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In-Pavement Light Emitting Diode (LED) Evaluation Painted markings on runway, taxiway, and apron surfaces are often obliterated when covered by even a thin layer of water, there is a need to provide a more effective method of marking or delineating critical areas and/or locations on the non-movement and possibly movement areas on an airport. Conventional in-pavement (semi-flush/inset) lights can be used; however, they are expensive and costly to install and maintain. The commercial lighting industry has recently developed a light strip system that utilizes a series of encapsulated light emitting diodes (LED) to provide a continuous line of closely spaced lights. The string of diode lights can be easily embedded within the pavement surface so as not to hinder snowplowing operations and, being sealed or encapsulated, require only a minimum of maintenance. LED devices are noted for requiring comparatively low level of power for operation and have demonstrated minimal failure rates. AAR-411 will evaluate the effectiveness of, and determine the performance characteristics of these LED light strips for airport use. Strips will be installed and evaluated at the William J. Hughes Technical Center. Link to the FAA Technical Note titled "In-Pavement Light Emitting Diode (LED) Light Strip Evaluation" for non-movement areas on the airport. This is an Adobe Acrobat Version 5.0 file (format: PDF, size: 8.1MB). Project Lead: Donald W. Gallagher , AAR-411 Last Update:10/12/05 |