The German Aerospace Center DLR is accentuating the SLD (Supercooled Large Droplet) inflight icing detection achievements of the EU project SENS4ICE via a dedicated press release.

The evaluation of innovative direct, indirect and remote SLD inflight icing detection technologies is based on icing wind tunnel and flight campaign results. Core of the SENS4ICE project was a hybrid ice detection solution to tackle the challenging task of SLD detection. It combines one or several direct ice detection technologies with the indirect approach to generate quick and robust warnings and continuous ice accretion and flight performance monitoring, also supporting efficiency optimization of ice protection systems.

"Hybrid ice detection is a very promising approach for reliable and early warnings in the case of rare SLD icing conditions," concludes Carsten Schwarz, project coordinator for the DLR Institute of Flight Systems. "The data and experience gathered made it very clear that further research into the specific SLD icing conditions is required to gain a deeper understanding. It is already clear that understanding not only the atmospheric conditions and ice build-up on the aircraft, but above all the effects on the flight characteristics are crucial for ensuring safe flight operations."