Evaluation of separation performance with ADS-B at the Louisville key site

Abstract

The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) surveillance and broadcast services (SBS) program office is implementing a ground infrastructure that supports the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data service. One of the main applications of this new surveillance service will be to support air traffic control (ATC) separation procedures that are performed exclusively with radar surveillance today. As part of the initial activities to assess the system, the ADS-B data is being incorporated into four different automation platforms in four different key sites. The first key site to integrate ADS-B data is the Louisville Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) which uses common automated radar terminal system (Common ARTS) to process and display radar data to controllers today. The Louisville Common ARTS has been augmented to accept ADS-B data and display aircraft using system track positions that are calculated from a variety of surveillance inputs, including multiple radars and ADS-B. As part of the SBS evaluation, a working group was created that worked specifically to evaluate the end-end performance in terminal separation applications of the ADS-B avionics, ADS-B surveillance service on the ground, and the updated Common ARTS software. The evaluation used a comparative approach with current monopulse secondary surveillance radar (MSSR) systems as a baseline; if the new system performed as good or better than MSSR systems in separation applications, then the system was acceptable for operation. This paper summarizes some of the efforts of that SBS working group to evaluate the operational performance in Louisville, including the metrics, assumptions made, scenarios developed for evaluation, and results from simulation, analysis of targets of opportunity (TOO), and controlled flight testing.