NJIT to conduct unmanned aircraft systems flights in national airspace over the Atlantic Ocean

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will be testing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) flights in national airspace at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, NJ. NJIT is conducting UAS flights over the Atlantic Ocean to test the feasibility of safely integrating drones into the public airspace and to assess the research and operational capabilities of several data-collecting sensors aboard the craft. The flights will include a weather sensor to gather information on atmospheric conditions and devices with mapping, communications relay, and high-definition video capabilities.

Broadly defined, NJIT’s mission is to enhance the country’s homeland security and emergency management capabilities. A primary goal is to develop drone-borne weather sensors that can predict where a major storm will make landfall as many as two days before existing technology now permits. Communications relay devices are designed to function as “flying cell towers” capable of relaying calls and data from communities in which telecommunications equipment has been knocked out. Enhanced mapping technology would give emergency responders immediate information on damage caused by major storms such as Hurricane Sandy.

The first UAS flights will take off from an airstrip at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center (TRACEN) in Cape May and travel up to one nautical mile out over the ocean at a height not to exceed 3,000 feet, remaining airborne for up to one hour. The ground-based pilot will be in communication with air traffic controllers during the flight. After the flight, the team will assess the drone’s operational performance as well as its success in gathering data, which NJIT will share with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and emergency management agencies.

In May, NJIT was the first New Jersey institution to receive a Certificate of Waiver/Authorization (COA) from the FAA to conduct UAS test flights into national airspace. NJIT researchers are seeking to demonstrate UAS capabilities that could be deployed in response to a natural or man-made disaster in order to assist the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness and the State Office of Emergency Management, among other agencies. Under these circumstances, the drones would receive an emergency COA to fly.

In the future, NJIT drones will have the authorization to fly as far as 14.5 nautical miles out over the ocean, as high as 10,000 feet into the air, and for as many as 14 to 16 hours at a time.

http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/43024?c=disaster_preparedness_emergency_response