Airside Map Hygiene Ground Truth Protocol

Last updated: 2026-05-24

Why It Matters

Map hygiene ground truth defines what belongs in the permanent map, what belongs only in the live operational layer, and what should trigger review or inspection. Without this protocol, dynamic removal and map-change benchmarks can score well while erasing FOD, preserving parked GSE as infrastructure, or deleting safety-critical markings under occlusion.

The protocol below is designed for airport AGVS and fleet map maintenance. It turns raw captures into auditable labels, map-patch decisions, and safety-case evidence.

Canonical Owner And Workflow Links

This map-operations page is the canonical owner for the ground-truth vocabulary, capture slices, reviewer dispositions, QA gates, and benchmark splits used to decide what belongs in the permanent airside map. The safety-validation companion consumes the same protocol for benchmark exchange fields, ASAM OpenLABEL-style annotation packaging, and acceptance outputs. Do not change layer names, reviewer dispositions, or acceptance semantics in only one copy; update this page first, then mirror any V&V-specific evidence fields in the companion.

Downstream consumer	What it consumes from this protocol
Aggregated-map semantic segmentation	canonical hygiene labels plus release-state aliases (permanent_static, dynamic_residual, movable_static, static_transient, fod_candidate, artifact, unknown_review) for QA gates, training export, and semantic-map release evidence
Map construction pipeline	capture plan, rejected-object layer, change manifest, and pre-publication map-cleaning labels
Map publication gates	hygiene-validation gate inputs: dynamic rejection, static preservation, FOD retention, unknown/quarantine report, and reviewer state
Map hygiene operational monitoring	runtime telemetry fields and alerts for ghost rate, static preservation, FOD candidates, unknown area, and semantic QA drift
Airside map-hygiene regulatory evidence	safety-case traceability for static preservation, FOD handling, map changes, retained rejected evidence, canary monitoring, and rollback

Ground Truth Layers

Layer	Label	Include	Exclude
Permanent static	static_keep	Fixed infrastructure, fixed signs, terminal edges, approved markings	Aircraft, GSE, temporary objects
Static change candidate	static_change	New/removed/shifted fixed features pending approval	One-pass occlusion or perception artifacts
Movable-static	movable_static	Parked aircraft, staged GSE, carts, stairs, cones, barriers	Permanent localization anchors
Static transient	static_transient	Stationary people, temporary work-zone objects, event equipment, staged non-asset clutter	Approved permanent assets or movable assets with lifecycle ownership
Current dynamic	dynamic	Moving vehicles, people, aircraft under tow, wildlife	Base map elements
FOD/hazard	hazard	Debris, tools, loose material, spills, unsafe objects	Static-map features
Artifact	artifact	Rain spray, reflections, bad registration, sensor noise	Operational obstacles unless persistent/confirmed
Unknown/review	unknown_review	Ambiguous clusters or conflicting evidence	Automatic promotion/deletion

Semantic-Map Release-State Aliases

The operational labels above are the annotation vocabulary. Semantic-map release and benchmark pages use a stricter release-state vocabulary so map publication, training export, and dynamic-cleaning evaluation share one interface. Use the mapping below when producing semantic_map_manifest.json, moving/static benchmark slices, or map-derived training labels.

Ground-truth protocol label	Release-state alias	Export rule
static_keep	permanent_static	Eligible for permanent geometry, localization priors, and positive semantic-map training after geometry QA
static_change	unknown_review before approval; permanent_static after approval	Never auto-promote without ops/change evidence and reviewer decision
movable_static	movable_static	Quarantine or soft-context layer; not a permanent-map positive
static_transient	static_transient	Hard exclusion from permanent map; may become a training negative or review item
dynamic	dynamic_residual when residual points remain in the aggregate	Remove from permanent map and score ghost leakage separately
hazard	fod_candidate unless the hazard is reclassified by inspection	Preserve evidence and reviewer state even if points are excluded from the static map
artifact	artifact	Exclude from release and count against source-map conditioning quality
unknown_review	unknown_review	Keep out of automatic publication and route to reviewer or active learning

Do not infer the release-state alias from semantic class alone. A cone can be a fod_candidate, movable_static, or static_transient depending on ownership, placement, and evidence. A person can be moving, stationary-transient, or a sparse unknown cluster. The alias is a reviewed state variable, not a synonym for a class ID.

Capture Plan

Capture slice	Minimum requirement	Purpose
Quiet baseline	Low-traffic pass with clear sight lines	Permanent static reference
Busy operation	Normal aircraft/GSE activity	Movable-static and dynamic separation
Aircraft present/absent	Same stand in both states where possible	Prevent aircraft from entering static map
GSE staged/removed	Same route with equipment changes	Movable-static policy labels
Day/night	Representative lighting	Detection robustness
Wet/dry/weather	Surface condition variation	Marking visibility and artifact control
Construction/closure	Work-zone capture with ops record	Temporary restriction and static-change labels
FOD drill or inspection record	Controlled objects or verified inspection outcomes	Hazard handling validation
Do-not-delete adverse holdout	Local chocks, cones, hoses, tools, loose debris, stationary people, staged GSE, and unknown sparse clusters under adverse-airside conditions	Locked validation of retained hazard evidence before publication

Annotation Units

Unit	Required fields
Point/voxel	layer label, source capture, timestamp, pose quality, reviewer ID
Object instance	class, bounding geometry, movable flag, current state, persistence
Map element	element ID, prior version, new geometry, change type, approval state
Tile	map version, capture set, QA status, localization regression result
Hazard ticket	object class, location, image/point evidence, response status, clearance time

Removal-Handoff Fields

The annotation package should include the fields needed to regenerate the cleaner's map-hygiene sidecar, not just the final label. This keeps dynamic residual removal, static-transient quarantine, FOD handling, and artifact rejection compatible with semantic-map training exports.

Field	Applies to	Required content
source_evidence_ref	every point/voxel/object decision	raw capture IDs, source-frame timestamps, pose-quality flag, calibration package
release_state_alias	every publication/training-export decision	one of permanent_static, dynamic_residual, movable_static, static_transient, fod_candidate, artifact, unknown_review
reason_code	every non-permanent or changed decision	e.g. human_exclusion, movable_asset_quarantine, small_ground_unknown, free_space_contradiction, sensor_or_registration_artifact, static_wrong_demotion
semantic_evidence	class-driven decisions	semantic class, detector/VFM candidate, confidence, reviewer override
temporal_evidence	dynamic, movable, and stale-map decisions	pass count, K-of-N window, absence votes, first_seen, last_seen, TTL
policy_evidence	zone and asset decisions	zone polygon, work order, asset registry ID, inspection ticket, waiver ID
downstream_permission	map publication and training export	permanent reference, soft localization context, review only, training positive, training negative, ignore mask, publish blocked

Reviewer tools should show these fields together. If a reviewer can see only the final keep/remove result, the dataset cannot support a professional safety case or a reproducible map-derived training corpus.

Labeling Workflow

1. Register all captures into the airport ENU map frame and record pose-quality flags.
2. Build a quiet baseline candidate from high-quality passes only.
3. Annotate obvious permanent infrastructure and approved markings as static_keep.
4. Annotate aircraft, GSE, workers, carts, cones, and other movable classes as movable_static, static_transient, or dynamic based on lifecycle ownership and motion/state.
5. Route debris, loose tools, foreign material, and spills to hazard even if the static map cleaner would remove them.
6. Compare current captures against the approved prior map and label candidate additions/removals/edits as static_change.
7. Require reviewer decision for every safety-critical deletion and every route/topology change.
8. Run localization and route regression on the cleaned candidate map before promoting a tile.
9. Treat do-not-delete hazards as evidence-chain objects, not permanent-map objects. If a cleaner or semantic filter removes the points from the static map, the candidate must still be represented in hazard, movable_static, artifact, or unknown_review with source evidence and reviewer state.
10. Label adverse-airside ambiguity explicitly. Dust, de-icing mist, steam, glycol film, wet-apron multipath, and retroreflector bloom must not be collapsed into artifact unless the reviewer can distinguish artifact returns from real object evidence using source frames, cross-sensor evidence, or repeat captures.

Reviewer Decision Table

Evidence pattern	Label	Decision
Fixed feature visible across independent passes	static_keep	Keep/promote
Prior feature absent in one view but occluded by aircraft/GSE	unknown_review	No deletion
Prior marking absent in clear dry multi-view evidence	static_change	Review deletion/repaint
New barrier appears with active work-zone record	static_change or temporary restriction	Add restriction; promote only if permanent
New cone line appears without ops record	movable_static	Live restriction, expire/review
Stationary person, passenger queue, or temporary crew cluster appears in a map tile	static_transient	Hard exclude from permanent map; retain source evidence for review or training negatives
Small debris visible in route	hazard	Alert/inspection, not map feature
Moving object trail in accumulated map	dynamic	Remove from static map
Sensor ghost or registration streak	artifact	Reject from map and benchmark positives

QA Gates

Gate	Pass condition
Sensor calibration	Camera/LiDAR/radar extrinsics current and versioned
Pose quality	GNSS/INS/SLAM residuals within map-build threshold
Inter-session alignment	Control points and static landmarks agree within tolerance
Static preservation	Fixed landmarks retained after cleaning
Movable rejection	Aircraft/GSE not present in permanent layer
Static-transient exclusion	Stationary people and temporary non-asset objects absent from permanent layer
Hazard handling	FOD/hazard labels preserved as alerts
Local holdout integrity	Do-not-delete/adverse-airside holdout is locked, traceable, and separated from training/tuning
Localization regression	No unacceptable scan-to-map residual or relocalization degradation
Route regression	No route graph change without approval
Audit completeness	Every promoted/deleted element has evidence and reviewer state

Dataset Splits

Split	Content	Rule
Train	Common stands/routes and routine GSE variation	May include synthetic edits after real-label seed
Validation	Held-out stands/routes at same airport	Tune thresholds and reviewer burden
Test	Held-out terminal/airport or real operational changes	Final airside transfer evidence
Safety cases	FOD, work zones, hold points, aircraft-present edges	Report separately from aggregate metrics
Do-not-delete/adverse-airside holdout	Target-airport hazards and adverse slices, including dust, de-icing mist, steam, glycol film, wet-apron multipath, and retroreflector bloom where in ODD	Locked validation-only split; never use for training or threshold tuning

Metrics

Metric	Report by
Static preservation rate	feature class, tile, stand
Movable-static rejection rate	aircraft, GSE, cones/barriers
Static-transient hard-exclusion recall	stationary people, temporary objects, work-zone clutter
Hazard retention/alert recall	FOD type, size, surface, lighting/weather
False-free-space rate	route segment, stand, safety-critical zone
Change precision/recall	insertion, deletion, geometry edit, topology edit
Reviewer burden	alerts per stand/km/shift and approval rate
Time to decision	capture to quarantine, review, publish, rollback
Localization impact	ATE/RPE, scan residual, inlier ratio, relocalization success

Sources

• FAA Foreign Object Debris Program: https://www.faa.gov/airports/airport_safety/fod
• FAA AC 150/5210-24A document page: https://www.faa.gov/airports/resources/advisory_circulars/index.cfm/go/document.current/documentNumber/150_5210-24
• FAA AC 150/5220-24, FOD Detection Equipment: https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/advisory_circulars/index.cfm/go/document.information/documentNumber/150_5220-24
• FAA AGVS on Airports: https://www.faa.gov/airports/new_entrants/agvs_on_airports
• FAA Emerging Entrants Bulletin 25-02: https://www.faa.gov/airports/new_entrants/bulletins/25_02
• ASAM OpenLABEL: https://www.asam.net/standards/detail/openlabel/
• NOAA/NWS Aviation Weather Center Data API: https://aviationweather.gov/data/api/
• AIT Apron Dataset: https://publications.ait.ac.at/de/datasets/apron-dataset/
• AIT Apron paper: https://openaccess.thecvf.com/content/ACCV2022W/MLCSA/papers/Steininger_Towards_Scene_Understanding_for_Autonomous_Operations_on_Airport_Aprons_ACCVW_2022_paper.pdf
• Local context: Movable-Static Layering for Airside Maps
• Local context: Potentially Dynamic Object Map Policy
• Local context: Map Publication Gates for Airside Hygiene
• Local context: Map Hygiene Operational Monitoring
• Local context: Airside Map Hygiene Regulatory Evidence
• Local context: Airside Dynamic Map Cleaning Benchmark