Review on Foreign Object Debris Detection Technologies and Advancement for Airport Safety and Surveillance

Abstract

The rapid growth of air traffic worldwide leads to frequent landing and takeoff of airplanes at busy airports. Therefore, the airport runway must be safe and clean from any tiny size and shape of foreign object debris that is very hard to detect by visual inspection. For successful and fast removal of foreign object debris, an efficient system capable of precisely detecting foreign object debris is required. This paper presents a review of the available technologies to detect foreign object debris and compares commercially available foreign object debris detection technologies. The review has revealed that millimeter-wave radar technology is one of the most efficient foreign object debris detection techniques as it is weather resilient. Furthermore, millimeter-wave radar integrated with radio over fiber technology provides a cost-effective solution to detect foreign object debris within 10 seconds at 96 GHz frequency. A pilot test has been carried out at Narita International Airport, Japan and Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia, to detect foreign object debris either in a mobile or immobile position.