Landing Zone and Drop Zone Criteria

• Main Authors: Wieder,Wendy L, Shoop,Sally A
• Other Authors: ENGINEER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER HANOVER NH HANOVER United States
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Military Aircraft Operations; Terminal Flight Facilities; Guidance; REMOTE SENSING; AIR DROP OPERATIONS; LANDING FIELDS; geometry; bearing strength; IMAGES; orientation (direction); surfaces; RUNWAYS; Helipads; WIND; surface properties; aircraft landings; Airborne operations (Military science); Airmobile operations (Military science); austere entry surfaces; Image analysis; Remote-sensing images; Unimproved; Unsurfaced; lz (landing zones); dz (drop zones); Airfields; satellite images; runway orientation; Arctic Operations; artemis (Army Terrestrial Environmental Modeling and Intelligence System); existing criteria; Arctic
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD1037432; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD1037432

The criteria for landing zones (LZs) and drop zones (DZs), also known as austere entry surfaces, are extensive and varied. They range from very specific guidance on required geometry to more general guidance on required bearing strength of unprepared surfaces, such as soil or ice, and the smoothness of those surfaces. Current practice for siting LZs and DZs includes site surveys by trained personnel, often in hostile environments. Additionally, with the continued advancement of image analysis, it may be possible to identify potential LZ and DZ sites remotely and thus to reduce the need to expose personnel to dangerous conditions. This review intends to summarize existing Federal, Department of Defense, and other criteria for unsurfaced, unimproved LZs and DZs. The purpose of the summary is to consolidate criteria so that the criteria may be considered in the process of developing and refining methods to remotely locate and assess potential LZs and DZs by using satellite imagery.