A Study on the Optimization Design and Characteristics Evaluation of Touchdown and Lift off Area Lights for Vertiports

This paper presents the development of a Touchdown and Lift off Area light for marking the landing area in airports. To achieve this, the design requirements specified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) were analyzed and incorporated into the optimization design of the optical and power units. Additionally, a prototype Touchdown and Lift off Area light was produced, and its optical, structural, and electrical performance characteristics were measured to verify that the key performance requirements reflected in the design were met. Performance characteristic measurement data confirmed that the designed and manufactured Touchdown and Lift off Area light satisfied the regulatory minimum average intensity of 30.816 cd (>15 cd) and the chromaticity standard range (x=0.1333, y=0.6667 for Green). Furthermore, it was confirmed through respective measurement data that the structural and electrical key performance characteristics exceeded the standard thresholds. As a result of this study, the developed Touchdown and Lift off Area light is set to be installed at the dedicated vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vertiport in Goheung, Jeollanam-do, which is being prepared for urban air mobility (UAM) demonstrations by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.