As drones, air taxis and emergency aircraft begin to fill city skies, the biggest challenge may be invisible: how radio signals move through dense urban environments.

That future depends on reliable communication systems that can function reliably amid buildings, materials and interference, a problem UCF postdoctoral researcher Saumya Gupta is working to solve.

“Collaborating with NASA through the MUREP MPLAN program provides an opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research that supports the future of aviation and air mobility.” — Saumya Gupta, postdoctoral researcher

Gupta received a NASA Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Partnership Learning Annual Notification (MPLAN) award to study and model how radio signals behavior in complex urban environments. She is working with co-principal investigator , an associate professor in UCF’s , on a project titled “A Digital Twin for AAM Communication Channels.”

Gupta’s research focuses on urban air mobility, where drones, emergency response aircraft and potential air taxis depend on reliable communication networks to operate safely in dense cities. The work builds on a growing body of AAM research at UCF, including prior simulation efforts led by Professor Vela, by focusing specifically on how communication signals move through crowded cities.

“Collaborating with NASA through the MUREP MPLAN program provides an opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research that supports the future of aviation and air mobility,” Gupta says. “It allows our team at UCF to work on problems that are directly relevant to NASA’s AAM (advanced air mobility) mission while also benefitting from guidance and collaboration with NASA researchers. This partnership helps ensure that our research addresses real-world challenges in integrating new air vehicles into the national airspace.”

Building the Digital Twin

Traditional radio frequency prediction models often rely on simplified formulas that estimate how signals weaken over distance. While useful, these models lack the spatial and material detail needed to represent dense urban environments where glass, steel and concrete significantly affect signal behavior.

More advanced simulation tools can model signal reflection, absorption and diffraction using digital maps. Most maps include building shapes but not detailed material data, a factor that strongly influences how signals are transmitted.

To address this limitation, Dr.Gupta and Professor Vela, along with their research team, are developing a simulation-based digital twin, a virtual model of an urban communication environment that incorporates artificial intelligence to improve prediction accuracy.

“Reliable communication is essential for future systems such as drones, emergency response UAVs and urban air taxis.” — Saumya Gupta, postdoctoral researcher

Rather than relying solely on static maps, the system trains neural networks using signal data collected by uncrewed aerial vehicles. By analyzing how signal strength changes across locations, the system can infer building material properties and refine the model accordingly. Over time, this approach allows the digital twin to become more adaptive and better aligned with real-world conditions.

“Reliable communication is essential for future systems such as drones, emergency response UAVs and urban air taxis,” Gupta says. “By using a digital twin to model how buildings and materials affect radio frequency signals, this research helps identify where signals may weaken, become blocked or experience interference. These insights can guide safer routing, real-time coordination and the scalable airspace management that future urban air mobility will depend on.”

Strengthening Industry-Academic Partnerships

NASA’s MUREP program aims to broaden participation in aerospace research while strengthening partnerships between universities and NASA centers.

Through the MPLAN initiative, faculty researchers work directly with NASA scientists to develop technologies aligned with the agency’s long-term missions while also expanding opportunities for students to engage in aerospace research.

“We plan to expand student involvement as the project progresses,” Gupta says. “We also look forward to engaging with NASA researchers to provide mentorship and collaborative learning opportunities.”

In addition to Gupta’s project, UCF researcher Justin Urso also received a MUREP MPLAN award supporting research on communication and sensing systems for advanced air mobility, further reflecting UCF’s role in NASA’s urban initiatives. Urso is a research assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering who conducts work in Professor Subith Vasu’s laboratory.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through the Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Partnership Learning Annual Notification (MPLAN) program. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NASA.