{"id":103894,"date":"2024-09-09T12:41:56","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T16:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dronelife.com\/?p=103894"},"modified":"2024-09-09T12:41:56","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T16:41:56","slug":"keeping-belgiums-skies-safe-how-skeydrone-detects-drones-along-the-coastline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dronelife.com\/2024\/09\/09\/keeping-belgiums-skies-safe-how-skeydrone-detects-drones-along-the-coastline\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Belgium’s Skies Safe: How SkeyDrone Detects Drones Along the Coastline"},"content":{"rendered":"

With 18 drone flights daily, SkeyDrone’s cutting-edge technology aids law enforcement and prepares for the future of European airspace management.<\/h3>\n

by DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill<\/p>\n

The skies above the Belgian coast saw an average of 18 drone flights per day during the months of July and August, according to a recent report<\/a> released by Belgian drone-detection company SkeyDrone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SkeyDrone, a joint venture between the air navigation service provider skeyes — which manages all UAS geographic zones in Belgium — and Brussels Airport Company, found that during the study period, the majority of detected flights were carried out with a DJI Mini and the average drone flight lasted three minutes and 55 seconds.<\/p>\n

The findings were based on the operation of SkeyDrone\u2019s Drone Detection network, which has proved to be the best performing detection system in the market, said SkeyDrone\u2019s head of sales Didier Decaestecker. Since entering the drone-detection business in the early years of this decade, SkeyDrone has deployed its technology to aid in UAS air traffic management. The technology has also enabled local police agencies to conduct surveillance at several of the large annual European music festivals hosted by Belgium.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur Drone Radar software alerts the user of any unauthorized drone entering the area of observation,\u201d Decaestecker said in an email statement. The system uses (RF) identification to detect both cooperative drones, those using Direct Remote ID (DRI), and uncooperative drones.<\/p>\n

\u00a0SkeyDrone first deployed its drone traffic information system, the SkeyDrone Monitor, in early 2021. The system allows drone operators to detect all crewed aviation in the airspace they want to operate in, even when they are operating in beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe quickly realized that detecting crewed aviation alone did not secure BVLOS operations as well it should. So, we added drone traffic data based on DRI,\u201d Decaestecker said.<\/p>\n

However, since DRI only covers from 10% to 20% of all drones operated in Europe today, SkeyDrone decided to add RF-detection hardware to its system as well. This combination of drone-detection technologies was soon adopted by Belgian law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocal police zones started using our Drone Radar to protect the crowds at large events like Tomorrowland,\u201d he said. \u201cThis summer we installed our temporary Drone Detection Service at PukkelPop, Tomorrowland and Lokerse Feesten. SkeyDrone has also installed Drone Detection systems at several international airports.<\/p>\n

In Belgium, drone operators can face stiff fines for operating a drone in an unauthorized manner. There have been a number of prosecutions based on evidence provided by SkeyDrone\u2019s drone detection software and its post-flight analytical tool called Drone Analytics, which provides detailed reports on the location of the drone and pilot of past UAV flights.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve read reports of people being fined up to \u20ac 8.000 for flying over a large crowd of people,\u201d Decaestecker said.<\/p>\n

He said SkeyDrone is constantly upgrading its drone-detection technology to keep up with attempts by unscrupulous operators to avoid detection.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrones are becoming more and more difficult to detect and the number of encrypted drones is on the rise,\u201d he said. \u201cFor encrypted drones, we need to triangulate their position, forcing us to multiply the number of drone-detection hardware receivers. This technology is only just beginning to evolve and we are running to keep up.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to offering drone-detection services, SkeyDrone has also worked to help drone operators obtain regulatory authorizations to execute BVLOS flights in complex environments, such as facilitating drone delivery flights for medical purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first BVLOS project we supported was the D-Hive project in the Port of Antwerp,\u201d Decaestecker said. SkeyDrone realized its next BVLOS milestone when it worked with drone delivery service provider ADLC to complete that company\u2019s first BVLOS flight, departing in the Port of Antwerp and landing within the controlled airspace of Antwerp Airport.<\/p>\n

Last month, an ADLC drone successfully completed a 4-km (2.5-mile) journey between Residential Care Center De Zon in Bellegem, and General Hospital Groeninge in Kortrijk. This flight was conducted as part of the TETRA project Medical Drone Supplies (MEDROS), led by VIVES University of Applied Sciences in West Flanders, Belgium.<\/p>\n

That flight presented some interesting regulatory challenges for the operator, \u201cas it departed in uncontrolled airspace and landed in the proximity of Kortrijk International Airport, which is a radio mandatory zone (RMZ),\u201d Decaestecker said.<\/p>\n

He said the company\u2019s work with helping operators secure BVLOS authorizations is an essential element for preparing for future European U-space\u00a0air traffic regulation. U-Space is a set of services to help UAS operators comply with the relevant rules and enable European Union member states to manage the growth of unmanned traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese services are an essential part of the future U-Space we are preparing for, but in the meantime these risk mitigations can be applied in a pre-U-Space era too,\u201d Decaestecker said.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n