Evaluating UAM-Wildlife Collision Prevention Efficacy with Fast-Time Simulations

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) promises to reduce ground-traffic and journey times by using electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for short, low-altitude flights, especially in urban environments. However, low-flying aircraft are at particularly high risk of collisions with wildlife, such as bird strikes. This study builds on previous research into UAM collision avoidance systems (UAM-CAS) by implementing one such system into the BlueSky open-source air traffic simulator and evaluating its efficacy in reducing bird strikes. Several modifications were made to the original UAM-CAS framework to improve performance. Realistic UAM flight plans were developed and combined with real-world bird movement datasets from all seasons, recorded by an avian radar at Leeuwarden Air Base. Fast-time simulations were conducted in the BlueSky Open Air Traffic Simulator using the UAM flight plan, the bird datasets, and the UAM-CAS algorithm. Results demonstrated that the UAM-CAS reduced bird strikes by 62%, with an average delay per flight of 15s. However, a small number of flights faced substantially longer delays, indicating some operational impacts. Based on the findings, specific avenues for future research to improve UAM-CAS performance are suggested.