UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) to the rescue… or not?
On 12/02/2012, in The future is now, by steve
We have been reading about UAS’s for some time. Stories abound on how they have been used successfully to catch bad guys on the battlefield or in the course of police and border patrol interdiction operations. It was fun reading about them not least because of the comfortable feeling: they are here, sure, but not in our backyard.
Well, this is changing now and the civil liberties advocates in the US are up in arms. So what gives?
Last Monday the US Senate passed a measure requiring the FAA to give UASs extended access to civil airspace by 30 September 2015. Until now the FAA was reluctant to open the floodgates for UASs, mainly because of concerns that the sense and avoid capabilities of these unmanned aircraft were not yet mature enough to operate safely in shared airspace. They will now have to figure out how to do this anyway… You can bet that the 2015 date will not be met or if it is, it will be a fluke. No radical new system, however simple, had ever been introduced into the airspace system with a three year deadline.
But it now looks like the technical hurdles may in fact be the least of the FAA’s worries and if there is a delay, it will come from the activities of the civil liberties advocates who are diametrically opposed to allowing UASs into our backyards.
Click here to read the full article
Aviation Transformed – a Free White Paper about Data-Driven Technology
On 03/02/2012, in The future is now, by steve
Charts have evolved. Data-driven technology is changing the way pilots navigate safely to their destinations and leading to new opportunities for operational efficiency.
Download the free Jeppesen white paper, “Aviation Transformed,” to learn about:
- The evolution of aeronautical charts from paper to digital
- Challenges of paper charts solved by advanced alternatives
- Features and benefits of Mobile FliteDeck, the industry’s first interactive mobile enroute flight application
- Tips for implementing tablets equipped with the mobile app
Ease of use, reliability and a streamlined flight process come together in the paperless solution Mobile FliteDeck. Understand its possible impact on your business, and get a glimpse of what’s next for the technology.
This white paper was made available originally via the Aviation Week Knowledge Center. Click here to find other interesting stuff at Aviation Week.
An Opportunity We Should not Miss!
On 20/01/2012, in The future is now, by steve
I was talking to an old time, well respected colleague the other day discussing his view that instead of forcing the industry to implement yet another expensive capability, full use should be made of what was already there… Once the benefits start to accrue, airspace users would be much more inclined to take the extra steps and accept the costs associated with the extra functionality (assuming of course that there was a business case for it). This discussion was in the context of basic PBN and the addition or not of things like Constant Radius Turns in en-route airspace.
Although I have always preferred a more all-out approach, his pragmatic views make perfect sense and is also something airline bean-counters are likely to accept more readily. Investing in speculative functionality when the existing stuff sits idle most of the time is difficult to justify. Of course focusing mainly on use-what-is-already-there-first will not speed up progress but will make the simpler things happen with a higher degree of probability. Aim for too much, and nothing happens. I hate to admit it, but he is right…
Having given credit where credit is due, my incorrigible drive for wanting the whole thing kept chewing my soul. There was something here that we could turn to our advantage. But what was it exactly?
Then I remembered… The thousands of A320NEOs and Boeing 737MAXs. Airlines have ordered these more fuel efficient versions of the old favorites to basically replace a large part of their fleets almost overnight. Now if only those new babies could come with all kinds of goodies fitted right from the start…
What are we talking about? From an air traffic management perspective, there are three items that I would have on my wish list: air/ground digital link and CPDLC, ADS-B in and out and a full set of PBN capabilities.
I can almost hear opponents shouting: with those new versions not due for another three years or so, what technology should the manufacturers use for ADS-B for instance? Stay with Mode S Extended Squitter or go for something else? But what? Would it not be better to wait until the technology debate settles? We have of course heard this in the past. Waiting is equivalent to doing nothing and missing the boat. We have also seen that in the past… and suffer the consequences in the present day.
No Sire, this time we should be smarter.
Click here to read the full article
Direct Routes and Wind Updates – Boeing Tools to Improve Flight Efficiency
On 12/12/2011, in The future is now, by steve
For air traffic controllers, giving a “direct” to a flight is a good feeling. They have, after all, probably shortened the track to be flown and this saves fuel. A good thing, right? Well, yes and no.
In the legacy environment where aircraft are made to fly routes that are usually much longer than they need to be, a direct is almost always a welcome intervention. In the upcoming SESAR and NextGen 4D trajectory environment, a direct might be seen as a distortion of the carefully crafted business trajectory. The aircraft arrives early, impacting other trajectories and upsetting the balance that had been worked out to provide maximum efficiency.
Of course the SESAR/NextGen 4D environment is some way off and in the meantime Boeing is providing two new tools that go a long way towards optimizing the way aircraft fly. The beauty of it all is that these tools do not require extra hardware on the aircraft using them. Any reasonably modern aircraft can play.
So, what is Direct Route?
This is an application that is managed by Boeing InFlight Optimization Services and which is able to figure out how to optimize the trajectory of individual flights.
Click here to read the full article
Amsterdam’s SARA – an important step towards the future
On 16/05/2011, in The future is now, by steve
If you read the current SESAR documentation, you cannot fail to notice one of the more serious misunderstandings that still prevail in the project. In SESAR terminology, ATM progress goes from time-based operations to trajectory based operations (TBO) and then to performance based operations. This reveals the, oft bemoaned, confusion between TBO and performance based operations. Under PBO we will still be using the TBO paradigm… But never mind, that will be the subject of another article.
This time round I would like to introduce to you a new development, a true time-based operations gem that goes under the name SARA (Speed and Route Advisor) and which will be implemented in the Amsterdam FIR starting in 2012 with the functionality expanding stepwise in the following period.
So what is SARA and what does it do?
One of the big capacity guzzler in busy TMAs is the unpredictability and instability of the arriving stream of aircraft. The numerous conflicts require constant radar vectors and radio traffic, resulting in high workload for both pilots and controllers as well as often inefficient trajectories. Developing an effective arrival management system is a real challenge.
The objective of SARA is to give advice on speed and/or routing to (Upper) Area Controllers in order to achieve the planned arrival time(s) of the aircraft over fixes (and implicitly via the Inbound Planning (IBP) function over the runway threshold).
Click here to read the full article
Tasmania Airspace Now Controlled With High Accuracy Sensis WAM
On 10/11/2010, in The future is now, by steve
First Multilateration System in Australia to Separate Aircraft in both En Route and Terminal Airspace
Sensis Corporation’s Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) system over Tasmania, Australia has passed its safety case by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and is now operational. The system uses both multilateration and Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) to provide Airservices Australia with enhanced en route surveillance of air traffic across the island and down to the surface at Hobart and Launceston Airports. Sensis WAM’s precise surveillance of aircraft enables air traffic controllers to implement five nautical miles of aircraft separation for safer, more efficient use of the airspace in a region that was previously controlled with procedural separation standards.
“Sensis wide area multilateration was the most cost-effective solution for surveillance over Tasmania today and also supports our commitment to using ADS-B in the future,” Airservices General Manager, Technology and Asset Services, Alastair Hodgson said. “This multimode approach is critical to ensuring safety and airspace efficiency while ADS-B equipage grows.”
Sensis WAM uses multiple low-maintenance, non-rotating sensors to triangulate aircraft location based on transponder signals and to provide air traffic controllers with precise aircraft position and identification information, regardless of weather conditions. With a higher update rate and greater positional accuracy than traditional radar, Sensis WAM provides effective surveillance for increased safety, capacity and efficiency of airspace and airports. With its advanced processing techniques, a Sensis multilateration system uses the minimal number of sensors for a less complex, lower lifecycle cost solution.
The Sensis WAM system provides seamless cooperative surveillance coverage between Launceston and Hobart Airports, with accurate coverage of 150 meters or better from the ground level at the airports to 18,000 feet. Surveillance data is sent to the Melbourne Air Traffic Control Center where it will provide controllers with information to implement five nautical miles of separation in an environment that had largely been controlled with procedural separation measures.
“With Sensis WAM, Air Navigation Service Providers can deploy a cost-effective, highly-accurate system that is compatible with current and future surveillance technologies and is an ideal complement to ADS-B,” said John Jarrell, vice president and general manager of Sensis Air Traffic Systems. “The technology is also enabling ANSPs to significantly enhance the efficiency of airspace by reducing separation standards.”
Sensis is providing WAM solutions to leading ANSPs and militaries around the world, addressing terminal and en route surveillance, precision runway monitoring and special use airspace applications.
