Overview: What is Improved ADS-B Alerts and its Purpose?
This feature provides Dock users with improved visibility of nearby manned aircraft. The visualization now clearly displays the manned aircraft's location, its relative elevation to the drone, and its projected flight path or trajectory.
This enhancement ensures better situational awareness and allows users to make responsible decisions during automated dock missions.
Availability: Who has Access?
Improved ADS-B visualization is available for Dock users.
How to use Improved ADS-B Visualization
When an autonomous Dock mission is running, the Improved ADS-B Visualization automatically displays on the flight monitoring screen.
- A manned aircraft icon is visible on the map, representing its current location.
- The system displays the aircraft's relative elevation to your Dock drone.
- The trajectory (or projected flight path) of the aircraft is visualized to help you anticipate potential conflicts.
Key Features/Details
This visualization includes several key improvements:
- Better visibility of manned aircraft location.
- Display of the aircraft's relative elevation to the drone.
- Visualization of the aircraft's trajectory.
ADS‑B alert levels in DroneDeploy Dock
DroneDeploy classifies AirSense alerts into three levels. To reduce noise, Dock shows banner notifications for Levels 2 and 3; Level 1 banners are intentionally suppressed.
Level 1 (Info / Low risk): Intruder detected within about 10 km horizontally and 400 m vertically. Banner notification is suppressed by design to avoid excessive alerts.
Level 2 (Medium risk): Closest Point of Approach (CPA) is estimated within about 1 km horizontally and 300 m vertically. DroneDeploy shows a top‑of‑screen toast indicating horizontal distance, cardinal direction (N/E/S/W), and relative vertical separation.
Level 3 (High risk): CPA is estimated within about 60 m (≈200 ft) horizontally and 40 m (≈120 ft) vertically. A high‑priority toast appears with the same details; pilots should take appropriate action per their procedures (e.g., pause/descend or RTH if safe).
Where and how alerts appear:
The map shows the position of detected manned aircraft relative to the drone, and banner toasts appear for Level 2–3 events to draw immediate attention.
Toasts include the horizontal distance, direction, and vertical difference; Level 2–3 “potential crossing” alerts are emphasized so pilots focus only when it matters.
ADS‑B visualization and alerts are supported for DJI Dock 2, and Dock 3 and are generally available.
Limitations/Considerations
- The accuracy of the data depends on the surrounding manned aircraft being equipped with and transmitting ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast) data.
- This feature is specific to the Dock platform and is not available for standard manual or autonomous drone flights.
ADS‑B In can only detect cooperative crewed aircraft that are transmitting ADS‑B Out; aircraft without ADS‑B Out will not appear.
Under typical FAA BVLOS waivers, an ADS‑B In receiver must be operational and monitored during operations.
If you see AirSense alerts on the remote controller but not in the Dock web UI, it’s often because it was a Level 1 (Info) alert, which DroneDeploy currently suppresses in banners by design.
FAQs
Q: What does ADS-B stand for?
A: ADS-B stands for Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast. It is a surveillance technology used by aircraft to periodically broadcast information about their position.
Q: Is this visualization available for all DroneDeploy flights?
A: No, this improved visualization is only available for Dock missions.
V2.2