Small Drone Detection Using Airborne Weather Radar

As small commercial and hobby drones increase in popularity, there is a desire to monitor and avoid these drones. This paper focuses on how small drones such as the DJI Phantom 3 and DJI Inspire could be detected using existing weather radar hardware already installed in many airplanes. Garmin's GWX 80 airborne weather radar was used to demonstrate this potential. Only software modifications were made to the aviation certified hardware for the feasibility of this approach.