Assessment of the technical condition of the airport runway surface using an UAV

Abstract

The technical condition of airport pavements not only has a significant impact on the performance of air operations in the ground movement area but also affects the comfort of aircraft movement on the airport pavement, which determines the safety of air operations. The requirements for airfield pavements are specified in defense standards, as well as in civil documents, e.g. (International Civil Aviation Organization), EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency), FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), where exploitation parameters in the field of airport pavement construction are defined. The article presents the methodology of the initial assessment of the technical condition of airport pavements in terms of existing damage, as well as anomalies of the existing gradeline, which may indicate inadequate evenness of the pavement. The assessment was made using an aerial photogrammetry kit and the test results were presented. This work focuses on the use of an aerial photogrammetry set, which made a flight over the runway of a military airport providing its full imaging.