Visual aircraft tracking system for departures

This paper describes a novel binocular camera system for tracking aircraft in the low-altitude, visual segment of departure. Recent economic pressures and changing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations have raised concern that obstacle clearance requirements are not being met on departure. Moreover, local airport procedures do not always align with the requirements for Terminal Instrument Procedures (TERPs) established by the FAA. The flight track data collected by this system will be used by the FAA to assess the magnitude of the problem and determine steps to align airport and TERPs procedures, while also mitigating obstacle clearance violations.