MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY LAB STUDIES UAS AND AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS

According to the National Agricultural Aviation Association, agricultural aviators treat more than 125 million acres every year. Ag pilots often fly as low as 10 feet off the ground at speeds up to 140 miles per hour and of necessity routinely perform very low-altitude turning and banking maneuvers to cover their target application areas. Since the advent of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS or drones) and their increasing use in rural search and rescue operations and remote sensing for cropland data acquisition, agricultural pilots have the greatest frequency of sharing the airspace with drones and thus, compared to other manned flight operations, the highest probability of potentially fatal interactions.

The Raspet Flight Research Laboratory at Mississippi State University is hoping to shed light on understanding how the two types of aircraft can safely share the airspace. Lab Director Tom Brooks explained that the lab is studying agricultural aviation data to better understand typical flight patterns and tendencies to identify trends of ag pilots. These data are then integrated with predictive models to account for ag flight patterns while developing methods, techniques, and regulations for the safe integration of UAS into the national airspace system.