Abstract

The main objective of this project is to design an automation control system for a new arrival procedure at Palma de Mallorca airport, which is the Point Merge System (PMS). This new system, suggested by Cercle d’Economia de Mallorca, allows performing Continuous Descent Approach (CDA), reducing fuel consumption, CO2 and acoustic emissions, while safety levels are enhanced and arrival capacity is increased. Additionally, the fact of introducing the automation control would remove the air traffic controllers presence, only needing one person to monitor the system. The PMS concept was developed by Eurocontrol and is based on the merging of two arrival flows in one single entry point, which is afterwards linked to the airport runway. Nowadays, these flows are managed by controllers who give the “direct-to” instruction to pilots to fly towards the merge point, whereas in this project this will be done by the system. In order to achieve the aim of the project, the Network Strategic Tool (NEST) from Eurocontrol has been used, which allows traffic simulations, together with Matlab, in which the NEST files have been read and different time computations have been performed to determine when the aircraft gets the “direct-to” and in this way ensure safety. The obtained results are for two diferent scenarios. On one hand, real traffic data from summer 2018 has been considered, which are used to know the current behavior of the system. On the other hand, with the webpage Demand Data Repository (DDR) of Eurocontrol a traffic forecast for summer 2024 has been generated, which is used to estimate the behaviour and capacity of the system in a future with more traffic. With the results analysis, it is possible to check that nowadays most aircraft would be authorized with a direct entry to the merge point, without waiting. For the 2024 case, most aircraft would have to stay inside the system with a waiting time due to the increase of flights. Lastly, in both scenarios route length increases, while it is possible to perform CDA thanks to the predictability obtained with the system. L’objectiu principal d’aquest projecte és dissenyar un sistema de control automàtic per un nou procediment d’arribades a l’aeroport de Palma de Mallorca, el Point Merge System (PMS). Aquest nou sistema, proposat pel Cercle d’Economia de Mallorca, permet realitzar Continuous Descent Approach (CDA), reduint el consum de fuel, les emissions de CO2 i l’impacte acústic, mentre que es milloren els nivells de seguretat i s’augmenta la capacitat de trànsit d’arribada. A més a més, el fet d’introduir el control automàtic eliminaria la presència dels controladors, necessitant únicament una persona que supervisés el sistema. El concepte de PMS va ser desenvolupat per Eurocontrol i es basa en la fusió de dos fluxos d’arribada en un únic punt d’entrada, que després s’enllaça amb la pista de l’aeroport. Actualment aquests fluxos són gestionats pels controladors que donen la instrucció “direct-to” als pilots perquè es puguin dirigir cap al punt final, mentre que en aquest projecte ho farà el propi sistema. Per aconseguir l’objectiu del projecte s’ha utilitzat el programa Network Strategic Tool (NEST) d’Eurocontrol, que permet fer simulacions de trànsit aeri, juntament amb Matlab, amb el qual s’han llegit els arxius del NEST i s’han realitzat diferents càlculs de temps per determinar quan l’avió obté el “direct-to” i així garantir la seguretat. Els resultats obtinguts són per dos escenaris diferents. Per una banda, s’han considerat dades de trànsit real de l’estiu de 2018, amb les quals sabem el comportament del sistema a dia d’avui. Per altra banda, a través de la pàgina web Demand Data Repository (DDR) d’Eurocontrol s’ha generat una previsió de trànsit per l’estiu de 2024, amb la qual s’estima el comportament i la capacitat del sistema en un futur amb més trànsit. Amb l’anàlisi dels resultats, es comprova que actualment la majoria d’avions serien autoritzats amb una entrada directa al punt final, sense necessitat d’esperar. En el cas de l’any 2024, la majoria d’avions hauria d’estar dins del sistema amb un temps d’espera degut a l’augment dels vols. Per últim, en els dos escenaris la distància recorreguda augmenta, mentre que es pot fer una aproximació CDA gràcies a la predictibilitat obtinguda amb el sistem

Abstract

decade ago, the SESAR programme was launched. SESAR aims to restructure of the European Air Traffic Management (ATM) through new infrastructure, systems and procedures inside a lesgislative European framework which will cover the future air traffic demand. One of the concepts borned with SESAR is the Dynamic Sectorization, where any necessary segregation is temporary, based on real-time usage within a specific period. The project focuses in the ACC of Barcelona West Airspace, which its maximum traffic demand is produced in summer, and the capacity is limited in the peak hours, causing the application of regulations, hence delay, almost in a daily basis in some of its sectors. This project covers an assessment based on the viability, benefits and inconveniences of two new possible configurations proposed by Enaire, the Air Navigation Service Provider in Spain, which are based in the FUA concept. For that, real air traffic samples are used from the months of July and August of 2015, and the configuration are simulated with EUROCONTROL NEST tool. The first configuration studies the possibility to rise the vertical limit between two sectors (Levante Upper, Levante Lower) from FL325 (3250 ft.) to FL345 (3450 ft.). The second configuration studies the possibility to incorporate temporary segregations between three sectors (Ponent 1 Upper, Ponent 1 Lower, Ponent 2) through the creation of two subsectors between them with the goal of joining them with the existing ones based on the traffic. Results show that in the first configuration the global conditions of capacity and saturation would be of the same order of magnitude, but having some benefits. The second configuration does not show any improvement with neither of the solutions provided, due to the capacity problem is focused in the airspace zone where the adaptable sectors have been created.

Abstract

The Single Europe Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) program develops and implements innovative technological and operational solutions to modernize European air traffic management and to eliminate the negative environmental impacts of aviation activity. This article presents our developments within the SESAR Solution &ldquo Safety Support Tools for Avoiding Runway Excursions&rdquo . This SESAR Solution aims to mitigate the risk of runway excursion, to optimize airport operation management by decreasing the number of runway inspections, to make chemical treatment effective with respect to the environment, and to increase resilience, efficiency and safety in adverse weather situations. The proposed approach is based on the enhancement of runway surface condition awareness by integrating data from various sources. Dangerous windy conditions based on Lidar measurements are also discussed as another relevant factor in relation to runway excursions. The paper aims to explore four different data mining methods to obtain runway conditions from the available input data sources, examines their performance and discusses their pros and cons in comparison with a rule-based algorithm approach. The output of the SESAR Solution is developed in compliance with the new Global Reporting Format of the International Civil Aviation Organization for runway condition description to be valid from 2020. This standard is expected to provide concerned stakeholders with more precise information to enhance flight safety and environmental protection. Document type: Article

Abstract

The present paper focuses on the development of an algorithm for safely and optimally managing the routing of aircraft on an airport surface in future airport operations. This tool is intended to support air traffic controllers’ decision-making in selecting the paths of all aircraft and the engine startup approval time for departing ones. Optimal routes are sought for minimizing the time both arriving and departing aircraft spend on an airport surface with engines on, with benefits in terms of safety, efficiency and costs. The proposed algorithm first computes a standalone, shortest path solution from runway to apron or vice versa, depending on the aircraft being inbound or outbound, respectively. For taking into account the constraints due to other traffic on an airport surface, this solution is amended by a conflict detection and resolution task that attempts to reduce and possibly nullify the number of conflicts generated in the first phase. An example application on a simple Italian airport exemplifies how the algorithm can be applied to true-world applications. Emphasis is given on how to model an airport surface as a weighted and directed graph with non-negative weights, as required for the input to the algorithm. Document type: Article