Analysis of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Sightings Reports: Determination of Factors Leading to High Sighting Reports

Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) growth in the past several years has been rising at a steady pace which has complicated the attempts to safely integrate them into the National Airspace System, as evidenced by an increasing number of UAS sighting reports being submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration. The analysis consisted of a mixed method approach using quantitative analysis of more than 9000 Federal Aviation Administration Unmanned Aircraft System Sighting reports from 2015 through 2019, as well as U.S. Census data, and weather data. The qualitative analysis focused on UAS regulation, and heatmap data of both population density and UAS sighting location density. The findings for the five states with the most and the least sighting reports show that major metropolitan areas, which have high population and population density, higher median household incomes, high percentage of college graduates, and are located in areas that have stable weather and negligible weather effects such as rain and high winds during the summer months, have both high and concentrated levels of UAS sightings.