In an effort to provide smarter protection for airplanes in critical areas, DJI has announced that it is improving its geofencing technology to refine the airspace limitations for UAS flights near airports.

The updated Geospatial Environment Online (GEO) Version 2.0 will be phased in starting in November once the revised zones take effect for airspace around airports in the United States. DJI says that upgrades in other regions will follow in “due course.”

“DJI is proud to once again lead the industry in developing proactive solutions for safety and security concerns,” says Brendan Schulman, DJI Vice President of Policy & Legal Affairs.

“This is an enormous step forward for safely integrating drones into the airspace based on a more finely-tuned evaluation of risks associated with aircraft approaching and departing different types of airports.” 

With the new system, GEO can create detailed three-dimensional “bow tie” safety zones surrounding runway flight paths. Additionally, instead of using simple circles, GEO can use complex polygon shapes around other sensitive facilities. DJI says that these new restrictions “better reflect the actual safety risk posed in those areas, while allowing more flights to the side of runways where risk is substantially lower.”

DJI’s new geofencing incorporates the principles of Section 384 of the recently-enacted FAA Reauthorization Act designating the final approach corridor to active runways at major airports to be "runway exclusion zones" for unauthorized UAS. DJI says that its customers should update their DJI GO 4 flight control app and aircraft firmware to make sure that these improvements are implemented.

In North America, DJI will use data from PrecisionHawk, so that it can obtain reliable geospatial information for the enhanced shapes in GEO 2.0. As the new data provider, PrecisionHawk will provide highly accurate details such as the exact locations of airport runways and facility boundaries.

“After years of development and testing, we are excited to leverage our Low Altitude Traffic and Airspace Safety (LATAS) platform to support DJI’s customers in conducting safe drone operations across North America,” comments Diana Cooper, Senior Vice President of Policy and Strategy at PrecisionHawk.

DJI worked with general aviation pilots through the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and with airports through the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) to develop GEO 2.0. Through these collaborations, DJI incorporated the expertise and guidance about air traffic and airports from the pilots and airports into its new geofencing methods.

“AOPA applauds DJI's leadership in geofencing technology, and we appreciate their collaboration with our teams, to create safe and effective systems that allow all to safely enjoy the freedom to fly,” says AOPA President and CEO Mark Baker.

Justin Barkowski, AAAE staff vice president, regulatory affairs, adds, “AAAE appreciates DJI’s efforts to implement these important geofencing improvements. This is a common-sense approach to enhancing safety in the airport operating environment while providing users with additional areas to safely operate their drones.”

Using GPS and other navigational satellite signals, DJI geofencing automatically helps prevent UAS from flying near sensitive locations such as airports, prisons, nuclear power plants and high-profile events. In certain locations, a DJI UAS needs special authorization in order for it to take off or fly in a geofenced area.

UAS pilots with verified DJI accounts can unlock some areas if they have legitimate reasons and necessary approvals, but special action on the part of DJI is required to unlock the most critical areas. Fortunately, UAS pilots with authorization to fly in sensitive locations can receive unlocking codes within 30 minutes, thanks to DJI streamlining the approval process.

Previously, the GEO system geofenced a five-mile circle around airports, with enhanced restrictions in a smaller circle encompassing the airport area. DJI says that GEO 2.0 applies the strongest restrictions to a 1.2 kilometer- (3/4 mile)-wide rectangle around each runway and the flight paths at either end, where airplanes actually ascend and descend. Less strict restrictions apply to an oval area within six kilometers (3.7 miles) of each runway.

This bow tie shape, DJI explains, opens more areas on the sides of runways to beneficial UAS uses, as well as low-altitude areas more than three kilometers (1.9 miles) from the end of a runway. The bow tie shape also increases protection in the locations where traditional aircraft actually fly.

DJI’s new boundary areas around airport runways are based on the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Annex 14 standard for airspace safety near runways and the FAA’s Part 77 parameters for “imaginary surfaces” and air navigation obstructions. DJI’s categorization of airports is based on traffic volume principles defined in statutes such as U.S. Title 49 section 47102, and the FAA’s criteria developed in 2012 for categorizing general aviation airports.

DJI says that using these aviation parameters, it has aligned its geofencing safety feature to broader understandings of airspace and airport risk.

A chart below demonstrates how GEO 2.0 applies those “detailed, risk-based” airspace boundaries to the airspace around airports that can be considered to involve relative high, medium, and low risk.