Three Quantitative Means to Remain Well Clear for Small UAS in the Terminal Area

Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) at low altitudes are increasingly being deployed to support important inspection, communications, and delivery operations. However, the expansion of these operations is constrained by regulatory and safety concerns regarding collisions with manned aircraft that limit deployments near aerodromes. Detect and Avoid (DAA) systems, geofencing systems, and Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) separation services are components of a layered conflict management system to enable safe operations in terminal areas.1 These components cannot be developed, standardized, or certified without quantitative definitions for safe separation. These quantitative definitions for safe separation are termed "well clear," since they enable systems to show compliance with the well clear intent in Title 14 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) Parts 91 or 107 or their international equivalents.

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