Third-Party Risk Assessment on the Ground for Urban Air Mobility Operations: A Case Study of Seoul Metropolitan City

Urban air mobility (UAM) has received significant global attention as a solution for improving traffic congestion and mitigating environmental pollution caused by overpopulation. UAM is expected to operate at low altitudes within urban areas, and the operational risk from both air and ground aspects should be assessed. Within the current air traffic management (ATM) systems, the ground risk is not independently evaluated during risk assessment, and specific criteria for assessing the ground risk in low-altitude urban operations have yet to be established. This study presents a methodology for assessing ground risk in UAM operations, whereby an empirical analysis of ground risk was conducted for Seoul Metropolitan City based on this methodology. The results indicated that areas with a high population density exhibit a relatively higher ground risk although incorporating the shelter effect confirmed that certain risks could be mitigated. Furthermore, the ground risk assessment results varied with time, exhibiting a relatively higher risk during times with a high floating population.