SORA (Specific Operations Risk Assessment) is the EASA-accepted methodology for assessing the risk of a specific-category operation. Step by step, the operator evaluates two risk dimensions: ground risk — what lies beneath the drone, and air risk — what traffic uses the surrounding airspace.
The assessment assigns the operation a SAIL level, from which concrete mitigations and operational safety objectives are derived that the operator must meet. On the basis of this SORA assessment, the national authority decides whether to grant the operational authorisation.