Contingent Landing Site Selection for Urban Air Mobility Using Geographic Information and Visual Data

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) requires a reliable contingent landing system to ensure safe operations. This study proposes a method for selecting contingent landing sites by integrating spatial analysis based on Geographic Information System (GIS) with real-time vision data-based image analysis. The offline pre-search processes involve a three-step filtering approach to refine the potential landing site data and streamline the database, while the online processes consist of candidate clustering, computer vision-based obstacle detection, and the final selection of the contingent landing site by integrating both GIS and vision results. Daegu Metropolitan City is chosen as the case study area, where farmland, open terrains, and parking lots are identified as potential contingent landing sites. This study provides practical data analysis results for selecting UAM contingent landing sites and is expected to serve as a foundational methodology and resource in the early stages of UAM commercialization.