THE WIDER SENSING LANDSCAPE

Beyond ADS-B: ways to detect aircraft

ADS-B is powerful but it is only one way to sense the sky, and it has blind spots. This is an honest map of the detection modalities that exist, what each is good and bad at, and precisely where AeroScope operates — so you know what it covers and what it does not.

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The landscape

Six ways to know an aircraft is there

Modality	Strengths	Limitations
ADS-B (cooperative)	Identity, precise GPS position, global, free, real-time	Only sees aircraft that choose to broadcast; unauthenticated
Multilateration (MLAT)	Positions non-GPS Mode S targets from timing	Needs 4+ overlapping receivers; no identity for primary-only
Primary radar	Sees non-cooperative targets regardless of transponder	Expensive, no identity, limited low-altitude/small-target coverage
RF / Remote ID	Detects drone control/telemetry links and Remote ID	Range-limited; silent or non-Remote-ID drones evade it
Acoustic	Passive, cheap, can hear low/slow targets nearby	Very short range; weather- and noise-sensitive; no identity
Visual / EO-IR	Confirmation and classification by eye or camera	Line-of-sight, daylight/weather dependent, narrow field

Where AeroScope sits

A cooperative-surveillance platform, by design

AeroScope is built on the ADS-B modality (with MLAT and Remote ID where networks provide them). That choice gives it global reach, real identity, and rich integrity metadata for spoof detection — at the cost of not seeing fully non-cooperative or silent targets. It is the right foundation for observer-relative awareness and the layer most amenable to open, reproducible analysis.

Why this page is here. Robust airspace security ultimately layers several modalities — radar for non-cooperative targets, RF and acoustic for nearby drones, cameras for confirmation. AeroScope does not currently include acoustic, RF or radar sensors; this primer is educational context about the wider field, not a description of shipped hardware. An honest tool names the modalities it does not use as clearly as the ones it does.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can you detect an aircraft by sound?

In principle yes — acoustic sensors can hear low, slow aircraft and drones at short range — but acoustic detection is very range-limited, sensitive to wind and ambient noise, and gives no identity. It is a complement to other modalities, not a primary surveillance method, and AeroScope does not currently include acoustic sensing.

Which detection method does AeroScope use?

Cooperative surveillance: ADS-B on 1090 MHz, plus multilateration and Remote ID where receiver networks provide them. It does not use primary radar, RF direction-finding or acoustic sensors.

Why not combine all sensor types?

Multi-modal fusion is genuinely how serious counter-UAS and airspace-security systems work, but each modality adds cost, hardware and integration complexity. AeroScope focuses on doing the open, global, cooperative-surveillance layer well and being transparent about that boundary.