportation industry, NextGen seeks to take advantage of current and developing technologies to enhance the efficiency of the air industry while reducing the environmental footprint. NextGen has six programs which are designed to achieve those goals. The programs are Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, Collaborative Air Traffic Management Technologies, Data Communications, National Airspace System Voice System, NextGen Weather and System Wide Information Management (Federal Aviation Administration, 2014).

How do UAS fit into this vision for the future keeping in mind the research you have done on Detect, Sense, and Avoid requirements, and Lost Link scenarios?

It is very clear that UAS is the next evolutionary step for aviation and NextGen seeks to integrate this new technology into the NAS. However, the NAS challenges of UAS is quite different to that of manned platforms.  For example, all of the High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) and Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) aircraft are known to have degradations in situational awareness due to the lack of visual cues the pilot receives. This is especially relevant when one considers that a midair collision may, at first, be interpreted as a loss of link (Hobbs, 2010, p. 523). Furthermore, according to Dr. Alan Hobbs from NASA’s Ames Research Center, UAS pilots experience more situational awareness issues around approach control and surface movements at airports, where the pilot relies greatly on visually detecting other aircraft (Hobbs, p. 524).

It is with these unique problems that NextGen seeks to aid. Three of the six programs that NextGen is putting in place specifically has UAS integration involved. They are National Airspace System Voice System, Data Communications, and System Wide Information Management (Mohler, 2014).  Furthermore, Next Gen is also developing an Airborne Collision Avoidance System for better UAS integration in areas where situational awareness may be limited. The FAA’s plan for the Airborne Collision Avoidance System is to increase the Detect and Avoid capability, be “plug and play” with all variants of UAS, and work globally (Mohler).

What human factors issues or challenges do you foresee with the implementation of NextGen and the integration of UAS?

The largest challenge facing NextGen and the integration of UAS is the rate in which NextGen is being implemented. According to an Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association article by Elizabeth Tennyson, the FAA, during a testimony to the House aviation committee, has revealed it is far behind schedule with NextGen implementation (Tennyson, 2014). Specifically, the FAA is not going to meet their own deadline of 2020 for implementing the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast program (Tennyson), one of six NextGen programs. The article further discusses how the desire to integrate UAS has also slowed the progress of NextGen. Unfortunately, the slowed progress of NextGen has had no impact on the rate of growth for the UAS industry.  Here lies the problem…UAS technology is growing faster than the implementation of NextGen. By the time NextGen does become operational UAS technology may be too advanced for integration into the system.

References

Federal Aviation Administration. (2014, November 18). NextGen Programs. Retrieved from FAA.gov: https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/programs/

Hobbs, A. (2010). Unmanned Aircraft Systems. In D. Eduardo Salas, & D. Eduardo Salas (Ed.), Human Factors in Aviation (2 ed., pp. 505-532). Burlington, Massachusetts: Academic Press.

Mohler, G. (2014, September). NextGen Overview and NAS Capabilities Applicable to UAS. Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved from http://www.uasalaska.org/sites/default/files/140914%20NextGen%20Alaska%20UAS%20Mohler%20FINAL.pdf

Tennyson, E. A. (2014, February 06). Hearing reveals FAA behind on NextGen, UAS, consolidation. Retrieved from AOPA.org: http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2014/February/06/FAA-behind-on-NextGen-UAS-and-consolidation-hearing-reveals

U.S. Department of Transportation. (2014, November 21). The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Retrieved from Transportation.gov: https://www.transportation.gov/mission/sustainability/next-generation-air-transportation-system-nextgen