FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine 
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute 

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-22/07

Title and Subtitle: An Investigation of Lighting Schemes to Improve sUAS Conspicuity

Report Date: July 2022

Authors: Kevin W. Williams, Theodore C. Mofle, Inchul Choi, Hunter Klevgard

Abstract: Increasing the visual detection and recognition range of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and small UAS (sUAS) is vital for the safety of the National Airspace System (NAS). The last line of defense for collision avoidance is visual see-and-avoid, particularly, if/when automated Detect and Avoid (DAA) mechanisms are either not in place or have failed. As sUAS flights increase, air traffic controllers (ATC), visual observers (VO), and pilots must be able to see and track unexpected static and dynamic sUAS with enough time to perform an avoidance maneuver. One method of increasing the detection/recognition range is through intensifying the conspicuity of sUAS design through optimizing lighting methods.

Key Words: Small unmanned aircraft systems, conspicuity, visual detection, detect-and-avoid, see-and-avoid, aircraft lighting. 

No. of Pages: 56