Following its approval in May, as the first New Jersey institution to receive a Certificate of Waiver/Authorization (COA) from the FAA to conduct Unmanned Aircraft Systems UAS) test flights in national airspace, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) announced it will begin conducting UAS flights over the Atlantic Ocean beginning on November 20th. NJIT based in Newark, New Jersey is a top-tier research university offering a multidisciplinary curriculum and computing-intensive approach to education. It has an enrollment of more than 10,000 graduate and undergraduate students.
To be held at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey, the exercises are intended to test the feasibility of safely integrating drones into the public airspace. It will also assess the research and operational capabilities of several data-collecting sensors aboard the craft: a weather sensor and devices with mapping, communications relay, and high-definition video capabilities.
NJIT researchers are also seeking to demonstrate UAS capabilities in response to a natural or man-made disasters. Activities will assist the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness and the State Office of Emergency Management, among other agencies.
The mission’s research director is Michael Chumer, a research professor of information systems at NJIT and director of the Crisis Communication Center and of UAS Applied Research for the university. American Aerospace Advisors, Inc., based in Pennsylvania will operate the drones from the Cape May facility.
NJIT is tasked with enhancing U.S homeland security and emergency management capabilities. This includes the development of drone-borne weather sensors capable of predicting where a major storm will make landfall, in advance of what existing technology now permits. Enhanced mapping technology would provide emergency responders timely information on storm damage.
Drone flights are scheduled to leave 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 drone will be controlled by a ground-based pilot who will be in communication with air traffic controllers during the flight. The NJIT team will assess the post flight operational performance including its success in gathering data. The information will be shared with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and emergency management agencies.
It is anticipated that 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.
Media access to the testing will be via the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center is 1 Munro Ave., Cape May, N.J., 08204. Media planning to attend should notify Tracey Regan in advance and meet Tracey, a media officer for NJIT, at the Coast Guard Police Department at 12:15 p.m. At 1:30 p.m., Michael Chumer will provide information about components involved in the flight, including the sensor instruments. During the flight, reporters will briefly have access to a mobile station with technology displays, including the drone’s view (real time) of the airspace it is traveling through. Tracey may be contacted at 201-388-0232 or tracey.l.regan@njit.edu to confirm attendance. A valid photo ID to access the base and will convene at the Coast Guard Police Department and those attending should be at the base no later than 12:15 p.m.
