Speed Control for Airborne Separation Assistance in Continuous Descent Arrivals

Abstract

orne Separation Assistance System (ASAS) is seen as a promising option for the future ATM concept to increase capacity and flight efficiency while maintaining flight safety. One idea of recent interest in ASAS applications is Airborne SPacing Application using enhanced Sequencing and Merging (ASPA-S&M). The S&M is expected to support energy saving arrivals, commonly referred to as Continuous Descent Arrivals (CDA). The motivation for our study is the need to clarify how safety and capacity depend on the setting of spacing criteria and in combination with specific S&M design aspects, and to identify any potential emergent behavior that should be taken into account in the operation design. For this purpose, a preceding study has designed initial mathematical models of the ASAS application for two aircraft trailing. This research develops the models to multiple aircraft trailing under stochastic wind conditions. In this paper, ASAS core components and their interactions are captured to build an integrated model using a Stochastically and Dynamically Colored Petri Net (SDCPN). Through Monte Carlo simulation based on the SDCPN model, we evaluate the performance of ASAS speed control for CDA operation considering the wind effect and multiple trailing aircraft.