The new patent-protected icing detection technologies from IVS should be of urgent interest to aircraft manufacturers because it optically distinguishes between: clouds containing water, clouds containing ice, and clouds containing supercooled large droplets (SLDs). It’s SLD that can prove to be especially dangerous, since it can mask the potential danger of ice forming on aircraft.
IVS technologies can be critical to air safety, even for commercial and defense aircraft already equipped with ice protection systems. More than one in 100 icing encounters are outside of “classic” icing certification envelopes, and can go undetected by the aircraft.
IVS technologies can provide a similarly important advance in vehicle transportation safety. The technologies have been tested and proven effective to optically distinguish between water, snow, and ice – especially black ice – in real road conditions. This has the strong potential to help prevent accidents, increase safety, and save lives.
IVS optical icing detection technology builds on innovations originally developed for applications in space by the University of Michigan College of Engineering’s Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering. The technology applies high-performance photodetectors or cameras and light sources – along with IVS’s patented Ring ResonatorTM – to measure liquid water content and detect the presence of ice accumulation. IVS icing detection technologies uses only non-intrusive sensors.
In the air, icing hazards are detected on the airframe or in clouds ahead. IVS technologies can detect ice if an airplane is flying within the icing certification envelopes. This could enable pilots to reduce fuel consumption and increase thrust during critical flight phases.
Aircraft manufacturers, please take note: The new IVS technologies comply with the latest FAA regulations on icing detection (14 CFR Part 25, Appendices C and O).
On land, the technologies alert drivers to potentially hazardous icing on roads, bridges, and parking surfaces. The technologies can be onboard the vehicle, or installed on the road itself, linked to electronic signage that alerts drivers to potential icing dangers ahead.