Flight Information Region Research Articles

A rolling horizon optimization approach for dynamic airspace sectorization

Dynamic airspace sectorization is the concept of dynamically changing the airspaces that the air traffic controllers are managing to handle sudden changes in the air traffic patterns and also the non-availability of certain airspaces due to weather or other considerations. For the dynamically changing sector shapes to be operationally feasible, air traffic controllers need to be familiar with the sector shapes i.e. the new sector shapes need to have a high level of similarity with the previous sector shapes. This paper presents a rolling horizon optimization approach to plan and handle the above problem. Normally in a conventional dynamic airspace sectorization optimization approach, one changes the sector shapes for the next hour interval based on the current sector shapes and the planned next hour traffic pattern. However, in this paper, we propose a rolling horizon optimization approach where the shapes are changed based on a finite horizon of the traffic in future time intervals. Detailed performance evaluation of the proposed method is presented based on Singapore flight information region traffic and historical data. The results clearly show that the proposed approach is better able to provide feasible gradually changing sector shapes that are more suitable for operations when compared to the conventional approach.

생성 모형을 사용한 순항 항공기 향후 속도 예측 및 추론

An accurate trajectory prediction is a key to the safe and efficient operations of aircraft. One way to improve trajectory prediction accuracy is to develop a model for aircraft ground speed prediction. This paper proposes a generative model for posterior aircraft ground speed prediction. The proposed method fits the Gaussian Mixture Model(GMM) to historical data of aircraft speed, and then the model is used to generates probabilistic speed profile of the aircraft. The performances of the proposed method are demonstrated with real traffic data in Incheon Flight Information Region(FIR).

INDONESIA’S AIR SOVEREIGNTY ISSUES IN THE GLOBAL ERA

A state has a government as the supreme authority that has a complete and exclusive jurisdiction over its territory. It is very important to Indonesia, with its vast territory, to preserve and uphold the state’s sovereignty, particularly over its airspace. Especially in this global era, when the rapid development of technologies resulting in the end of geography era, and the world seems to be borderless. The issue discussed in this paper is Indonesia’s air sovereignty issues in the global era. The things to be concerned by the Government of Indonesia on the management and protection of the state’s sovereignty over the airspace in the global era are: (1) the take over of the Flight Information Region above Riau and Natuna from Singapore FIR; (2) the prevention and suppression of airspace violation incidents; and (3) the impact of Indonesia’s ratification on the ASEAN Open Skies Policy to the protection of the sovereignty over Indonesia’s airspace. A state’s airspace is very strategic because it is the first fortress of a state, in which all foreign forces can fly in first. Therefore as a state with vast territory, the Government of Indonesia must work hard to be able to preserve and uphold the sovereignty over its territory, especially in defending the state’s sovereignty over its airspace in the global era.

Pengelolaan Flight Information Region Di Wilayah Kepulauan Riau Dan Natuna

This article focuses on the study of Flight Information Region (FIR) management in the Riau and Natuna Islands, which since 1946 is still controlled by Singapore. Although various attempts to take over the control have been carried out by the Indonesian government, it is yet to produce any meaningful results. The limitation of the problem in this study is first, the implications that arise from the management of FIR by Singapore on the Riau Islands and Natuna airspace. Second, the efforts that have been made by the Indonesian government to take over the management of FIR by Singapore over the Riau Islands and Natuna airspace. This research uses a normative legal research by analysing the legal issues through international treaties, legal regulations and other literature related to FIR management. The results of the study concluded first, the management of FIR by Singapore over the Riau Islands and Natuna influenced the enforcement of Indonesia's airspace sovereignty and national defence. Secondly, Indonesia's efforts and readiness to take over aviation navigation services include the formation of a special team from several ministries and other relevant institutions to prepare technical and operational steps as well as diplomatic steps in the framework of restructuring the FIR.

CDAS: A Cognitive Decision-Making Architecture for Dynamic Airspace Sectorization for Efficient Operations

In this paper, a cognitive decision-making architecture for dynamic airspace sectorization (CDAS) to handle increasing traffic flow and provide an efficient decision making process for operations is presented. The main objective of CDAS is to determine optimal 3-D sector shapes such that the conflicting workloads of air traffic controllers are balanced along with marginal changes to sector shapes over a time horizon. CDAS broadly comprises two major components, namely, a cognitive engine and a metacognitive decision maker. The cognitive engine includes an airspace sectorization model and a multi-objective optimization solver. The problem of 3-D dynamic airspace resectorization is cast as a multi-objective optimization problem with safety constraints and is solved using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II. The metacognitive decision maker utilizes the Pareto-optimal solutions obtained from the cognitive engine along with the air traffic control requirements and predicted traffic pattern to identify the best solution that can be implemented along with a rule to decide on when-to-do a resectorization when needed. A detailed performance evaluation of CDAS is presented using the actual flight data over the Singapore flight information region. The results clearly indicate that CDAS provides an efficient dynamic sectorization solution over the existing solution of split-and-merge of a specific sector to handle heavy traffic.

Isu Penyelarasan Flight Information Region di atas Wilayah Natuna

Citizen sentiment is essential to evaluate the support toward government program. In 2015, Indonesian government proposed an acceleration program on re-alignment on Flight Information Region above Natuna area. Since then, primary of discussion is often be held as a formal or informal event. The data collected from 210 respondent, which consist of pilots, military staff, ATC staff, and academician. Furthermore, this study uses TF-IDW weighting technique to cluster the argument as positive, neutral, and negative sentiment. The result shows that most of Indonesia aviation community (75%) argue that FIR management should base on sovereignty and safety. Moreover, FIR issue under economic, national security and management shows significant positive respond (>90%) while FIR management under Singapore shows a negative response (100%). The result indicates that the aviation community supports the national program Natuna FIR re-alignment.

How to prevent loss of satellite navigation continuity caused by nimbostratus? Concept for Polish ATM

In 2018, the Polish project concerned on operational implementation of instrumental approach procedures for landing using satellite signal with the support of SBAS (Satellite Based Augmentation System) - EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) was completed. This made Poland one of a few countries in which such an approach procedures were applied at the majority of controlled airports occurring in FIR (Flight Information Region) Warsaw. In the adopted procedures, minima comparable to those from the precision landing approach ILS (Instrument Landing System) cat. I were used. Satellite systems and signals provided by them are therefore a key element of the strategy for the development of communication, navigation and surveillance systems in civil aviation. What is more, positioning in various branches of transport (rail, road, and air) is often carried out thanks to satellite navigation systems, and therefore their correct functioning has a significant impact on the safety of vehicle traffic. It cannot be overlooked that the limited operational use of satellite systems in air transport is caused by various errors that are inherent to the work of these systems. The satellite system, in all its complexity, can be treated as a measurement system. This is why the research problem of the article concerns on the use of information about atmospheric factors interfering with the satellite signal for forecasting the continuity value of this signal. The rationale for choosing this problem is, among others, the fact that failure to meet the requirements for signals prevents their operational use. A review of literature made for the purposes of this article points to a number of studies conducted in the field of modeling and prediction of signal parameters through artificial neural networks. However, no detailed research that would include the use of ionospheric & tropospheric factors, as well as historical data on the accuracy, continuity, availability and integrity of satellite signal forecasting in air transport navigation has been found so far. Their implementation will therefore have a significant impact on the development of science in this area.

Controller response behaviour during procedural control with surveillance information

Air Traffic Controller (ATCo) duties are challenging due to their heavy task demand. ATCo needs to monitor air traffic while ensuring a smooth flow of traffic and also maintaining safe separation between aircraft. In this study, a human-in-the-loop experiment was carried out to assess the controller response behaviour during procedural control with radar information assistance. Lumpur Sector 4 in Kuala Lumpur Flight Information Region (KL FIR) has been chosen as the assigned sector to study ATCo reactions during control activities. The sector was characterised with two intercepting inbound flight routes and two sets of traffic feed: high traffic feed with incoming feed rate of one aircraft for every 60s and low traffic feed with incoming feed rate of one aircraft for every 70s. The experiment was conducted with two controllers (expert subjects) from the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) and two students (trained subjects) using a customized air traffic radar and either a Procedural Control Bay or an Electronic Flight Strip Bay. To monitor controller reactions, a heart rate sensor monitoring device was chosen as a primary monitoring tool. Additionally, the controller subjective workload was measured using the Instantaneous Self-Assessment (ISA) workload rating and NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) questionnaires. Based on the results, the ISA workload rating can be observed to be fluctuating throughout the experiment sessions. The fluctuation was also captured to be in agreement with the response gathered from heart rate sensor monitoring device. Overall, the subjects were observed to exhibit a lower stress level for the low traffic condition than for the high traffic condition. In the future, it is recommended that more subjects should be included in the research in order to be better conclude on whether workload can indeed be assessed by monitoring subject’s heart rate or response.

LEGAL ASPECTS OF USING UAVs FOR AIR OPERATIONS WITHIN THE RESPONSIBILITY REGION OF FIR WARSZAWA

The paper describes currently binding legal regulations for execution of flights by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) of particular categories. The division of the air space in the Warsaw’s flight information region (FIR) including consideration of possibilities for flights with the use of UAVs in different parts of this space is also presented. The final part of the paper provides information on legal consequences after violation of binding law regulations relating to the performance of flights by the UAVs.

The Delegation of State Sovereignty over Air Space in the Implementation of Air Navigation: The Analysis of the Agreement between Indonesia and Singapore on Management of the Batam and Natuna Flight Information Region

The state sovereignty over airspace with its complete and exclusive nature experiences a significant dynamic in both its concept and implementation in the international air law. Sovereignty over the airspace not only provides legislative, executive, and judicialauthorities of the state but also puts an obligation on the state to provide facilities for aviation safety. The reason for aviation safety airspace of a sovereign state can be delegated to other states to manage the service of navigation, for example, Indonesian air spaces in the Natuna and Batam, are maintained by Singapore for the sake of aviation safety. The taking over of the management of FIR in Batam and Natuna had been carried out through several steps. First, establishing Civil Military Aviation Coordination (CMAC) as outlined in the Government Regulation (Ministry of Transportation Regulation Number 55 on 2016) concerning the order of the national airspace. Second, evaluating the implementation of air navigation by reformulating the institutional of LPPNPI, evaluating the cooperation agreement between the Government of Indonesia and Singapore, and providing air navigation service during the transition period in Natuna Islands. Third, conducting the taking over concept phase by phase, in which the first phase, Singapore only provides air navigation service, while Indonesia only monitors. The second phase, Indonesia provides air navigation services, while Singapore only monitors, and for the third phase, as the final implementation, Indonesia provides air navigation services fully. Keywords: Delegation, Sovereignty, Air Space, Air Navigation, Agreement

Simultaneous Optimization of Airway and Sector Design for Air Traffic Management

Dynamic airspace sectorization is an evolving concept of balancing the workload of air traffic controllers by changing the area of airspace under the controller based on the traffic demands. Proposed methodologies in literature typically consider fixed air traffic routes. However, routing can be an alternative effective handle for balancing the controller workloads, especially when making pretactical decisions where the redesigning of sectors has limited flexibility. In this paper, an optimization framework called simultaneous optimization of airway and airspace is proposed for handling changing the availability of airspace due to weather disturbances or airspace restrictions. A scenario such as this involves the rerouting of air traffic, which creates an unexpected imbalance in workloads. The framework overcomes this imbalance by finding a reroute and resectorization strategy that minimize workload imbalance across sectors and maximize the sector similarity with original sector shapes. An experimental study is performed to compare this methodology with a sequential design approach; the concurrent consideration of the effect of sector redesign and flow rerouting on the design objectives yields better and more optimal solutions. Furthermore, the application of the proposed framework on the Singapore flight information region with historical flight data reflects similar conclusions.

Study of air traffic over KLFIR

This paper shares the overview of the work currently being conducted with the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia related to the air traffic. The aim is to study air traffic performance over KL and KK FIR, and the area of interest in this paper is the Kuala Lumpur Flight Information Region (KLFIR). The air traffic performance parameters includes general air traffic movement such as level allocation, number of movements, sector load analysis and also more specific parameters such as airborne delays, effects of weather to the air movements as well as ground delays. To achieve this, a huge effort has been undertaken that includes live data collection algorithm development and real time statistical analysis algorithm development. The main outcome from this multi-disciplinary work is the long-term analysis on the air traffic performance in Malaysia, which will put the country at par in the aviation community, namely the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Operational Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring Prediction System for Air Traffic Management System

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the key enabling technology for new air traffic management (ATM) systems. However, for civil aviation safety-of-life applications, the sensors of an ATM system using GPS must meet the required navigation performance, especially integrity. According to a new ATM system requirement, the receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) prediction system (RPS) is an essential element for predicting GPS service quality for a 72 h period. Many web-based RPSs have been developed and are operated by civil aviation organizations around the world. However, none can autonomously provide the GPS RAIM availability information to the new ATM system. Thus, this study develops an RPS that can be integrated with the new ATM system. Airport operators can obtain the forecast results directly from the ATM system for a specific flight-information region. The system integration is validated using three years of actual operation results of the new ATM system. An evaluation of its support for additional navigation satellite constellations is also made.

CARATS Open Dataの精度に関する一検討

CARATS (Collaborative Actions for Renovation of Air Traffic Systems) is a Japanese long-term vision of the future ATM (Air Traffic Management) which was planned to promote the research and development of the Japanese ATM system. CARATS Open Data released by the Japanese government in 2015 are operating data of RDP (Radar Data Processing) system actually used in four ACCs (Area Control Center) in Fukuoka FIR (Flight Information Region). Accuracy of the longitude and latitude of CARATS Open Data is evaluated by using GPS data measured in the airliner cabin. Results show that the longitude error of CARATS Open Data increases with the distance from Tokyo ACC and discontinuous changes occur when a reference radar site is handed over to another radar site. The effect of longitudinal and latitude errors of CARATS Open Data to flight parameters estimation is also studied, where it reveals that appropriate data processing is necessary to estimate parameters such as air speed and fuel flow.

Performance analysis of the use of ADS-B for the alternative positioning navigation and timing

The global positioning system (GPS) is the core element of the next-generation communication, navigation, surveillance, and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) system. However, GPS signals are vulnerable to radio-frequency interference (RFI), which can significantly impact the normal operation of the CNS/ATM system. In order to maintain CNS/ATM system operation during GPS outages and to meet safety requirements, an alternative positioning, navigation and timing (APNT) based on a radio link of the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) can be used. This study first evaluates two navigation algorithms for an ADS-B radio link, and the real aircraft ADS-B data collected at the civil aviation authorized ground stations are used to evaluate the positioning performance of the proposed backup aviation navigation and surveillance system. In addition, the main factor affecting the positioning performance of the radio navigation system is the geometric distribution of ground stations. Therefore, the geometric distribution of the actual ADS-B ground stations in the CNS/ATM system is evaluated using horizontal dilution of precision for a specific flight information region. Overall, the results of the actual flight data show that it is highly feasible to apply the ADS-B radio link as an APNT solution.

MODELLING THE ORAL COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

This study proposes a mechanism for measuring pilot-controller communication errors and develops a model to evaluate their communication performance. Empirical data based on 73 transcripts of communication from the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) are analyzed to validate the developed model and investigate communication issues. The results show that about 87% of all communication errors found in the transcripts had a relatively low level of influence on flight safety, while 13% had a severe influence. Additionally, the results of performance measurement indicate that the overall level of communication performance is relatively low. These findings are expected to be applicable to other countries whose native languages are not English. The performance model developed in this study can help management in the industry to evaluate radio communication performance of their aviation personnel.

Implementation and Evaluation of the WADGPS System in the Taipei Flight Information Region

This paper describes the implementation of the Wide Area Differential Global Positioning System (WADGPS) system in order to evaluate the operational performance of a satellite based aviation navigation system within Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR). The main objective of the WADGPS is to provide real time integrity information regarding the use of GPS for civil aviation applications. This paper uses the e-GPS observation stations operated by the Taiwan Ministry of Interior (MOI) as the WADGPS reference stations to collect the L1-L2 dual-frequency GPS measurements. A WADGPS master station is also implemented to process all GPS measurements sent from each reference station, and then generate the vector corrections. These vector corrections consist of the satellite ephemeris and clock errors, and a grid of ionospheric delays. The data stream also includes confidence bounds for the corrections and “Use/Do Not Use” messages to provide integrity. These messages are then passed to the WADGPS user through the Internet. This paper discusses the WADGPS system architecture and the system performance analysis. A five-day operation performance in Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) is presented in this paper. The results show that the WADGPS can improve the accuracy performance of GPS positioning and fulfill the integrity performance required by Non-Precision Approach (NPA) defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

GBAS testbed development in Taiwan with a prototype GPS/GBAS receiver

In this paper, we present the development of a local area differential GPS testbed of the ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) as the future airport navigation facility in the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) in Taiwan. The testbed is mainly a GBAS ground facility, which consists of a ground station, three GBAS receivers, and a VDL (VHF data link) broadcast antenna. We also present an airborne GPS/GBAS prototype receiver in this paper. The airborne subsystem (a GPS/GBAS receiver) receives the correction messages from the ground subsystem to perform a differential GPS (DGPS) positioning. In order to provide an ILS-look-alike approach and landing, the output messages of the airborne receiver are packed in an ARINC 429 format. The proposed airborne system has a software-based global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver structure.

Inventory of Aircraft Emissions over the Taiwan Area

The inventory of aircraft emissions over the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) has been developed with 1997 as the baseline year. We first analyze the spatial and temporal distribution of flight frequency based on the official civil aviation monthly reports, airline flight schedules and pilots’ on-air reports. Fuel consumption and trace-gas emissions are then calculated by using the engine performance database of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and a few other data sources. The emission inventory is further classified according to the flight types (domestic or international), aircraft types (passenger jets, cargo jets or propeller aircraft), as well as the state of aircraft operation (idle, takeoff, climb-out, cruise and approach/landing). Engine types, number of engines per aircraft, as well as engine performance at different operation states are all considered in estimating the emission rates. The emission rates of six trace chemicals (NO X , CO, CO 2 , S, HC and H 2 O) are estimated for all flight routes and airports, and at different cruise altitudes. To get a sense of their relative importance, we compared the total emissions from aircraft over the Taipei FIR with those from the ground transport in Taiwan. The ratios we obtained are 14.5% for NO X , 9.5% for S, CO 2 and H 2 O, 0.86% for CO, and 0.42% for HC. About 85% of the NO X and 80% of the S, CO 2 and H 2 O were emitted into the upper troposphere, whereas most of the CO (74%) and HC (60%) were produced on the surface. A further comparison shows that the amount of aircraft-produced NO X over the Taiwan area is about 69% of those produced over Mainland China, and aircraft-produced sulfur is about 1.1% of those produced globally.

A statistical hypothesis testing approach to the determination of supportable aircraft separation standards

This paper deals with the setting of a statistical hypothesis testing approach to the determination of aircraft separation standards that can be supported within a given Flight Information Region. Given a minimal safety distance to be maintained between two aircraft, we derive a criterion that must be obeyed by their radar plots in order to meet the required separation at a known level of confidence. Conversely, given that a minimal safety distance is maintained between two radar plots, one can find the actual separation that can be guaranteed between both aircraft. The results described here can help to implement automated conflict alert and minimum safe altitude warning facilities.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>