Low-Power ADS-B for GA Operating in Low Altitude Airspace

Abstract

Complete and reliable awareness about surrounding traffic is a key pre-requisite of safe operations in any airspace. Performance of such traffic surveillance functions is usually much higher when directly supported by on-board systems of the monitored aircraft, and the term cooperative surveillance is then used for such capability. Nevertheless, operational benefits associated with the latter are directly depending on the amount of fleet equipped with such systems. This paper describes the situation associated with the latest deployment of Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) and discusses the possible ways how to extend the ratio of aircraft equipped with such capability in Europe (beyond the current mandate taking effect after June 2020) while mitigating the risk of spectrum congestion, namely considering 1090 MHz frequency.