As drones gain more popularity and the access to high-quality drones has become easier, it’s more important than ever to ensure your organization or home is protected from unwanted drones spying on you.
But how do you protect your property from something that even restricted airspace has trouble controlling? Luckily, there are some new and old technologies for drone detection that can be implemented to patrol and protect your privacy from wandering drones.
What Does Drone Detection Mean?
Drone detection technology helps to find drones or other unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, in the air. While this technology was once reserved for governments and other highly secured areas, it is now becoming available for businesses and personal properties.
There are several different technologies used to detect drones and will differ on what range and size of drones they can detect. For example, RF detectors will detect drones using RF communication while there are visual technologies that can confirm a drone in the area.
When looking for drone detection for your company or home, it’s important to research the capabilities of each technology. A business that requires several acres of surveillance and has a large security budget will need different drone detection than that of a local farm.
The Importance of Drone Detection
Although some drones are just used for hobbyists to capture photographs or video, drones can be weaponized to spy and conduct nefarious actions. Drones that are found in no-fly zones can pose a risk to airports, gas facilities, and prisons. If a drone, even just a hobby drone, is found flying near an airport, the airport will have to pause traffic in order to ensure everyone’s safety.
Due to its speed, size, and ability to carry items such as contraband, chemicals, or even explosives, drones have the potential to cause untold damage to crowds and buildings. In order to protect these areas and the airspace, drone detection is needed.
Benefits of drone detection
Although prisons, secured facilities, and airports are prime types of organizations that require drone detection, almost any type of business or even city can benefit from drone detection technology.
Drone detection can help organizations:
- Detect drones and their pilots
- Alert security teams about the model of the drone, location, and altitude
- Provide alerts that can help improve overall security
- Allow for real-time interventions to prevents disasters
- Record drones for evidence in the future
Types of Drone Detection Technologies
Many types of solutions have been developed to detect drones, including similar technologies that are used in detecting other wireless devices like cell phones. Security teams can use these solutions to find the location of a drone, the type of drone, speed, and in some instances, where the pilot of the drone is located through GPS.
RF frequency drone detection
Many drones rely on RF frequencies to communicate with the pilot. The receiver and transmitter are paired together with RFID chips that keep other devices from taking over the drone. With RD frequency drone detection, sensors listen and monitor frequencies to determine the location of the drone in the area.
Radar drone detection
Radar is an excellent tool for detecting drones in the area. It scans the sky to find reflections to detect movement and size of objects and then compares it to its database of drones to match it. Some systems will also be able to detect other objects that are not drones, such as birds, and ignore them. The downside of radar, however, is if a drone is not in the database or looks strange, it may not be detected.
Visual tracking
Specific cameras, PTZ cameras, that are able to swivel and track movements can be used for drone detection when used with other technology, such as radar. Visual tracking is helpful to capture the actual image of the drone in the area and confirm that it’s there, what type of drone it is, and if it presents a threat. Since it’s a visual medium, weather can impact the accuracy of the camera and shouldn’t be used as the first line of defense in drone detection.
Acoustic sensors
Those who want to test out drone detection for their homes can try using microphones or other acoustic sensors placed around their property. Microphones can detect the sounds of drones and can help you calculate a direction. The downside to a microphone is that they can only be used in short ranges and quiet areas, such as a farm or wooded area, otherwise there will be too much noise interference to detect the drones properly.
Choosing the Best Drone Detection
When it comes to finding the right solution to detect drones for your business or facility, there are a number of factors to consider, including your budget, time, layout, and overall security needs.
For example, if you have a large area to cover, RF sensors would be a good starting point, as they cover a range of 1-10 miles. RF sensors are often the first line of defense to drone detection as most drones rely on the technology and it can be relatively inexpensive to begin with.
However, if you have a highly secured facility, such as a prison or government building, a combination of drone detection technologies is the best option. While RF sensors can detect most drones, there may be ones that slip through undetected that a radar will be able to find.
Other factors to consider when looking for the best drone detection system are:
- Is this the best system for your environment; including noise, light, buildings, and more?
- Is the system operational 24/7?
- Does the system detect multiple drones at the same time?
- Can the system detect different types of drones, or is it limited to what the manufacturer has set in its programming?
Drone Detection vs. Drone Countermeasure
Drone detection is used for the surveillance of property and land to alert owners that there is a drone nearby. From there, decisions can be made to leave the drone alone or investigate it further.
Drone countermeasure refers to what is actually done to the drone once it has been identified as a threat. Countermeasures to drones are limited by government regulations and can only be done by the military or law enforcement. Those in the military or law enforcement use a few different counter-drone technologies, similar to drone detection systems, to prevent drones that are threats from conducting their action.
These countermeasure technologies include:
Radio Frequency Jammers – RF jammers emit a large amount of RF energy at unknown drones to mask the controlling signal, which forces a drone to either land, return to its pilot, fall, or fly in a random direction. RF signals can be a static system at a security center or handheld devices taken into the field.
GPS Spoofers – GPS spoofers are used to send a new signal to the drone which interrupts its navigation systems and “tricks” the drone into thinking its location is different. These are helpful in getting a drone to a different, safer location, such as away from an airport and near a secured area for inspection.
Net Cannon – Although you might picture a cartoon shooting a net out of a cannon by mistake, net cannons are helpful in capturing drones. They can be launched from the ground or even shot by another drone in the air. By capturing a drone, the drone can be investigated and used for prosecution if needed.
HPM Devices – HPM devices, or high power microwave devices, create an electromagnetic pulse that can disrupt electrical devices by interfering with radio links, or if it’s especially powerful, destroying the circuitry in the drone and other devices nearby. HPM devices have a high cost and risk associated with them and are used as more of a last resort for drone countermeasure.
What to do if a drone is detected over private property?
It should be noted that these countermeasures are restricted to the military and law enforcement. As tempting as it might be, civilians should not interfere with a drone that is in restricted airspace or even over their own property. Shooting down a drone is a violation of US code 34 that protects aircrafts from damage.
If you do come across a drone that is flying above your property and looks suspicious or passes over multiple times, there are some steps you can take to stop it. The first is to speak to the drone owner, if you are able to. After all, it could be a neighbor or a child playing with a drone. Speak to them about the issue and see if they can find another place to fly.
Drones that continue to fly over your property or appear erratic can be reported to the authorities or FAA for further investigation. Take a recording of the drone as evidence. The authorities can then determine if the drone is breaking any regulations.
Use Drone Detection to Protect Your Privacy
While civilians are limited to what they can do for drone countermeasure tactics, drone detection is available to almost anyone. Drone detection systems can be helpful to track and make sure that a wandering drone passing by is someone just enjoying the hobby or if it’s someone doing something more sinister. If you have a secure facility or a business with sensitive information, it’s even more important to protect your privacy with drone detection to ensure no one is spying.
