Originally Posted by
pba_target
Absolutely, and detecting unpowered wires is definitely where it's at for a variety of reasons. However, even that link only describes spotting domestics 1000' away. Better than nothing for sure, certainly at slow speed on the approach or nap of earth, but if you're at 50'/120kts it's not going to save you from a set that are strung. 1000' equates to 330m approx - that's about 5s out from the wires if I've got my maths right?
There's a lot of room for technology in all of this, but two things are key - how do you present it to the crew and how do you prevent it from going off continuously with false alarms or otherwise.
Both of those are turbo challenging and I'd be the last to say I know what the answer is. Active detection has advantages over database systems for sure, especially in operational flying, but false alarm rate will get you killed through alert fatigue just as well as not having the system. I do know that we've been preaching "look out the window, clear your flight path and fly defensively" since Pontius was a pilot, and people still clatter into wires though!
The advantage of LIDAR is it also cuts through vegetation and shows the terrain as it is.
Many of the archeological programmes on the TV these days use it to physically map terrain through trees etc so they can see disturbances in the ground layer. You would think someone would have exploited it now sufficiently to make it a viable asset.