The Tokyo metropolitan government has formed a plan to use the National Strategic Special Zone system to designate certain mountain areas and islands as a "special drone zones," for conducting verification tests.
Tests will include chasing away pests such as monkeys from farmland, and sending relief supplies to settlements cut off during natural disasters.
The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, which places restrictions on the frequencies and power at which drones can be operated, is expected to approve the plan.
Designating the areas as special zones will allow operation over a wider range and the transmission of higher resolution images. "We hope to conduct experiments on a wide range of uses," said a metropolitan government official.
According to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, drones are currently permitted to use the same frequency bands as wireless local area networks (LAN) for control and image transmission. There are limits on the power of the radio waves that can be used, to avoid network interference.
In the case of the 2.4-gigahertz band, also used by wireless computer networks, the output allowed is only powerful enough for operation within a three-kilometer radius and images can only be transmitted over a maximum distance of around 300 meters.
If an area is designated as a special zone and restrictions on the frequencies available for use and output power are loosened, flights over longer distances and transmission of high-resolution images will become possible. The municipal governments of Okutama, Hinohara, Aogashima and Ogasawara have already expressed interest, and special drone zones are expected to be established as early as next fiscal year.
In Hinohara, which is surrounded by mountains, crops are commonly damaged by monkeys coming to feed on them. "We'd like to try chasing away the monkeys with sound-emitting drones," said a village official. Okutama, where settlements were cut off by heavy snow in February two years ago, hopes to use drones to assess damage and send food and medical supplies.
The municipal government of the Ogasawara islands expects to use drones to monitor uninhabited islands that are designated as World Natural Heritage sites due to their rare plants and wildlife, and also to send relief supplies and medicine following natural disasters.
An amendment to the Civil Aeronautics Law requiring permits for all drones flying in a "high population density area," which includes most of the 23 wards of Tokyo, came into effect last December. With drones now facing restrictions under the Civil Aeronautics Law in addition to the Radio Law, a location was required close to the center of Tokyo where demonstrative research on drones could be conducted.
According to the Japan UAS Industrial Development Association, a Tokyo-based organization working to promote drone use for commercial purposes, a distance of at least five kilometers between the drone and the operator is required when investigating volcanic eruptions, but it is difficult to get close enough to the site or send clear images with the current restrictions.
"If new technologies utilizing drones are developed in Tokyo, it could lead to the development of new industries. We also plan to take into consideration the research needs of private businesses and use the special zones effectively," a metropolitan government senior official said.
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