Combined Use of Aerial Remote Sensing and Terrestrial Survey in ICAO eTOD's Electronic Terrain- and Obstacle Data Collection

Abstract

Maintaining and enhancing aviation safety at all times is an essential factor at various airports around the world. It is not enough to keep it at that level, as we also see from history that the volume of air traffic doubles almost every 15 years. The number of aircraft in traffic is constantly increasing, and airport infrastructure needs to be developed. Consequently, the challenges for aviation are also greater. Electronic Terrain- and Obstacle Data Collection (eTOD) at airports and their surroundings are an essential procedure for aviation safety that aims to organize databases of potentially dangerous flight obstacles. The process is based on passive optical aerial remote sensing from a fixed-wing aircraft. With the help of point cloud and geoinformatics software created during the processing of in-flight recordings and additional data, strictly defined terrain- and obstacle data can be organized into databases, the format of which is regulated by international standards and documents, according to which the obstacle database can be used internationally. These data sets are needed not only because they are required by law, but also because they form the basis for the design of various aircraft procedures and make a major contribution to safe aviation.