LRC Receives FAA Grant To Improve Visual Guidance and Airport Lighting Maintenance

With LED lighting now dominating airports and airfields around the United States, earlier methods for selecting, maintaining, and servicing airport lighting systems are no longer applicable. Beginning in 2022, the Lighting Research Center is conducting a newthree-year research effort to improve the visibility, efficiency, and reliability of air traffic and navigation in the United States. The research objectives will be focused on developing solutions for airport lighting and visual guidance systems and applications with the aim of helping airport administrators, lighting procurement groups, and lighting maintenance groups.

The research tasks will include studies in the areas of lighting technology, human factors, photometry, and radiometry. Objectives of this research include:

1) to investigate and verify the feasibility of a photometer mounted to an unmanned aircraft system (UAS; e.g., a drone) that can identify LED airport lights that have reached the end of their useful life

2) to develop a test method and a model that can estimate the useful lifetime of LED light fixtures used in airports within certain regions of the U.S., which would help airport procurement groups to identify appropriate fixtures with long lifetimes for different climate regions

3) to study the feasibility of using 3D-printed optics in airport light fixtures

4) to identify the proper way to light visual guides, such as temporary runway closure signs, using human factors research to determine the necessary light levels and light modulation frequencies that will improve the conspicuity of the lighted visual guides.

Additionally, new technologies that can benefit airport visual guidance will be identified and evaluated.

RPI News Release – October 13, 2022

The LRC is conducting research to improve visibility and navigation through lighting at U.S. airports.

Related Research Websites

Bringing Advanced, Energy-Efficient LED Lighting to Aviation