EXTRINSIC CHARACTERIZATION OF DETECTION CAPABILITY TO SUPPORT AUTOMATED LANE CHANGE

An autonomous vehicle and a system and method of operating the autonomous vehicle. The system includes a sensor and a processor. The processor determines an effective observation area of the sensor, the effective observation area being affected by an extrinsic condition. The processor determines an available time for performing a lane change based on the effective observation area and performs the lane change based on the available time.