GM1 Articsle 2(28), (29), (30), (31), (32) and (33) Definitions

DEFINITIONS OF ‘FLIGHT GEOGRAPHY’, ‘FLIGHT GEOGRAPHY AREA’, ‘CONTINGENCY VOLUME’, ‘CONTINGENCY AREA’, ‘OPERATIONAL VOLUME’ AND ‘GROUND RISK BUFFER’ The ‘flight geography’ is the spatially and temporally defined volume of airspace in which the UAS operator plans to conduct the operation under normal procedures; the projection of such volume on the surface of the Earth constitutes the ‘flight geography area’. Additionally, the UA positioning errors must be accounted for in the definition of this area. To cope with abnormal situations (e.g. navigation errors, UA drifting due to wind/gusts, etc.), the UAS operator should define the ‘contingency volume’ as an airspace volume where contingency procedures are applied in order to bring the UA back to a normal situation within the ‘flight geography’ (for example, if the UA exits the boundaries of the flight geography, the remote pilot should take actions to pilot the UAS back into the flight geography. If the contingency situation persists, the remote pilot should activate the FTS (if available) before the UAS exits the contingency volume). The projection of the contingency volume on the surface of the Earth is the ‘contingency area’. The ‘operational volume’ includes the ‘flight geography’ and the ‘contingency volume’. To define the operational volume, the UAS operator should consider the position-keeping capabilities of the UAS in a 4D space (latitude, longitude, height, and time). The accuracy of the navigation solution, the flight technical error of the UAS, as well as the path definition error (e.g. map error) and latencies should be considered and addressed in defining the operational volume. For navigation errors: the UAS operator should take into account that such errors are determined by the interaction of several contributes, like positioning sensors providing position, navigation and flight control systems, system and human latencies, and environment. The UAS operator should, therefore, establish sufficient margins to cater for such errors. The ‘ground risk buffer’ is the area on the surface of the Earth surrounding the operational volume, which is defined by the UAS operator to minimise the risk to third parties on the surface in case the UA leaves the operational volume (i.e. the area the UA is expected to impact if its FTS is triggered when the UA leaves the operational volume). Point 2.3.1(c)(3) of AMC1 to Article 11 (SORA) provides additional information. The relation between ‘flight geography’, ‘flight geography area’, ‘contingency area’, ‘operational volume’ and ‘ground risk buffer’ are depicted in Figure 1 below:

[Figure or form omitted from this preview — available in the Avioverse workspace library.]

Figure 1 — Relation between ‘flight geography’, ‘flight geography area’, ‘contingency area’, ‘operational volume’ and ‘ground risk buffer’