UAV technology caught the aeronautical world by surprise. Due to low cost and readily available distribution (you can purchase  a drone in a an office supply store in the USA), all of a sudden, you have people operating these vehicles in the living room and outside the house without the proper situational and regulatory awareness, The amount of incidents involving UAV and other users of the aerospace system have been, and will continue to be, in crescendo mode for the near future.

Governments, as usual, have responded slowly to this situation and in many instances, are not providing a comprehensive set of guidelines on how to operate this type of vehicles which some time are categorized as recreational or sport aviation activities.

The question here is not one of technology. It is one of airspace utilization and operation, Therefore, one of adequate regulations and proper training

The airspace, today is one of the most heavily regulated spaces in the planet; even though it is not perceived as such by the common citizen. Those that operate on it are subjected to a very complex set of guidelines and regulations, which include classification of the airspace in different subsets, equipment required to operate within each subset, licensing, communications, flight planning requirements, traffic reporting and separation, etc. etc. the reason is very simple. A mishap in airspace inherently have the potential to become a major accident involving fatalities. We do not regularly operate in a more critical environment than the airspace (not even in the oceans).

The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) of the USA have already put together a set of regulations on how to operate drones. There are strict restrictions regarding maximum altitudes, maximum distances away from the operator, minimum distance away from airports and other areas, max. weight of the vehicle, licensing, etc. etc. I recommend you visit the FAA Website to get an idea of what is required, including licensing by the operator. However, these set of regulations apply only to the USA. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is an international organization to which most of the countries of the world suscribe as members. It is an effort to standardize aeronautical operations in the planet. They are starting to look in this matter, but as far as I know there has been no definitive outcome on this.

Also, typically the military world has its own set of regulations. Coordination between civilian and military operations is not necessarily the best at times.

Just to give you an idea of  some situations that have occurred:

1- In a fire fighting operation in California, which utilized aircraft, the activity had to be stopped because there were drones in the are taking pictures.

2- Air ambulances arrival to the accident area have been delayed until the area was cleared of drones, again taking pictures.

3- There have been numerous collisions of UAV and other aircraft (even airliners). The drone was operated in a non-authorized area.

Hope this helps

Hi Bela, I think Omar provided a very comprehensive answer that should make you think about the current situation and issues surrounding use of UAVs.

I understand your project looks into proposing the use of UAVs for disaster relief. Conceptually - as mentioned - airspace is regulated and airspace users have to follow a set of rules to ensure separation / safety of flight.

In principle, you can envisage that the "disaster operation area" will be declared as a "special airspace" in which a specific operational regime, rules, and control procedures apply.

This the "typical" approach for such a problem. Issues here are how to inform and ensure that the other airspace users are aware of such a "dynamically popping up" segregated airspace. This includes the avoidance of violating the airspace, as explained above with the drones entering certain operation zones (note: in the aforementioned examples, the airspace was certainly not declared/activated as "segregated").

The underlying problem that you have to solve is how to separate aircraft from each other. Obviously, in controlled airspace this is a bit easier, as this requires contact with an (air traffic) control unit and a respective clearance to operate a procedure within the airspace.

In the end you will speak about a mix of procedures, see-and-avoid (manned aircraft) and sense-and-avoid of UAVs.

I think your project will be relevant to help developing harmonized rules for such operations. Good luck with it!

Dear Rainer, thank you very much. I got closer to the solution.

Depends on the country. Generally it would be whichever department makes and enforces all other airspace rules - for example CASA in Australia or the FAA in the USA.

All good answers. it depends on teh area. In Europe it is SERA, standard European Rules of the Air if outside reserved military airspace or Controlled Airspace ( and domestic aviation agencies may add to that basic set of requirements 

I am working on how large and small UAS are incorporated into the Incident Command System through the Airboss under Operations.  I just finished assisting in the development of the Resource Typing of UAS for DHS/FEMA and finalizing my doctoral dissertation in the use of the same.  I am on several national and state incident response teams in the Command Staff and have been involved in sUAS for several years as a designer and developer and proof of concept operator.  I am working on the concept of risk perception in comparison between manned and unmanned aviation in emergency management.

For special purposes in Poland there is a type of BVLOS flights named "operational flights", which are carried out as part of or for the purposes of activities: • of state aviation (armed forces, police, border guard, state fire-fighting service); • of customs-tax service; • related to preventing or combating natural disasters or catastrophes; • related to health care system; • related to search or rescue; • related to the protection of the internal security of the state; • related to the recognition of safety hazards and environmental protection;

see https://www.ulc.gov.pl/en/unmanned-aircraft/4666-flights-other-than-recreational-or-sports-flights-beyond-visual-line-of-sight-bvlos

Thank you for this valuable information.

Dear Professor Bela,

I hope you are doing well.

Since we are working on a drone-based project in France, we asked the French administration to give us information about the regulations. They answered like this:

- How are the drones positioned in relation to the crowd? How many meters high do they move?

 The Gendarmerie explained to me that the drones are at least 30 meters away from the vertical of the crowd. Their maximum flying height is 150 m (above ground or water level)(except with derogations given by the DGAC- justifying a high level of security).

- Overview of artificial obstacles It is possible to exceed the height of 150 m when flying over an artificial obstacle of more than 100 m in height, provided that the height of the obstacle does not exceed 50 m above this obstacle.

- Is there a ratio between the number of people expected at an event and the number of drones employed? The Gendarmerie told me that no, there is no ratio expected attendance / number of drones deployed. Nevertheless, the size of the event area, the geographical configuration, the possibility of helicopter overflight or not, the existing video protection network (cameras), the number of high points in the surrounding area are all elements that are used to calibrate the capability requirement.

- Prohibited or restricted areas :

All of the above-mentioned prohibited or restricted areas are published in what is known as the "aeronautical information", containing all the information intended to ensure safety, the regularity and efficiency of air navigation. Aeronautical information includes information of a permanent nature (Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP)) and others of an urgent or temporary nature (NOTAM and SUP supplements to AIP). These documents can be consulted at http://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr. The DGAC has developed an interactive map of restrictions for leisure activities, available at http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/donnees/restrictions-pour-drones-de-loisir. It was primarily designed for leisure users and is currently published in a provisional version (because it does not present all the information necessary for professionals). It may nevertheless provide them with first-level information that will be useful to them. - Risk of flying at different altitude levels (global air traffic management) In order to limit the risk of collision, the french regulation lay down : * a maximum flying height of 150m for drones (except derogations) * reduced maximum heights near airports * areas in which flights by drones are prohibited or restricted (close proximity to airports, military aircraft manoeuvring areas etc.). The U-SPACE project is currently under development (it aims at the integration of drones in air navigation). The European U-SPACE project aims to create a largely automated system to manage the air traffic of drones and also to ensure their compatibility with conventional aviation, new levers will be created to allow a better transmission of information between conventional and uninhabited aviation, which will make it possible to avoid any risk of collision.

- Regulation in EU countries and new  harmonised european regulation:

For the time being, each EU Member State has its own regulation for drones weighing less than 150 kilograms (above this threshold, EU competence).  However, from 1 July 2020 a new European regulation will start to apply (and provide for a harmonised regulation for all EU Member States).

However, it is not clear whether these new European regulations apply to drones used by the security forces (Gendarmerie and Police) (which is the sovereign competence of each state). However, as at present the security forces do not make too much use of the derogations granted to them and follow the provisions that apply to companies (so in practice it will still be necessary to follow these new European regulation). - Provisions relating to the capture of images by security forces : The regulations relating to video for the gendarmerie are as follows and enshrined in the doctrine of employment in its paragraph "conservation and processing of images": The carrying of cameras, by drones allows the capture of personal data (faces, vehicle number plates, etc.) that can be recorded in computerized processing. As the UAV is only a sensor, the processing of these data in a file must meet the purposes of the file and be carried out in accordance with its own recording and consultation conditions. When drones systems are implemented, the administrative or judicial authorities in charge of their use are informed in advance of the potential capture of individual data. Drones system managers shall apply, in close liaison with the commander of operations, the rules for the storage and destruction of images and other personal data collected. They shall establish access rights in accordance with the right-to-know principle and shall ensure their effective application. The chain of command and the "data processing and freedoms" referents ensure control at all stages of collection: transmission, storage, opening of access rights, conditions of conservation and destruction. The conservation of images is limited to thirty days from the day they are recorded. At the end of this period, these data are automatically erased. Two exceptions are tolerated for the purposes of exploitation within the framework of a procedure or for training by feedback. Where data have been extracted and transmitted for the purposes of judicial, administrative or disciplinary proceedings, they are kept in accordance with the rules specific to each of those proceedings. For training purposes, blurring of faces and identification elements (number plates, etc.) is carried out. The IGGN (General Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie) verifies on its own initiative that the processes for collecting and controlling this data processing are respected. The CNIL is likely to carry out certain checks to detect possible misuse or abuse of personal data.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Best regards,

Mahmoud

Dear Mahmoud,

Thanks for these very important informations.

You are right. most countries haven't introduced rules for UAV operations. However, some cities have introduced their own rules regarding this. For ex; UAV operations are prohibited within the Tokyo metropolitan area. The rule was introduced since after some UAV accidents and doubtful UAV flight to famous building in Tokyo.

Dear Prof. Bela,

Broadly, five important categories are considered when working on UAV regulations.

i. Applicability: It means the scope where the UAV regulations have to be implemented. It may include UAV type, weight, and role of the UAVs.

ii. Operational limitations: It refers to specifying the locations that are restricted for UAV operations.

iii. Administrative and legal requirements: This refers to the set of rules and regulations put in place by the governing body of the area to monitor the use of UAVs.

iv. Technology specifications/requirements: It refers to the mechanical, communication, and control capabilities of the UAV.

v. Moral and ethical issues: This mainly refers to the privacy and security issues of the people at large.

Fotouhi, A., Qiang, H., Ding, M., Hassan, M., Giordano, L. G., Garcia-Rodriguez, A., & Yuan, J. (2019). Survey on UAV cellular communications: Practical aspects, standardization advancements, regulation, and security challenges. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 21(4), 3417-3442.

Mozaffari, M., Saad, W., Bennis, M., Nam, Y. H., & Debbah, M. (2019). A tutorial on UAVs for wireless networks: Applications, challenges, and open problems. IEEE communications surveys & tutorials, 21(3), 2334-2360.

Regards,