UAV Icing: A Survey of Recent Developments in Ice Detection Methods

Abstract

In-flight icing remains a significant challenge for the aviation industry. While mature solutions for conventional aircraft exist, the options for small fixed-wing uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) are limited, with the current solution being to postpone the flight until icing conditions have passed. Consequently, the challenges related to aircraft icing continue to be highly relevant, but now with a stronger emphasis on size, cost, and efficiency to better fit the smaller UAV platforms, which are currently experiencing high commercial interest. A crucial prerequisite for efficient ice protection solutions is the availability of real-time ice detection systems. This survey aims to provide an overview of recent developments in research on in-flight icing detection solutions suitable for UAVs. The survey covers atmospheric icing detection, direct ice detection, and indirect ice detection methods. Among these, the indirect methods, which are based on monitoring the aircraft performance degradation due to in-flight icing, are emphasized. The performance-based methods rely on flight data analysis, estimation, and detection algorithms, making them ideal for UAVs as they require only minimal aircraft modification and can be implemented retrospectively.