Flight Procedure Design Research Articles

Quantifying Well Clear Thresholds for UAV in Conjunction with Trajectory Conformity

The rapid advancement of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has introduced new challenges in overseeing and managing their flight operations due to their diverse flight dynamics and performance metrics. To address these complexities, this study introduces a concept of trajectory conformity aimed at enhancing the supervision and control of UAV flights. Trajectory conformity, from a regulatory perspective, is defined as the distribution of deviations between a UAV’s actual flight path and its intended trajectory, offering a measure of system-wide operational error. The concept of conformity is hoped to simplify and strengthen the monitoring process to ensure conflict-free drone flying. The present work is also concerned with the development of a comprehensive UAV collision risk model grounded in trajectory conformity analysis. The normality and homogeneity of UAV trajectory deviations are validated by evaluating the trajectory data obtained from real-world UAV flights. Well clear thresholds between two UAVs operating in three orthogonal directions within the same airspace have been established by the developed model. The results obtained demonstrate the effectiveness in omni-encounter scenarios, underscoring the potential to strengthen safety measures. The present work is expected to enhance UAV safety systems, such as detect and avoid (DAA) and unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM), by enabling real-time collision warnings within predefined safety thresholds, supporting proactive risk mitigation. Furthermore, the model’s versatility allows it to be applied to various UAV operational aspects in future works, including route planning, flight procedure design, airspace capacity assessments, and establishment of separation minima.

A metaheuristic-based optimization model for flight procedure design

In recent years, the continuous increase in air traffic has led to a saturation of available airspace. The new localizer performance with vertical guidance (LPV) instrument approach procedures (IAPs) offer additional capacity at aerodromes and in airspaces. To support their implementation, a specifically developed model focused on the improved IAP design process and optimized solution generation is proposed. The model provides a fully automated search of the solution space by employing the bee colony optimization metaheuristic algorithm. The resulting list of alternatives is ranked by the objective function score, which is affected by the balancing values of the complexity indicators and the achieved obstacle clearance height. The model’s capabilities are successfully validated against the challenging operational environment of Podgorica Airport. The model was initially developed to conduct IAP feasibility studies; however, it can also be used in the initial stages of airport planning projects or for IAP criteria validation.

Additional Clearance over Obstacles to Determine Minimum Flight Altitude in Mountainous Terrain

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) specifies that in the design phase of instrument flight procedures, an additional clearance may be added to an obstacle when flights are over mountainous terrain. This clearance increase can be up to 100 per cent of the minimum obstacle clearance (MOC). Airspace and instrument flight procedure designers usually face the problem of determining what value should be applied, since setting the maximum value of 100% often implies operational penalties, but there are no standardized criteria to determine lower values. The ICAO PANS-OPS indicates that the additional clearance over obstacles in mountainous areas is caused by two effects, both related to orography and wind speed. The first effect is due to the altimeter indication error. The second one is related to the loss of altitude when an aircraft is exposed to turbulence produced by mountain waves. This paper presents a methodology for determining the additional clearance to be applied over obstacles when, in the flight procedure design phase, the overflight of mountainous terrain is expected. Through this methodology, results have been achieved for the proposal of an appropriate additional clearance. The development of graphs and tables allows us to identify which additional value should be considered in each case.

Research on optimization of approach procedures for airports in an alpine environment

Obstacles in alpine environments pose significant challenges to aircraft safety during terminal operations. Key challenges include constraints from obstacles within the terminal clearance area and the labor-intensive manual calculations of flight procedures. The focal point of concern lies in the design of approach procedures, particularly due to the heightened risk of collisions with obstacles during the descent segment in such terrain. To address these challenges, initially, this paper proposes processing the terrain data and visualizing and extracting the topographic data of the alpine airport by adopting a bi-cubic b-spline interpolation and cellular automatic machine model. Then, the paper proposes improving the A* path algorithm to make sure it can obey the standards of flight procedure design, utilizing the improved A* path algorithm to design approach procedures. As fuel consumption is directly connected with the economy of aviation companies, this research finally suggests employing the fuel consumption evaluation model to select the most efficient approach flight procedures. This research takes a case study of a Yunnan airport and simulates and designs the optimized approach procedures by A* path algorithm and evaluation based on fuel consumption. Results indicate that the parameters of optimized approach procedures align with the regulation of flight procedure design and meet the requirements of real flight operation. Therefore, the core tenant of this research can provide a feasible idea for flight procedures with alpine airports and has the potential to reduce workload and enhance operational efficiency.

Optimization of Multisource Dynamic Model in TBO

When extracting flight data from airport terminal area, there are matters such as large volume, unclear features, and similar trend in time series. In order to deal with the related issues and to optimize the description, by combining with the TBO (Trajectory-Based Operation), an application proposed by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) in ASBU (Aviation System Block Upgrade), using multisource dynamic model to establish 4DDW (4D dynamic warping) algorithm, the multisource modeling integrated with evaluation system is proposed to realize the flight path optimization with time series characteristics and accord with the interval concept. The calculation results show that 4DDW can obtain the optimal solution for multiprofile calculation of TBO by comparing the composite trajectory deviation values and time dimension planning using the buffer and threshold values recommended by ICAO in airspace planning and flight procedure design. The results meet the requirements of high accuracy and convergence features of spatial waypoints and can improve the airport operation standards and terminal area capacity.

The comparison of EGNOS performance at the airports located in eastern Poland

The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is the first pan-European satellite navigation system. EGNOS makes GPS suitable for safety critical applications such as flying and landing an aircraft. To use EGNOS in aviation the system monitoring and validation in certain localization in needed, as well as official flight procedure design and certification. According to these rules, several GNSS/EGNOS stations located at Polish airfields are currently operational, permanently collecting EGNOS data. The newest monitoring station was established and put into operation at the Polish Air Force Academy in Dęblin in the beginning of 2016. Dęblin is situated in central-eastern part of Poland (south of Warsaw). Until recently this area was on the edge of official coverage of EGNOS services, especially Safety-of-Life (SoL) service. Latest official documents declare that theoretically the eastern part of Poland is currently fully covered with EGNOS SoL service, however this still needs to be practically confirmed. New station equipped with the newest Javad Delta-3 GNSS receiver will allow to evaluate practical quality of EGNOS in this area. The article presents preliminary results of EGNOS Safety of Life service performance in Dęblin in comparison to the results obtained in Olsztyn which is situated in north-eastern part of Poland (north of Warsaw). The main parameters characterizing navigational system i.e. accuracy, integrity, continuity and availability were analyzed in detail. The results can be the basis to assess the possibility of implementation of the EGNOS APV approach and landing procedures in Dęblin and Olsztyn.

Optimization of Approach Trajectory Considering the Constraints Imposed on Flight Procedure Design

Due to recent growth of air traffic demand, inefficiency in flightis becominga more and more important issue. However present flight trajectory is not completely optimized because of the existence of difficulties in flight procedure design.This paper describes a method to optimize the approach procedure in terms of fuel efficiency. In proposed method, route is parameterized by position of each waypoint and speed above them.Then assuming constant acceleration and point mass model, total fuel consumption is calculated.Optimizationis conducted with constraints imposed upon flight procedure design by using genetic algorithm. We applied the method to approach procedure to a real airport and more efficient trajectory is obtained.

The Key Role of GBAS in the Implementation of PBN Procedures

With fast development of PBN flight procedures in our country, accuracy, integrity, alarm time, continuity and availability become more and more important for navigation source. Ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) is a satellite-based navigation technology and it is also an integrated system which is composed of ground equipment, air equipment, airborne equipment. In this paper, we firstly apply GBAS to increase the position accuracy of navigation system. The experiment shows GBAS has a lot of benefits and make a solid foundation for PBN flight procedure design.

The Quality Evaluation Method of Instrument Flight Procedure Design Scheme Based on Fuzzy Linguistic Assessments

The quality of Instrument Flight Procedure Design Scheme (QIFPDS) is directly related to the terminal area airspace capacity, quality, efficiency of air traffic management, and even the safety of aircraft. Hence, the evaluation of QIFPDS has great significance in real life. However, the evaluation of QIFPDS in real work is mainly done by experts through their specific knowledge and experience, which usually leads to a bias result and inevitably contains subjectivity and arbitrary defects. In this paper, a multi-attribute group decision-making method is proposed. This method makes full use of evaluation information; objectively and effectively evaluate QIFPDS. Also in this paper, a mathematical model for this method is introduced and a detailed step to solve this model is listed. At the end of this paper, an example is given to show the effectiveness and feasibility of the method. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/telkomnika.v11i12.3687

비행절차설계과정에서 적용 가능한 위험평가기준 연구

Risk assessment should be processed when physical circumstances of airspace such as establishment of new flight procedures or reconstruction of existing airspace are planned to change and one of the alternatives for the change have to be selected. This is an effort to find the best alternative which is able to maintain at or above the acceptable risk level. ICAO and its contracting states provide specialized guidance material for `Safety Management System` relating to handing airspace matters. These manuals include a conceptual framework for managing safety as well as some of the systemic processes and criteria used to meet the objectives of a State`s safety programme. This criteria must be established in compliance with the State`s laws and regulations for air safety and for the fulfillment of the State`s safety goals. This study is to carry out the risk assessment criteria through literature reviews relevant to the safety management, and to propose the results of criteria to be applicable for establishing flight procedure design process.

The Optimum Selection of Instrument Flight Procedure Design Scheme Based on the Relative Superiority Degree

The optimum selection of instrument flight procedure design scheme is very important to the enhancement of capacity of terminal area, and to the work quality and efficiency of air traffic management and flight safety. However, in practice, the optimum selection is often made by experts based on their on their specialized knowledge and experience. This human-made selection in most cases could be biased or not optimum. To address this problem, we present an evaluation method based on the relative superiority degree technique. This method makes full use of evaluation information and makes unbiased optimum selection with very low human interference. We give details of using this method in this paper, including constructing evaluation indicator system, obtaining values of each indicator; building evaluation model based on relative superiority degree and finding solution of the model, etc. At the end of this paper, we present a numerical example to demonstrate the feasibility of this method.

Toward Noise Abatement Flight Procedure Design: DLR Rotorcraft Noise Ground Footprints Model

As a first step towards noise abatement flight procedure design, this paper presents techniques for rotorcraft noise ground footprint prediction developed at DLR, using either purely numerical computations or measured sound fields. When based on purely numerical computations or first-principles, a combination of 3D free wake unsteady panel method and a Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) method is used to provide noise source characteristics on a hemisphere. The noise ground footprints for a BO105 helicopter at 6° descent flight is simulated and compared with flight test data. The noise sources considered are only from a main rotor and tail rotor. When based on measured sound fields from the flight test, a depropagation procedure is used to define the noise source characteristics on the hemisphere. The verification of the depropagation procedure using purely numerical computations is introduced. Two hypothetic noise abatement procedures are simulated based on the RONAP test data.