Abstract
Aviation contribution to global warming and anthropogenic climate change is increasing every year. To reverse this trend, it is crucial to identify greener alternatives to current aviation technologies and paradigms. Research in aircraft operations can provide a swift response to new environmental requirements, being easier to exploit on current fleets. This paper presents the development of a multi-objective and multi-phase 4D trajectory optimization tool to be integrated within a Flight Management System of a commercial aircraft capable of performing 4D trajectory tracking in a Free Route Airspace context. The optimization algorithm is based on a Chebyshev pseudospectral method, adapted to perform a multi-objective optimization with the two objectives being the Direct Operating Cost and the climate cost of a climb-cruise-descent trajectory. The climate cost function applies the Global Warming Potential metric to derive a comprehensive cost index that includes the climate forcing produced by CO2 and non-CO2 emissions, and by the formation of aircraft-induced clouds. The output of the optimization tool is a set of Pareto-optimal 4D trajectories among which the aircraft operator can choose the best solution that satisfies both its economic and environmental goals.
Highlights
The Direct Operating Cost (DOC)-optimal solution ignores the presence of ice supersaturated regions (ISSRs) along the track, producing aircraft-induced clouds (AIC) on its trail, pursuing a flight track with low route extension (RE) and intercepting favorable tailwind conditions, especially in the north-western Atlantic region
The environment optimal trajectory adopts a greater route extension, as it can be seen in Table 4, to avoid ISSRs and avoid
This paper presents the development of a 4D trajectory optimization tool capable of generating a Pareto set of optimal trajectories in terms of Direct Operating Cost (DOC)
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Air traffic provides a significant contribution to anthropogenic global warming.
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