European Air Traffic Management Research Articles

Step Toward Remote Tower Center Deployment: Optimizing Staff Schedules

Remote tower service is one of the technological and operational solutions delivered for deployment by the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research Program. This new concept fundamentally changes how operators provide air traffic services as it becomes possible to control several airports from a single remote center. In such settings, an air traffic controller works at a so-called multiple position in the remote center; that is, he/she handles two or more airports from one remote tower module, that is, the controller working position. In this paper, an optimization framework is presented for traffic management at five Swedish airports that were chosen for remote operation using a remote tower center designed to serve a number of airports. The problems experienced with real airport schedules are highlighted, and optimal assignments of the airports to the remote tower modules are presented. Both scheduled traffic and special (nonscheduled) traffic at these five airports are considered.

Coordinated capacity and demand management in a redesigned Air Traffic Management value-chain

We present a re-designed European Air Traffic Management value-chain, with a new role for the Network Manager, which coordinates capacity and demand management decisions, using economic instruments for both areas. A conceptual and mathematical model supports decision-making in that process, focusing on capacity management decisions taken at the strategic level. Total costs are minimized by jointly managing sector-opening schemes and trajectory assignments. A large-scale case study demonstrates clear trade-offs between the volume of capacity ordered and the scope of necessary demand management actions. In addition, the comparison against a baseline, which resembles the current system, shows that with the proposed concept less capacity is needed to serve the same demand, resulting in lower total cost for Aircraft Operators.

Surrounding traffic complexity analysis for efficient and stable conflict resolution

The constant increase in air traffic demand increases a probability of the separation minima infringements in certain areas as a consequence of increased traffic density. The Annual Safety Report 2016 reports that in recent years the number of infringements, measured per million flight hours, had been increased at a lower rate (Eurocontrol, 2018). However, this level of infringements still generates a continuous pressure on the air traffic control (ATC) system and seeks for more control resources ready to tactically solve potential conflicts, while increasing at the same time the operational costs. Considering present air traffic management (ATM) trade-off criteria: increased airspace capacity and traffic efficiency but reducing the cost while preserving safety, new services must be designed to distribute the separation management ATC task loads among other actors. Based on the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research and Next Generation Air Transportation System initiatives, this paper proposes an innovative separation management service to shift the completely centralized tactical ATC interventions to more efficient decentralized tactical operations relying on an advanced surrounding traffic analysis tool, to preserve the safety indicators while considering the operational efficiency. A developed methodology for the proposed service is an application-oriented, trying to respond to characteristics and requirements of the current operational environment. The paper further analysis the traffic complexity taking into consideration the so-called domino effect, i.e. a number of the surrounding aircraft causally involved in the separation management service by the means of identification of the spatiotemporal interdependencies between them and the conflicting aircraft. This complexity is driven by the interdependencies structure and expressed as a time-criticality in quantifying the total number of the system solutions, that varies over time as the aircraft are approaching to each other. The results from two randomly selected ecosystem scenarios, extracted from a simulated traffic, illustrate different avoidance capacities for a given look-ahead time and the system solutions counts, that in discrete moments reach zero value.

Probabilistic Occupancy Counts and Flight Criticality Measures in Air Traffic Management

Airspace congestion is a major challenge for future European air traffic management. When air traffic control believes that a sector will exceed its maximal capacity, a regulation is applied to it, which limits the number of aircraft entering the sector. These actions have a large cost because they affect all the flights that cross the sector. Moreover, they are based on the partial data available to the controller and do not take into account the network situation. First, a probabilistic framework for modeling air traffic occupancy count and sector congestion is proposed. This allows more precise information on the probability of sector overload to be provide to air traffic control. Second, based on this framework, metrics for individual flights are defined that measure their impact on the congestion of the whole network. These metrics are intended to be used in demand and capacity balancing tools, allowing for optimized choices for the whole network. Numerical experiments are presented for one day of European data, which include 33,219 flights in 1991 sectors. The simulations advocate the metrics and show how actions taken on selected flights have a positive impact on the network congestion.

Making SESAR a performing operational reality

This paper gives a condensed but complete overview of the status of air traffic management (ATM) modernisation in Europe. The modernisation of Europe’s ATM networks is crucial for the sustainability of European aviation and the forecasted increase in air traffic by 2035. The Single European Sky2 ATM research project SESAR, launched by the European Union, reforms the architecture of European ATM. It proposes a legislative approach to meet future capacity and safety needs at a European rather than local level. The objectives set up different phases, and the challenges faced are described. Key facts and figures and some examples bring an insight on the actual status of SESAR deployment and how this is being financed. The deployment of SESAR, under the coordination of the SESAR Deployment Manager, is driven by its stakeholders in the aviation industry and their efforts and investments, supported by European funds.

European Air Traffic Management from a New Perspective: Competition Concerns in the Single European Sky

This article attempts to assess the Single European Sky (SES) from a competition policy and competition law perspective. While air traffic management (ATM) has been viewed as a traditional and firm example of the exercise of public powers, as a result of technological developments, sectoral EU legislation and the relevant activities of the European Commission, this assessment may no longer be valid and certainly needs to be reconsidered. The European ATM scene is in dynamic change, inspired by EU policies and driven by legislative acts. While a recent report of the European Court of Auditors highlights several problematic aspects of the SES, new European and global markets of ATM services emerge, traditional state functions are earmarked for privatization, powerful industrial partnerships try to shape future markets, public functions are subjected to industry governance and the whole sector is increasingly at risk of technological disruption by tech firms such as Google and Facebook, interested in developing automatized solutions for the separation of drones and possibly traditional ATM. At least some of these new developments may be relevant from the competition perspective. It will be argued that competition policy and competition law are not only relevant to the ATM sector, but they need to be considered when making political and business decisions and adopting new legislation. Focussing on the most relevant sectoral developments, including provisions of the reinvented SES 2 sectoral legislative proposal of the European Commission, the article will argue that overlooking competition policy and competition law in the digital SES may lead to anti-competitive consequences in the reorganized ATM sector.

Reduction of Air Traffic Complexity Using Trajectory-Based Operations and Validation of Novel Complexity Indicators

Airspace capacity is limited primarily by the saturation of air traffic controller’s capacity, whose workload increases as air traffic complexity increases. Workload can be reduced through task automation by advanced controller tools. Automation and the development of novel controller tools is therefore one of the key aspects of future concepts of operations in European and American air traffic management systems. Implementation of trajectory-based operations (TBOs) has been proposed as a way to reduce workload, but few studies have examined how TBO affects air traffic complexity. This paper compares air traffic complexity experienced by ten air traffic controllers in a real-time simulation environment involving conventional operations and TBO. Analysis of subjective complexity scores collected in real time showed that TBO significantly reduced complexity when at least 70% of aircraft were flying according to TBO and when the airspace was occupied simultaneously by more than 15 aircraft. Subjective complexity scores were tested for correlation with 20 commonly used complexity indicators, and six indicators were used to generate a predictive linear model that performed well in conventional operations but less well under TBO. Therefore, we defined and experimentally validated two of seven novel TBO-specific complexity indicators. A second correlation model combining these two novel indicators with four already in use generated much better predictions of complexity than the first model.

Characterization of Tropospheric Gradients for the Ground-Based Augmentation System Through the Use of Numerical Weather Models

In the scope of the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) Work Package 15.3.7, a number of research threads are being undertaken to improve the performance of multi-constellation multi-frequency ground-based augmentation system to support CAT II/III precision approaches. Several challenges and key issues must be solved including those related to atmospheric modeling. However, there are a number of arguments for revisiting this topic and specifically addressing the tropospheric threat. First, recent observations, reported at the last International Civil Aviation Organization Navigation System Panel meeting, showed unexpected atmospheric behavior. The source could be related to a non-modeled behavior of the troposphere. Second, in the advent of dual-frequency ground-based augmentation system, the main contributor to the atmospheric error will come from the tropospheric delay. That is why this paper explains a methodology to reassess the tropospheric threat within two main steps: an analysis of European meteorological data and an analysis of a new bounding methodology for dealing with the troposphere threat and its impact on vertical protection levels.

The Single European Sky: a window of opportunity for EU–NATO relations

ABSTRACTTo cope with increasing air traffic congestion, the European Union launched the Single European Sky in the early 2000s, intending to reform the European airspace which, at that time, was still fragmented by national frontiers. However, this has not been a purely civilian task, as military air transport is likewise affected. In fact, NATO has been concerned by the challenges facing the European Air Traffic Management environment due to the growing commercial aviation since its early days. For this, the European Defence Agency has been tasked to coordinate military views, thus opening a window of opportunity for EU–NATO relations. Both organisations promoting close coordination between the users of civilian and military airspace have built direct contact with each other. While examining how NATO and the EU are shaping their informal cooperation in this sector, the article considers the airspace community of users as a configuration of relations where inevitable inter- and intra-institutional power play is involved to reform the European airspace.

Why a future commercial spacecraft must be able to SWIM

Regarding current as well as future commercial space transportation (CST) projects, new re-entry trajectory profiles, differing from capsule and shuttle-like approaches, have to be taken into account. These characteristics are mainly ruled by the principle of “landing like an aircraft at an airport”. This directly generates the need to be taken in a system wide information management (SWIM) consideration because of the fact, that all the future air traffic participants are requested to act as SWIM communicating sub-systems by the future Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) SWIM “Intranet for ATM” concept. Against the background of the global character of future CST operations and the associated SWIM harmonization need referring the U.S. Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and SESAR, the presented solution addresses near real-time information sharing for normal air traffic protection purposes in the event of a future space vehicle breakup and bases on the already harmonized data format standards Aeronautical Information Exchange Model (AIXM) and Flight Information Exchange Model (FIXM).

Toward a Single European Sky

To meet rising traffic projections over the next 20 years, Eurocontrol must develop Europe's first uniform air traffic control standards. This case illustrates the usefulness of management science methods for obtaining agreement and commitment among stakeholders. Excerpt UVA-QA-0736 March 26, 2010 Toward a Single European Sky On the journey toward an integrated air traffic management system in Europe by 2020, the key date was January 24, 2007. On that day, the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) program held a stakeholder forum in Geneva to encourage the entire air transport community to commit to performance targets for future European air traffic management (ATM) systems. For the first time in European air traffic management history, the SESAR consortium brought together all major stakeholders in European aviation, including airspace users, air navigation service providers (ANSPs), airport operators, safety regulators, military organizations, and research centers. In all, the forum comprised 76 people representing 30 stakeholder groups. Eurocontrol The primary objective of Eurocontrol, Europe's air traffic management (ATM) organization, was the development of a seamless, pan-European ATM system. Eurocontrol developed, coordinated, and planned the implementation of European ATM strategies and their associated operational plans in collaboration with national authorities, air navigation service providers (ANSP), civil and military airspace users, airports, manufacturers, professional organizations, and relevant European institutions. Eurocontrol's core activities spanned the entire range of gate-to-gate air navigation service operations, from strategic and tactical-flow management to controller training, from regional control of airspace to the development of leading-edge technologies and procedures. In 2007, Eurocontrol had 38 member states and was headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The agency had approximately 2,400 staff located in seven European countries and reported to the transport and defense ministers in the European Commission. . . .

Peak-load pricing for the European Air Traffic Management system using modulation of en-route charges

This paper extends the use of peak-load pricing (PLP) to the context of the European Air Traffic Management system, as EU regulation No 391/2013 allows the modulation of en-route charges to avoid network capacity-demand imbalance in a specific area or on a specific route at specific times. In particular, we propose a centralised approach to PLP (CPLP) where a Central Planner (CP) is responsible for setting en-route charges on the network and Airspace Users (AUs) assess the routing of each flight. Set en-route charges should guarantee that air navigation service providers (ANSPs) are able to recover their operational costs, and that AUs perform their flights avoiding imbalances between demand and available airspace capacity. Like in the current charging system, in CPLP AUs react to en-route charges (which are imposed by CP instead of ANSPs) by choosing alternative and cheaper routes. Hence, we model this relationship between the CP and the AUs as a Stackelberg game where a leader (CP) makes his/her decision first, with complete knowledge on how the follower(s) (AUs) would react to it. The Stackelberg equilibrium is obtained by means of an optimisation problem formulated as a bilevel mixed-integer linear programming model, where the CP sets, for each ANSP, one peak and one off-peak en-route charge and the AUs make their routing choice. Preliminary results on real data instances on a regional scale are presented.

Guest Editorial Special Issue on Systematic Approaches to Human–Machine Interface: Improving Resilience, Robustness, and Stability

The papers in this special section focus on systematic approaches to human-machine interface applications. The motivation for this special issue is the growing increase of remote mission management, unmanned aircraft systems, NextGen operations in the U.S. and its Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research counterparts in Europe, and other similarly integrated systems of systems that include complex human–machine systems with high levels of autonomy and team dynamics that are difficult to understand and analyze. The issue explores key research areas that impact the properties of these systems, which rely on varied degrees of human and machine interactions. The special issue is a result of the continued interest in the formal verification of complex human–machine systems.

A Point Cloud Method for Retrieval of High-Resolution 3D Gridded Reflectivity from Weather Radar Networks for Air Traffic Management

AbstractA prototype high-resolution (1 km, 5 min) multiradar 3D gridded reflectivity product, including a suite of derived 2D vertical column products, has been developed for the Single European Skies Air Traffic Management Research program. As part of this, a new method for mapping radar data to grid points is being used, based on the concept of a binary space partitioning (BSP) tree that treats radar data as a set of points in a 3D point cloud. This allows the resulting analysis to be based on a complete picture of the nearby data from overlapping radars and can easily adapt to irregular grid configurations. This method is used with a Barnes successive corrections technique to retrieve finescale features while avoiding problems of undersmoothing in data-sparse regions. This has been tested using 3D domains enclosing the terminal maneuvering areas surrounding Paris, France, and London, United Kingdom, and using reflectivity plan position indicator scan data from the French and U.K. operational networks, encoded using the standard European Operational Programme for the Exchange of Weather Radar Information (OPERA) Data Information Model format. Quantitative intercomparisons between the new method, in various configurations; a high-resolution version of an existing method, in operational use at Météo-France; and a method that was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for use with the Weather Surveillance Radar-1998 Doppler radar network, have been done using simulated radar scans derived from 3D synthetic radar reflectivity fields in stratiform and convective regimes.

The future of air traffic management: ATM master plan and SESAR

In this paper we analise the problems of the future development of the system flow management of air traffic with basic aim of overcoming these disadvantages of existing air traffic management system. During the last century Europe did not have, unlike the United States, a joint civilian airspace. European airspace is among the busiest in the world, with over 33,000 flights a day, while the spatial concentration of airports in Europe is very high. These factors make the work of air traffic control in Europe very complex. The existing model of organization of airspace, that is. fragmentation and inefficiency of European air traffic control could not respond to the new needs of air traffic in terms of reducing delays, reducing the price of services, increasing safety and reducing impact on environment. European airlines have expressed in early XXI century the need to accelerate the modernization of air traffic control to maximize efficiency. Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research Programme (SESAR) brought the innovations that strongly increased efficiency and reduced costs in air transport in Europe. Also, in June 2010, the European and US authorities have reached a preliminary agreement on interoperability between their future systems for air traffic management-SESAR and NextGen (Next Generation Air Transportation System), in order to overcome the fragmentation and inefficiency of the system for air traffic management, reduce delays and achieve significant savings in fuel.

SESAR: Future-proofing Europe’s Airports

A well-functioning and efficient Air Traffic Management (ATM) system is a vital element for the sustainability of global aviation. That is why SESAR (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research) was founded in 2007 in order to modernise and harmonise ATM systems through the definition, development and deployment of innovative technological and operational solutions. Today, SESAR consists of two pillars: The SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU), a public–private partnership, which pools together the knowledge and resources of the entire ATM community in order to research and validate new technological solutions. These solutions are then handed over to the SESAR Deployment Manager, comprised of a group of air navigation service providers, airports and airlines, whose role is to deliver them into everyday operations across Europe.

Аналіз упровадження концепцій повітряного простору вільних маршрутів та навігації, заснованої на характеристиках, у європейській аеронавігаційній с

Розглянуто питання забезпечення безпеки польотів, підвищення пропускної спроможності та економічної ефективності, зменшення впливу інтенсивності повітряного руху на навколишнє середовище. Проаналізова норозроблені міжнародними організаціями концепції повітряного простору вільних маршрутів та навігації, заснованої на характеристиках, у європейському регіоні та українській аеронавігаційній системі. Із результатіваналізу статистичних даних видно, що 12,5% країн-членів Євроконтролю впровадили концепцію повітряногопростору вільних маршрутів у верхньому повітряному просторі повністю, 17,5 % країн-членів Євроконтролю(Польща, Хорватія, Сербія, Чехія, Австрія, Німеччина та Фінляндія) частково. За даними Міжнародноїорганізації цивільної авіації показано, що шість країн упровадили процедури навігації, заснованої нахарактеристиках, для більш ніж 50 % злітно-посадкових смуг, п’ять країн упровадили ці процедури лише длядеяких аеродромів.

New Concept for Wake-Vortex Hazard Mitigation Using Onboard Measurement Equipment

Wake-vortex hazards are a huge threat in aviation. These hazards are well accepted in the vicinity of airports (both departure and arrival). But also a number of en route incidents have happened in the past. Current wake-vortex mitigation strategies are based on static distances (in space and/or time). In future air traffic management concepts of Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research and NextGen, these static distances will be replaced by dynamic separation strategies. Furthermore, concepts for self-separation of aircraft are described. This paper will discuss the work at Technische Universität Braunschweig, where a new concept for wake-vortex hazard mitigation has been developed. The basic idea of the new concept is that only a criticality parameter will be transmitted between aircraft to ensure a safe separation even within new self-separation concepts. The criticality parameter will give an indication about the severity (and therefore criticality to the following aircraft) of the vortices. Additionally, Technische Universität Braunschweig will install wind-turbulence measurement equipment onboard its research aircraft. This installation will be also be described, and the possible usage will be discussed.

Safety intelligence: An exploration of senior managers' characteristics

Senior managers can have a strong influence on organisational safety. But little is known about which of their personal attributes support their impact on safety. In this paper, we introduce the concept of ‘safety intelligence’ as related to senior managers' ability to develop and enact safety policies and explore possible characteristics related to it in two studies. Study 1 (N = 76) involved direct reports to chief executive officers (CEOs) of European air traffic management (ATM) organisations, who completed a short questionnaire asking about characteristics and behaviours that are ideal for a CEO's influence on safety. Study 2 involved senior ATM managers (N = 9) in various positions in interviews concerning their day-to-day work on safety. Both studies indicated six attributes of senior managers as relevant for their safety intelligence, particularly, social competence and safety knowledge, followed by motivation, problem-solving, personality and interpersonal leadership skills. These results have recently been applied in guidance for safety management practices in a White Paper published by EUROCONTROL.

Benchmarking of Air Navigation Services Providers by the Use of Composite Flight Hours; True or False?

European Air Traffic Management appears to be, in comparison to other similar systems in the world, cost inefficient and therefore constantly under pressure of airspace users to optimize. Benchmarking results are valuable for managerial decision making processes, however it is safe to assume that the methodology used, favours a narrow segment of ANSPs. By improvements introduced through this study, in particular in computing the Composite Flight Hours, the managerial decision-making process could most probably be more adequately supported.