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Research Project towards the Integration of UAS in the NAS and MUMT Annotated bibliography.rtf

Research Project towards the Integration of UAS in the NAS and MUMT: Annotated bibliography and Research Timeline (Part 3-3)

Research Timeline (tentative)


To put an end-game to this project, a timeline must be developed. This post will attempt to attached key milestones to the project along with a final deadline for project completion. The following table depicts the general sections of this project and their respective deadlines. The biggest take away from this timeline is to understand the importance of moving forward and completing sections towards the final end goal. These are just general topics and other subsections will need to accompany each milestone. For example, the final project outline will need to incorporate what deliverables will be produced throughout this process. During each completion of milestones, this table will be updated to reflect a better more inclusive timeline.

Research Project towards the Integration of UAS in the NAS and MUMT: Annotated bibliography and Research Timeline (Part 2-3)

Annotated Bibliography

NASA Tech Briefs. (2016). Drone control: Flying the crowded skies - advanced technologies & aerospace database - proquest. NASA Tech Briefs, 40(2). https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/advancedtechaerospace/docview/1766804152/9CA08D1D27434CCFPQ/12?accountid=13360


Topics covered are “see and avoid, beyond line of sight and software suites for integration of UAS”. Concepts are mentioned that plan to use sharing of information as primary means for UAS within the NAS. The idea being the utilization of a “cloud based unmanned aircraft traffic management (UTM) system”. The UTM systems has many conceptual ideas to how UAS could conduct low level operations. Concepts include digital flight plans, cellular network for information sharing of location and related metadata, and geofencing applications.

The second part of the journal mentioned human some human factor concerns. One question addressed was how could ATC personnel handle the workload and ability to de-conflict between all types of possible drones while still keeping the skies safe for manned aircraft.

Chula vista police department and cape launch new public safety drone initiative for San Diego UAS integration pilot program. (2018, Oct 25). PR Newswire Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/docview/2124717358?accountid=13360

Identifies one of first cases of drone integration into state government law enforcement agencies for emergency response. On of 10 selected as part of IPP.

This references is short and does not contain much information. Does give way to local links for more information. (https://www.sandiego.gov/uas.)


Davies, Nicola. (2017, January 24). Up in the Air: Drone-Assisted disaster response is taking off. Fire Rescue. Firerescue.com. Retrieved from https://www.firerescuemagazine.com/articles/print/volume-12/issue-1/special-ops/up-in-the-air.html

This online journal made short points for the advantages and disadvantages for y=using drones during disaster relief. Size, efficiency and cost were all used as advantages, while collision avoidance was one of the major disadvantages. The journal cites Dr. Brent Terwilliger of the Worldwide College of Aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida on the problem of “sense and avoid” with regard to manned aircraft using the same area. Dr. Terwilliger continued this argument, “The major challenges to employing UAS in disaster or emergency response include de-conflicting and coordinating use with other assets in the area, including manned aircraft, and gaining regulatory approval to use UAS in a specific location.” This issues goes beyond the use of drones in disaster areas but anywhere that man and unmanned systems could potential be in the same area.


Further examples included drone selection to meet specific time and altitude requirements, training for equipment for operators and possible harsh weather endureace capabilities during disaster type conditions.


Laszlo, B., Agoston, R., & Xu, Q. (2018). Conceptual approach of measuring the professional and economic effectiveness of drone applications supporting forest fire management. Procedia Engineering, 211, 8-17. doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.12.132

Makes strong arguments for use of drones during fire fighting operations. defines efficiency of UAS, use with a damage to time model. Defines equations for determining economic cost during operation.

Strong arguments for difficulty in measuring economic benefit.


Cons: some content is lost in translation. Difficult to read. have to change units to familiar emperical units to understand ratio.


Manfreda, S., M. E. McCabe, P. E. Miller, R. Lucas, V. P. Madrigal, G. Mallinis, E. Dor, D. Helman, L. Estes, G. Ciraolo, J. Mullerova, F. Tauro, M. I. de Lima, Jlmp del Lima, A. Maltese, F. Frances, K. Caylor, M. Kohv, M. Perks, G. Ruiz-Perez, Z. Su, G. Vico, and B. Toth. 2018. "On the Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems for Environmental Monitoring." Remote Sensing 10 (4). doi: 10.3390/rs10040641.


Pros:Report about using UAS to improve weather monitoring techniques and practices. Highlights

GIS technologies and advancements. Compares UAS ability to gather data against traditional methods i.e. satellite images. Highlights to use of UAS to get information and images as highly beneficial to meet the needs of analysis.


General Aim of paper: "review the current state of the art in the field of UAS applications for environmental monitoring, with a particular focus on hydrological variables, such as vegetation conditions, soil properties and moisture, overland flow, and streamflow."


Makes valid points about quality of data and need to find a way to "harmonize" the data for it to reach a higher level of potential analysis.

Cons: not as relevant to integration as other reports. Speaks most about data collection technoligies and not techniques.


Targeted News Service. (2018, Sep 18). New waiver for drone operations over populated areas to help state farm respond to damage in states impacted by hurricane Florence. Targeted News Service. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/docview/2108801431?accountid=13360

Article highlights UAS for use during Emergencies. Focuses on insurance company ability to assess damages and “allocate resources”. Waivers for regulations that are not normally obtainable from the FAA for BVLOS and flight over people were given to the corporation (state farm insurance) to complete post emergency drone usage. Ethical concerns could be highligheted from this article; why large corporations are given waivers when other more beneficial entities are not. Company partnered with a IPP member to complete these high risk flights for private financial gain. Key points that support integration of drones are mentioned. Provides supporting points for future of safe drone operations.

Vagueness of article and lack of details of how the mission was accomplished were omitted. Lack of details provides little expect the knowledge of it was done, but not how.


Global Data Point;Amman. (2018, November 14). Simulyze conclude support of NASA's third Nationwide test of its UAS traffic Management platform, begins work on FAA's integrated pilot program. Global Data Point; Amman. SyndiGate Media Inc. Retrieved from https://search-proquest- com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/advancedtechaerospace/docview/2132647134/88BD5A78326F42D7PQ/ 1?accountid=13360



Pros: Current events with regards to UTM and UAS integration. References status of 4 level of UTM.

Abstract for UTM, “NASAs Technical Capability Level tests are advancing research of prototype technologies for a national UTM system that could develop airspace integration requirements for enabling safe, efficient low-altitude operations by drones.”

Strong references for FAA/NASA IPP. Included timeline for completion of capability testing of all levels. Illustrates scope of IPP program. Has information on the company that was awarded to test for IPP

Con: Does not list all locations and project for IPP.

Valavanis, Kimon P.;Vachtseanos, George J.(2014). Unmanned Handbook: Future of Unmanned Aviation. Section: 126.1, 126.3. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-90-481-9707-1_95


Pros:This reference is extensive and inclusive towards Unmanned aerail vehicles as of 2014. In the chapter “Future of Unmanned Aviation” (section 126)challenges are address for the integration of UAV’s into commercial airspace alongside manned aviation. A major focus was not only the technical shortcomings against integration, but also public approval and ethical dilemmas. Most of section 126 focused on the technological shortcoming around UAS. The end of the section listed sense and avoid as major concern of UAS within NAS.

Cons: some material is dated. Information and regulations changed in 2016 that made some ideologies from this report outdated.

Yak, Shelley (2018). House transportation and infrastructure subcommittee on aviation hearing. (2018). (). Washington: Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. Retrieved from Research Library Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/docview/2100337432?accountid=13360


Pros: This dictated hearing highlighted the need for UAS Integration by acknowledging the scope of UAS use and future applications. Compared number of drones registered to manned aircraft for the FAA (230,000:300,000) Next gen is mentioned as well as atc responsibilities.

Included FAA’s vision for UAS integration.

Cons:To much “fluff” and political formalities throughout document which are distracting. Long winded paragraphs that can be skipped to get to the important topics.

Yap, Basil K. (2018). Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program. NCDOT. Retrieved from https://www.ncdot.gov/divWoSons/aviation/uas-integration-pilot/Pages/default.aspx


This YouTube short commercial style news update promotes the North Carolina Department of Transportation as one of the 10 selected for the FAA IPP. General direction for implementation includes package/food delivery, sensor integration and UAS in NAS integration. Provides quick details for flights beginning in fall of 2018 towards testing.

Cons: short and vague. Same as other IPP news releases. Need more information but act as a good way to gather selections on all 10 IPP locations.

Keywords

Manned, unmanned, UAS, Unmanned Aerial Systems, drones, MUMT, cooperative collection methods, integration of unmanned aviation into civilian airspace, disaster relief, wild fire spotting, NRI, sense and avoid, detect and avoid (DAA), DAIDALUS, integration pilot program (IPP).

Research Project towards the Integration of UAS in the NAS and MUMT: Annotated bibliography and Research Timeline (Part 1-3)

What is this all about.

The beginning of any project starts with the idea. The idea of this project is to provide a road map leading towards the integration of UAS with traditional manned aviation. This road map will be the framework for the utilization of unmanned systems cooperatively with other aviation and ground assets towards the safe and efficient accomplishment of high risk, and time sensitive missions. Chiefly in the realm of emergency response, fire-spotting, search and rescue etc.

The main portion of this post is dedicated to the identification and development of a research citation database. The beginning of this research, as with any other, is to build a suppository of knowledge within the field and targeted at final product. Base topics for this “annotated bibliography” include the following: Integration of UAS in the NAS, Manned unmanned Teams (MUMT), cooperative practices of data collection during time sensitive missions, crew resource management (CRM) and broad spectrum asset utilization for highly, efficient operations.

Project Considerations

Diverging away from the original capstone project proposal.

The initial project proposal was the development of a comprehensive UAS program. One that could be adapted to any prospective commercial entity delving in the idea of using unmanned aerial systems to supplement their respective business plans.  The major consideration for digressing from that project to this modified version is the desire to create a research project and not begin a commercial endeavor. I plan on the future to promote myself as an advisor of UAS and believe that by creating an open project now would compromise any future marketability as a UAS advisor.

I believe there is a plethora of unexplored material for the use of sUAS during emergency responses. Emergencies have unique components with respect to aviation operations and assets. The deployment of such assets relies heavily on the efficiency of data collection, quick reaction time, and overall safety of deployment, that is just not present in any other form of drone application. The idea that lives could potentially be saved by their use presents a draw that is unsurpassed by any other occupational application. Furthermore, it is frustrating to know that current technology is capable, but regulations have not caught up enough to allow this type of integration. It will be the focus of this research to add to the integration of UAS into the NAS, as well as develop a methodology for cooperative asset utilization for manned/unmanned missions.

Why APA.

For this bibliography and subsequent research paper, the citation style most accurate is the American Psychological Association 6^th additions (APA). APA supports the social sciences, focuses on date as a way to track currency and relevance to the topic and is generally accepted as the standard citation throughout Purdue University. The target audience for this project is for those conducting research on the topics and review by academics within the field.  

A reflection on Purdue GIS Day (2018)

A Reflection on Purdue GIS Day (2018)

by: Ian Willey

Presenter:Dr. Nicolas Picard
Purdue GIS Day 2018

Summery of GIS Day At Purdue, fall 2018

GIS Day was a gathering of professionals and intellectuals from different disciplines that utilize geographical information systems in one way or another as part of their respective work or projects. The event was design around the idea of sharing how GIS can be used to produce a product along with the how and why it is important.  Throughout the day, multiple presenters discussed GIS. From presentations to round-table discussions, GIS Day proved to be an engaging event that was open to anyone. The variety of topics attracted attendees from different backgrounds to all leave with a better understanding of possible applications.

A few concerns for the presentations from me are primarily that of the quality and structure of the slide shows.  For example, one speaker was barley audible. This made following what he was saying very difficult. To make things worse, the supplemental slides were flooded with words and took an excessive amount of time to read through. Trying to read so much information and follow the hard to hear speaker made assimilation of the presentation nearly impossible.

Key Presentations

Of the presentations that I was able to attend during GIS Day at Purdue, Dr. Sorin’s “Spatial Humanities: What is and What Can it Be” attracted the most attention from the eager onlookers, myself included. I have been exposed to interactive and video info-graphics before however, his display and research of spatial land use and how the network of roads could show city growth during the roman empire was captivating. The presentation highlighted how GIS technology with an analysis of historical data can illustrate a process graphically to a level that traditional tables or reports could just not do. An interactive website of this information can be found here. Dr. Matei presented the idea that roads and routes as a major determination for what areas within the Roman empire flourished. The interactive model was an engaging way to see how GIS can bue used to build ideas that make connections like roads of the empire.

Roman Road Map

Another interesting take away come in the very next presentation. The title was “Race and Spatial Humanities” but from my perspective and interest in the talk, a more appropriate title should have been “Ethics Hiding in the Data”. The idea being that each data point that was represented in the presentation of the Atlantic Slave trade is more than just a data point; it represents real-living people. The human element is so easily disguised by numbers and values, that when represented in pictures or animation, it is easy to forget about the human aspect. I do not think this is necessarily a problem,but should be remembered when attaching “scale” to a database.  That not only is there numbers and values, but also the value of a life.

Atlantic Slave Trade 

Relationship of Purdue: GIS Day and UAS

I think one key takeaway from the GIS Day was the relationship between data, or data collection and ethics. However, I feel it goes beyond just data collection methods with regards to UAS. That how your gather data as well as how it is being represented. Privacy comes to mind as a relatively unexplored question while using drones to collect data. While some strides have been made to regulate drones used commercially to prevent many privacy concerns, it is still an issue. This issues is left up to the moral compass of a UAS operator to consider while conducting data collection.  What may be seen as innocent, accidental collection of images of personal property or people to the drone operator, may not be seen the same way as the victim of the accidental collection.The picture on the

right illustrates this by showing that the data collection of a field is in close proximity to privet homes. Those homes have residents whose privacy must be part of the mission planning process.  To minimize this, the operator should take special care during the mission planning to keep the collection within the scope of target area. Privacy should be a concern whenever there is a possibility for violation someone’s rights for a degree of privacy.

One other take away from how GIS day relates to UAS was operational perspective. As a UAS operator, it is easy to put a aircraft in the air with a payload and collect data. As systems become cheaper and easier to use, the need for UAS pilots may decrease to the point where anyone can pick up a transmitter and conduct a flight. The idea to remember is, how can UAS support the GIS mission or product creation. Having exposure to varying aspects of how data is used to depict a message or idea is invaluable to create depth for the operators perspective. Thus allowing him/her to translate experience into more efficient data collection for a higher quality of product.

Open source versus private licencees for GIS

Introduction

What is GIS? GIS stands for Geographic Information System as it relates to mapping technology.  Basically, it is using computer software to analyze geographic data.  Christopher Gold from the University of Glamoragan wrote in an article What is GIS and What is Not? that the most important concept to comprehend is scale and geographic location. He said that GIS modeling is when the viewing of the model changes the readers perspective, not where the model moves or rotates like in CAD for example (Gold, 2006).  The idea being that GIS is not just the software but the relationship between the data and what the potential products are. That just putting together a picture and calling it GIS is not the same thing as provided a valuable graphically representation of spatial data that serves to illustrate a particular point or direct the viewer into reaching the desired conclusion of what the data is saying.

Open source systems are intertwined within the world of unmanned operations.  It is especially evident for entrepreneurs and innovators within this field.  Open source can be the bridge between conception and reality.  Where private sector software can provide stable reliable interfaces and relate-able analysis of GIS data, open source could bring new angles or ways to analyses the data that have not yet been advocated for.  Thus, bringing about a future of conceptual ideas much faster by not having to wait for software to be designed and licensed like in traditional software suites.

Using Qgis, an open source GIS software package, the Digital Surface Model (DSM) on the left was created. The process for creating this image with Qgis was very similar when using another paid software, called ArcMap, to create a similar  rendering. On both applications, the data was loaded into the software either by directing the file path to the information or by using a "drag-and-drop" method.  Again on both applications, the open source and proprietary, an extension was downloaded to to manipulate the original data to show elevation changes clearer using a function called hill-shade. The original image is shown to the right for comparison of what the hill-shade feature does to the image. Both of the above images where developed through the use of Qgis open source software. The two maps below show a side by side comparison of the final product from the two types of software that was used to create them. The first map was done using ArcMap, while the second was done using the free Qgis software.

One feature from Qgis is to assign and modify color bands to an image. To do this, I first navigated to where I had saved the data and opened the files, the data that had each individual bands saved as different images. Then, using the merge raster GUI, i assigned bands to the different individual layers to represent red as showing healthy vegetation. I did this primarily by hiding the green band and emphasizing the red and yellow bands. This false color stacking of a sample data set can be seen in the map below.

Working in the GIS World

Wolf Paving Geospatial Build

The map above was created using data from a UAS. the following is question / answer style report that portrayed the process of creating a GIS map for a random data set. 

Part One:  Background

Q: Why are proper cartographic skills essential in working with UAS data?

A: Data is just data unless it is processed and evaluated so that it can be used to express an idea. Tuning data into maps is a valuable way to express an idea that was captured using UAS. One must possess the proper skills to change raw UAS data into effective maps that communicate the intent of the data.

Q: What are the fundamentals of turning either a drawing or an aerial image into

a map?

A: To turn a drawing or image into a map it must have a scale and legend to give the reader a point of reference.

Q:What can spatial patterns of data tell the reader about UAS data? Provide

several examples.

A: Spatial patterns can show a reader different layers of comparison in the data. The use of color mapping height is one such example where using different degrees or tones of color would bring different objects into focus depending on the intent.

Q:What are the objectives of the lab GIS Build?

A: The objectives of this project were to become familiarized with GIS and how it can dramatically improve the quality of data collected using UAS.

Part 2:  Methods, Creating a map with reasoning behind each steps.

Working with the Data

• Start by copying the UAS data folder shown in the demonstration into your

own folder for the UAS class. Be sure to name and organize accordingly. 

Q: What key characteristics should go into folder and file naming conventions?

a.       Date

b.       Name

c.       Unique identifiers

2Q: Why is file management so key in working with UAS data

a.       UAS files may look similar to each other but represent very different sets of data

3Q: What key forms of metadata should be associated with every UAS mission

a.       Altitude

b.       Type of platform/Sensor

c.       Other optional metadata, pilot name, time of day, Weather conditions.

▪ Create a table that provides the key metadata for the data you are

working with

• Add a basemap of your choice. Save the project with a pertinent name.

Q: What basemap did you use? Why?

·       Road map

o   To give location awareness by using major roads as  guides.

o   Roads also give the reader a sense of scale without using a numerical bar scale

• Using the Add data icon, or Arc Catalog, bring the orthomosaic and the DSM

into ArcMap

• Build Pyramids and Calculate Statistics for each data set.

Q: What is the difference between a DSM and DEM?

              DSM -digital surface model (includes objects on the surface) i.e. man-made objects.

              DEM- digital elevation model (does not include objects on the surface) i.e. terrain

• Go into the Properties for the DSM and record the following descriptive

statistics.

o Cell Size, Units, Projection, Highest Elevation, Lowest Elevation

o Enter those statistics into a table. 

Q: Why are these important?

              Gives the reader data they will need to compare relationships within the map or image.

• Generate a Hillshade for the DSM. Then set the original DSM to a color ramp

of your choice and set its transparency to your choice over the shaded DSM.

Q:What does hillshading do towards being able to visualize relief and

topography.

A: Enhances terrain associations that are differentiated by elevation.

• Use the swipe tool to compare what you see in the orthomosaic to the DSM.

Q:How does the orthomosaic relate to what you see in the shaded relief of

the DSM

A:  It adds context to the shaded relief.

• Save your ArcMap project again (in case the software crashes). Open

ArcScene.

• Add the DSM into ArcScene. Zoom to that layer.

• Now add relief by setting the base heights to the elevation value. If needed,

zoom to the layer again and adjust the vertical exaggeration.

Q:What is the purpose of vertical exaggeration? What settings do you have

for your data?

A:  It exaggerates the differences in terrain elevations.

Q: What color ramp did you use? Why?

 A: Red to green. Red is often associated with high and green with low. Makes it more relatable to the reader without having to decode the color scheme.

Q:What are the advantages of using ArcScene to view UAS DSM data vs.

the overhead shaded relief in ArcMap. What are the disadvantages?

 A: Advantages are that the model can be rotated to put emphasis on select portions of the data. Disadvantage is that cardinal direction could be lost and scale could be skewed.

• Find a zoom setting and angle you like in ArcScene and export the image as a

jpeg or file of your choice.

o Is this export a map? Why or why not?

              It is not a map, It would be a map if it had scale and a legend

Part 3: Conclusions

• Summarize what makes UAS data useful as a tool to the cartographer and GIS

user,

              UAS data is a useful tool to the cartographer and GIS user as it opens up aerial imagery as a relatively cheap and easy way to gather data. UAS data, if properly gathered and organized, can be highly detailed and accurate to create extensive useful products  

• What limitations does the data have? What should the user know about the data

when working with it.

1.       Limitations that come with data are that it is only as good as how it was collected. If parts are missing like an accurate coordination system that links the image to a reference-able place, then the data set will be nothing more than an pretty picture.

2.       The user should know the following: how was the data collected, what are the different parts of the data, what was the purpose of collecting the data, and how will the data communicate the message of the final product.

• Speculate what other forms of data this data could be combined with to make it

even more useful.

1.       Historical data

a.       Previous images that show changes over time

2.       Additional ground reference points to depict more accurate terrain changes