Runway Edge Light Photometry System by Using Drone-Mounted Instrument

Abstract

Runway edge light is a lighting indicator which provides guidance to pilots on low visibility condition. Regular intensity measurement is required to ensure the light function properly in accordance to aviation regulation. Currently, instruments use ground vehicle to conduct photometry which has high dependency with airport infrastructure conditions. This paper proposed a new photometric method by using an instrument carried by a drone making less dependency on airport infrastructure conditions. The instrument consisted of 2 subsystems which communicated wirelessly namely data acquisition and main station. The data acquisition sub-system acquired the data read by sensors, whereas the main station processed the acquired data and displayed the results. Python and PyQt 5 library was used to generate the graphical user interface (GUI) whereas MATLAB software was used to generate the isocandela and maximum intensity diagram. The system was tested to measure Thorn EL-EAH runway edge light at Balai Teknik Penerbangan Indonesia (Indonesia Aviation Engineering Center). Results showed that the photometry system successfully measured the runway edge light and provided the isocandela and maximum light intensity diagram for comparison to the standard.