By Dr. Terry Spurlock & Dr. Jason Davis
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs), also known as drones, used for imaging and spraying, are becoming a more common sight during the growing season. While drone technology is useful, there are increasing concerns about safety in the airspace over agricultural fields.
At times during the growing season, it isn’t uncommon to see 5 or 6 aerial applicators working fields near each other. Rice, soybean, corn, and cotton may all be receiving applications on the same day and the airspace is crowded. Add drones to the mix, whether they are imaging or spraying, and there is an increased risk of near-misses or collisions.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has several regulations designed to mitigate collisions between drones and manned aircraft.
- Drones are limited to 400 feet above ground level (AGL) unless a structure is present. In this case, the drone must remain within 400 feet of the structure. In airspace other than Class G, altitude may be further restricted (such as surface Class E).
- Drones must remain within visual line-of-sight. There have been a few waivers recently granted to operators for this rule, primarily for drone sprayers.
- Drones must avoid manned aircraft. Aerial applicators have priority in the airspace. While the airspace is shared, correct application of the “see and avoid” rule is not negotiable.
- Drone pilots are required to know and follow these rules along with others that are clearly spelled out in applicable regulations, which is why flying a drone with a commercial application requires Remote Pilot certification (a license) under Part 107, small unmanned aircraft systems regulations. If spraying, operators are additionally required to hold a license under Part 137 as well as state aerial applicator certifications.
While these are logical rules to help keep drones out of applicators’ way and the skies much safer, the reality is that aerial applicators aren’t always above 400 feet and smaller drones are sometimes difficult to see for both the ag pilot and the drone pilot. Additionally, as an applicator is approaching a field to spray, they are moving at a high rate of speed with extremely limited visibility. At those speeds, most commercial drones are not nimble enough to move out of the applicator’s way in time. In fact, in many agriculture field scenarios it may be almost impossible, and this is an extremely dangerous situation.
There have been documented near-misses and even collisions between manned aircraft and drones. What’s more, many drone operators in ag fields don’t understand the risks associated with operating near an aerial applicator. The FAA Safety Team and University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture are working to educate drone pilots on safe operations above ag fields. In addition to the FAA mandated regulations, we are asking unmanned pilots to communicate regularly with manned-aerial applicators prior to operating. This includes finding the flight services in the area (county) and notifying them of pending operations (preferably the morning of) to facilitate the coordination of safe mutual operations.
For this reason, a free to use web application is available to help drone operators find aerial applicators and communicate where they will be while also giving the flight services the opportunity to communicate to them where they will be. Hopefully, if both sides are communicating regularly, aerial applications will become safer as more drones are being used in agricultural applications. Drone operators should provide manned aircraft pilots with the field location(s), the time of the scheduled operations, duration of the operations and the remote pilot’s contact information in case the flight service needs to reach them.
The web application can be found here: https://aviation-search.uada.edu/
Credits to Arkansas Agricultural Aviation Association (AAAA)
