The system is currently still in the test phase, and Nikolaus Schmitt estimates that it might be ready for series production in about ten years’ time. The LIDAR was successfully tested in flight on an Airbus A340. The researchers are now looking into the possibility of miniaturizing the sensors and integrating them in the flight control system. Aircraft builders from Europe as well as the United States are interested in such technology. However, it is open to conjecture who will be the first to deploy the system.

In future the system might not only be used to measure air pockets, but also wake vortices (turbulences caused by aircraft). Thus, LIDAR could help to gauge the position and distance of planes from the wake vortices of aircraft taking off ahead of them. Aircraft typically maintain a prescribed distance from one another in order to avoid encountering the wake vortex produced by the aircraft in front. However, these distances are not based on real-time measurements and presently can vary from one airworthiness authority’s jurisdiction to another. Like air pockets, vortices are invisible.

LIDAR technology would make it possible to discern how far the vortices actually extend. This could enable the required safety spacing between take-offs and landings to be accurately determined in real time based on a common global standard.

Furthermore, at some airports this could allow the distances to be safely reduced, thus enabling an increase in air traffic frequency. The researchers at EADS Innovation Works are currently examining how the light pulses must be aligned in order to yield a full picture of the position of a wake vortex.