Abstract
An analysis of the performance of automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data received from the Grand Forks, North Dakota International Airport was carried out in this study. The purpose was to understand the vulnerabilities of the universal access transceiver (UAT) ADS-B system and recognize the effects on present and future air traffic control (ATC) operation. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mandated all the general aviation aircraft to be equipped with ADS-B. The aircraft flying within United States and below the transition altitude (18,000 feet) are more likely to install a UAT ADS-B. At present, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and autonomous air traffic control (ATC) towers are being integrated into the aviation industry and UAT ADS-B is a basic sensor for both class 1 and class 2 detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems. As a fundamental component of future surveillance systems, the anomalies and vulnerabilities of the ADS-B system need to be identified to enable a fully-utilized airspace with enhanced situational awareness. The data received was archived in GDL-90 format, which was parsed into readable data. The anomaly detection of ADS-B messages was based on the FAA ADS-B performance assessment report. The data investigation revealed ADS-B message suffered from different anomalies including dropout, missing payload, data jump, low confidence data, and altitude discrepancy. Among those studied, the most severe was dropout and 32.49% of messages suffered from this anomaly. Dropout is an incident where ADS-B failed to update within a specified rate. Considering the potential danger being imposed, an in-depth analysis was carried out to characterize message dropout. Three flight parameters were selected to investigate their effect on dropout. Statistical analysis was carried out and the Friedman Statistical Test identified that altitude affected dropout more than any other flight parameter.
Highlights
In order to meet the increasing air travel demand, airspace capacity must be increased which, in turn, depends to a large extent on the future air traffic control (ATC) technologies and the capability of ATC and associated functions to manage the airspace
At present, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and autonomous air traffic control (ATC) towers are being integrated into the aviation industry and universal access transceiver (UAT) automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) is a basic sensor for both class 1 and class 2 detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems
Findings of this study revealed that ADS-B often failed to assign a correct navigation integrity category (NIC) and navigation accuracy category for position (NACp) values
Summary
In order to meet the increasing air travel demand, airspace capacity must be increased which, in turn, depends to a large extent on the future air traffic control (ATC) technologies and the capability of ATC and associated functions to manage the airspace. According to the definition from the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) ADS-B is a function on an aircraft or a surface vehicle operating within the surface movement area that periodically broadcasts its position and other information without the knowledge of the identity of the recipients and without expecting acknowledgments [3]. It is a cooperative surveillance system as it requires common equipage for the aircraft sharing the information.
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