UAVs Seen as Ideal Civilian Research Tools

A Yamaha RMAX unmanned aerial helicopter stands on a workbench in the UAV Lab at the University of Kansas hanger in Lawrence, Kan., on Friday, March 30, 2007. University of Kansas researchers at the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets used the UAV in experiments aimed at developing new technologies and computer models to measure and predict sea level changes resulting from the melting of polar ice sheets. Experts see UAVs as being potentially extremely useful for a wide variety of scientific research applications. In Japan, thousands of RMAX helicopters are used to spray pesticides on small rice paddies, in the biggest use of civilian UAVs to date. Credit: AP Photo/Orlin Wagner

Franklin Percival, left, and Peter Ifju, professors at the University of Florida, examine a small UAV that can photograph and monitor wildlife and their habitats. Controlled by its own on-board computer, the plane stores and downlinks high-quality video and flight data to researchers on the ground. The UAV was developed by UF's College of Engineering in cooperation with UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Wildlife observation is another of the many scientific uses for which experts think civilian-operated UAVs are ideal. Credit: AP photo/University of Florida/IFAS/Marisol Amador

Remotely piloted aircraft could serve as a new tool to support polar research, observe marine mammal populations, patrol borders and monitor wildfires, and could take on risky assignments like flying into the eye of a hurricane to assess its destructive power.

But tasking robot planes to routinely carry out non-military duties also means safely sharing the skies with passenger-carrying aircraft within the U.S. national airspace system. Moreover, budgetary and political support to move the idea forward is needed.

Some 150 scientists, government officials and industry specialists met last month in Boulder, Colo. to start considering civilian applications for remotely controlled aircraft. Their goal is to chart out an integrated vision for utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the United States.

“Civilian Applications of Unmanned Aircraft Systems” was billed as the first U.S. conference exclusively focused on expanding research applications of remotely piloted aircraft. The event was hosted by the University of Colorado at Boulder, and supported by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences -- a joint institute of NOAA and the University of Colorado at Boulder -- and  Northrop Grumman Corp.

The role of UAVs in research has been bolstered by military operations involving unmanned aerial systems. UAVs have shown an agility and robustness in performing assorted types of missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Scientists envision using UAVs when the research is grubby, dull or perilous, said Elizabeth Weatherhead, a research associate at the University of Colorado and a coordinator of the meeting.

Possible UAV research missions

Examples of possible UAV missions highlighted at the conference include measuring air temperature, humidity and wind speeds over remote stretches of the Arctic Ocean. By flying at low altitudes and beneath cloud cover, UAVs can snag data sets at very fine spatial scales that rival or even outmatch satellite observations.

“What we’ve seen is an emerging new technology -- unmanned aircraft -- that has proven hugely successful in the war theater ... but which we think has great civilian application,” said Alexander “Sandy” MacDonald, director of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder. “You have to show the public and political systems that it’s worth spending taxpayer money ... so we’re here talking about mission,” he said.

MacDonald said UAVs could be dispatched to cruise over hurricane-disrupted ocean water or remote stretches of Arctic wasteland -- hazardous places where you wouldn't want to put people.

“We can see incredible uses. But we have to show those uses, and work with industry to get the right platforms,” MacDonald said. Discussed at the meeting, he said, was the possible need for interagency coordination on UAV applications, perhaps through a joint program office.

UAVs have the potential to offer better science at lower cost than other systems, said Paul Carliner of Carliner Strategies LLC in Washington. He cited the current use of piloted aircraft for monitoring severe weather as an example.

“It costs a lot of money to maintain a fleet of C-130s, G-5s and other government aircraft, not to mention the flight crews and the risk of sending people into the middle of hurricanes,” said Carliner. But UAVs can stay aloft in the middle of a hurricane far longer than a conventional aircraft, with no risk to human life, he said.

“So much money has been invested on the military side. What are the benefits that can be reaped on the civil side from that investment?” asked Carliner.

A range of potential applications

UAV advocates foresee a range of applications, ranging from search and rescue, fire detection and homeland security applications to disaster preparedness and mitigation, said Carliner, adding: “There’s a whole host of end-users that could potentially benefit” from unmanned aerial platforms.

What is needed now is a realization at high levels of government that civil UAVs could be revolutionary and could have broad application, Carliner said. He warned, however, against UAV supporters clamoring on Capitol Hill for earmarks to support technology development.

“Those days are over,” Carliner said. What’s needed is an authorized program that has been vetted, reviewed and is competitive ... a mission that has a purpose, not a specific technology. An industry-government partnership to push forward on UAV technology, flight protocols and certification is necessary, he said.

The “big hurdle,” said Carliner, is getting UAVs certified to fly in the U.S. airspace.

FAA's hands are full

The FAA's current mandate is to modernize the air traffic control system, so its hands are full, he said. Besides, the role of UAVs is not a front-burner issue for the agency, unless such aircraft are identified as a priority, with appropriate funding attached.

“It’s really important for us to keep this dialogue up ... and to keep asking the questions ... and, in turn, accepting the answers,” said Ardyth Williams, an air traffic manager for the FAA.

“The U.S. has the safest, busiest and most complex airspace system in the world,” she noted, pointing out that the U.S. Department of Defense reports UAV accidents are far more frequent than mishaps involving piloted aircraft.

There is a need for experts in software, avionics and aerodynamics research to share data in a common place to further the UAV agenda, Williams said.

“We need the best and the brightest” to help integrate and navigate unmanned aircraft systems in both U.S. and international airspace, she concluded.

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