Expeditionary BVLOS Infrastructure and UTM for Airborne Wildfire Response

Current aerial wildfire management is limited by existing operational limitations imposed by regulations and manual airspace management techniques, preventing integration of new aircraft types such as UAS. Core issues preventing optimal use of the wildfire response airspace are:Lack of integrated planning and deconfliction between manned aircraft and UASLack of manned aircraft situational awareness of UAS operationsLimited range of UAS operations due to VLOS restrictionsThe proposed integrated expeditionary BVLOS infrastructure and UTM solution will enable safe integration of UAS in the restricted airspace during a wildfire response. The solution addresses the core issues through:A mobile expeditionary ground-based surveillance system composed of one or more BVLOS infrastructure system nodes that can operate independently or in a connected environmentA UAS Service Supplier (USS) with an integration framework (OSIF) bridging mobile nodes through mobile RF networks and providing consolidated situational awarenessThe surveillance system will provide cooperative and noncooperative manned aircraft surveillance coverage to the USS. Using the surveillance data, the USS provides:Manned aircraft situational awareness to the UAS operator, ground-based Operations Center, and other wildfire respondersUAS operations situational awareness to the Operations Center and other wildfire responders as well as to manned aircraft operators through the Operations Center and the USSIn addition, the USS provides the infrastructure for strategic deconfliction of planned UAS operations with other air operations, including both UAS and manned. The systemrsquo;s expeditionary ground-based surveillance provides not only a common operating picture of all airborne operations in the area, but also enables the use of todayrsquo;s inventory of UAS assets to be used for beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations ndash; greatly expanding the operational efficiency of UAS for emergency response operations.