Aircraft Ground Movement Research Articles

System for Tracking Aircraft Ground Movement Utilizing Artificial Intelligence

Using a virtual ATC tower is one aspect of the airport digitization initiative, which aims to cut costs. Technology for tracking and detecting aircraft is required to guarantee the security of the deployment of virtual ATC towers. The invention of visual artificial intelligence that can recognize and follow aircraft ground movement in an airport is presented in this study. One feature that should be developed in this study is the capacity to issue a warning if two aircraft are in close proximity to one another. The techniques consist of a coordinate system conversion from pixels to meters for aircraft separation computation, the Deep SORT object tracking algorithm, and the YOLOv4 object recognition algorithm that has been trained using Image Dehazing Filter. Next, a fair-condition recorded airport video is used to validate the model. With a mean average precision score of 95.92%, the trained YOLOv4 model was able to track every aircraft in the video, and with an error of 5.09%, the aircraft separation warning system functioned as expected. An airport’s possible use of an aircraft ground movement tracker was demonstrated by the constructed model.

Analisis Perencanaan Konfigurasi dan Desain Bandara di Bandar Udara Atang Senjaya

Airport is certain area in land or sea (including building, instalation and equipment) intended for all or part from depature and aircraft ground movement. Airport has a lot of shape and design base on requirment and function. Airport design has important role for suporting flights activities. This research purpose is for analysis configuration role and airport design base on airplane operational using Ratios of National Forecast method. The result shows, national total forecast show decrease it's inversely proportional than local total forecast that show increase during 4 years. Based on Atang Senjaya airport calculation so the terminal area and how much the airplane can be park in apron are known, that is Atang Senjaya airport can accomodate 6 ATR 72-600 airplane and based on the local total forecast calculation in 2031, the terminal required area is need 6600 ft² (110 x 66 ft) or 33, 53 x 20,11 m.

A New Approach in Design of a Pavement Reinforced by A Geosynthetic Layer in Severely Stressed Area of the Airport Pavement to Accommodate Stresses Imposed by Aircraft Landing and Ground Movements

A New Approach in Design of a Pavement Reinforced by A Geosynthetic Layer in Severely Stressed Area of the Airport Pavement to Accommodate Stresses Imposed by Aircraft Landing and Ground Movements

Real-Time Four-Dimensional Trajectory Generation Based on Gain-Scheduling Control and a High-Fidelity Aircraft Model

Aircraft ground movement plays a key role in improving airport efficiency, as it acts as a link to all other ground operations. Finding novel approaches to coordinate the movements of a fleet of aircraft at an airport in order to improve system resilience to disruptions with increasing autonomy is at the center of many key studies for airport airside operations. Moreover, autonomous taxiing is envisioned as a key component in future digitalized airports. However, state-of-the-art routing and scheduling algorithms for airport ground movements do not consider high-fidelity aircraft models at both the proactive and reactive planning phases. The majority of such algorithms do not actively seek to optimize fuel efficiency and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. This paper proposes a new approach for generating efficient four-dimensional trajectories (4DTs) on the basis of a high-fidelity aircraft model and gain-scheduling control strategy. Working in conjunction with a routing and scheduling algorithm that determines the taxi route, waypoints, and time deadlines, the proposed approach generates fuel-efficient 4DTs in real time, while respecting operational constraints. The proposed approach can be used in two contexts: ① as a reactive decision support tool to generate new trajectories that can resolve unprecedented events; and ② as an autopilot system for both partial and fully autonomous taxiing. The proposed methodology is realistic and simple to implement. Moreover, simulation studies show that the proposed approach is capable of providing an up to 11% reduction in the fuel consumed during the taxiing of a large Boeing 747-100 jumbo jet.

Carbon Footprint and Total Fuel Consumption Benefit Evaluation of a Proposed Decision Support System Algorithm for Istanbul Ataturk Airport Surface Movement Area

The continuous growth in air traffic volume causes extra operational fuel consumption due to serious ground delays at major airports. Effective ground movement management of aircraft plays an essential role in reducing or even eliminating these ground holds and congestions. Ground movement of aircraft is conventionally done by ground controllers using conventional techniques, which rely on static and short-term (dynamic) planning. Such planning usually overlooks possible in-flight delays, which lead to gate assignment problems (GAP) at destination airports. Ground movement decision support system is proposed as an alternative method to mitigate these problems. This system allocates available taxi paths to arriving and departing aircraft. Such a dynamic planning provides more robust taxi path assignment and delay management at the airports movement area especially in the peak hours. This study analyzes time benefits and time cost effects of this system using SIMMOD, which is a fast time simulation tool. In order to demonstrate the fuel consumption benefits of tactical taxi path allocation, two scenarios (baseline and alternative), have been generated and tested for Istanbul Ataturk Airport. Keywords: Airport Modeling, Carbon Footprint, Heuristic Algorithm, Airport Ground Delays, Air Traffic Management DOI: 10.7176/JSTR/6-04-06

Airport Ground Movement Problem: Minimization of Delay and Pollution Emission

In this paper, we deal with the problem of routing and scheduling aircraft ground movement operations. We implement two objective functions: the minimization of total routing taxiing delay and the minimization of pollution emission in terms of total waiting time the engines are turned on. We use alternative graph model to represent the routing solution and to solve the airport ground movement problem. We consider the case study of malpensa terminal maneuvering area, Italy, which implies a peculiar traffic flow management due to its complex layout, where runways and taxi network intersect in many points. Experimental results based on real data are reported, which are promising both for the total routing taxiing delay minimization and the reduction of the pollution emission.

Improved approach for time‐based taxi trajectory planning towards conflict‐free, efficient and fluent airport ground movement

The ever-growing air traffic demand arouses an urgent need for improved airport ground movement efficiency. New operational concepts are emerging which use time-based taxi trajectories to reduce uncertainty and make more efficient use of the airport resource. In this study, an improved approach is proposed for time-based taxi trajectory planning, which is formulated as the shortest path problem with time windows and the maximum traversal time constraint. With the introduction of the taxi time in the cost and the maximum traversal time constraint to limit the waiting time, more efficient and fluent ground movement of aircraft can be realised. An A*-based solution algorithm is developed for the investigated problem, which utilises the arrival time interval and dominance-based comparison to search for the best solution. Experimental results on real-world problem instances demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach as well as its advantages over the existing approach.

Airport Taxi Situation Awareness with a Macroscopic Distribution Network Analysis

This paper proposes a framework for airport taxi situation awareness to enhance the assessment of aircraft ground movements in complex airport surfaces. Through a macroscopic distribution network (MDN) of arrival and departure taxi processes in a spatial-temporal domain, we establish two sets of taxi situation indices (TSIs) from the perspectives of single aircraft and the whole network. These TSIs are characterized into five categories: aircraft taxi time indices (ATTIs), surface instantaneous flow indices (SIFIs), surface cumulative flow indices (SCFIs), aircraft queue length indices (AQLIs), and slot resource demand indices (SRDIs). The coverage of the TSIs system is discussed in detail based on the departure and arrival reference aircraft. A real-world case study of Shanghai Pudong airport demonstrates significant correlations among some of the proposed TSIs such as the ATTIs, SCFIs and AQLIs. We identify the most crucial influencing factors of the taxi process and propose two new metrics to assess the taxi situation at the aircraft and network levels, by establishing taxi situation assessment models instead of using two systems of multiple TSIs. The findings can provide significant references to decision makers regarding airport ground movements for the purposes of air traffic scheduling and congestion control in complex airports.

Verification of the EDMS model adapted to Budapest Liszt Ferenc Airport

This paper quantifies the ability of the emission and dispersion modelling system to reproduce observed pollutant concentrations in the vicinity of a European airport. For the validation, one receptor point was selected at Liszt Ferenc International Airport, terminal building 2, where an air quality monitoring station operates. Modelling results superimposed upon background concentrations generated from a suburban monitoring station in the vicinity were compared with hourly measured concentrations using statistical indicators for three compounds (CO, NOX and PM10). Acceptable correlation coefficients (0.53-0.76) were obtained, although in the case of PM10 modelled values show slight but significant underestimation for the entire studied period. Also, an obvious overestimate of NOX concentration was found for certain days. Pollution roses were generated that highlighted the spatial distribution of the pollution sources that affect the air quality at the receptor point. Sensitivity of model to input data, especially to the emission inventory is discussed. The contribution of aircraft ground movement and apron area emission was found to be well characterised, but in the case of CO and NOX a small (15 ± 5%) deficiency was found for ground vehicles emission of parking area, and a much higher (65 ± 5%) difference was obtained for PM10.

Integration of aircraft ground movements and runway operations

The Ground Routing Problem focuses on finding the optimal routing of aircraft from parking stands to runways. The Runway Sequencing Problem consists in ordering the sequence of takes-offs and landings on runways. We study the integration of these two problems with the aim of simultaneously increasing runway efficiency and reducing taxi times. We propose a heuristic sequential approach based on a novel mathematical formulation. We test our methods using real data of a major European airport. Our approach significantly reduces the total completion and taxi times within reasonable computation times, making it viable to be used in daily operations.

Analysis of aircraft ground traffic flow and gate utilisation using a hybrid dynamic gate and taxiway assignment algorithm

ABSTRACTThe rapid increase in the demand for air transportation over the last four decades has led to serious capacity problems for both the airside and landside components of major airports. The efficient management of existing airside resources seems to be the most effective and practical approach to overcome these capacity and traffic flow problems. Although integrated management of aircraft parking position assignments and ground movement planning processes are vital for the effective use of resources and for efficient operations, the current practice is that these processes are handled separately by different agents. This study proposes a hybrid dynamic system, an integrated methodology of taxi path and gate assignment using a knowledge-based decision-making approach to model effectively time-variant and realistic operational features of aircraft gate management and route planning. The model assigns the most suitable parking positions with minimum taxi time and taxi delay among a reduced solution set, satisfying pre-defined decision criteria as well as monitoring ground movements and, if necessary, reassigning new taxi paths and parking positions in real time. Both the proposed integrated methodology and the separate gate assignment and ground management operations currently in use were implemented, analysed and compared in a fast-time simulation model of Istanbul Ataturk Airport (LTBA). The hybrid dynamic assignment model provided significant improvements in taxi times, ground delays and gate utilisation.

Branch-and-Bound Global-Search Algorithm for Aircraft Ground Movement Optimization

Optimal aircraft ground scheduling is a well-known nondeterministic polynomial-time-hard problem; hence, many heuristics are used to generate schedules within realistic runtimes. These heuristics are designed to run fast, but they often do not promise any guarantee about the solution quality. Inspired by two existing algorithms for scheduling of railway operations, this paper introduces a branch-and-bound-based aircraft routing and scheduling approach with guaranteed global optimality as a real-time decision support tool for air traffic controllers. The performance of the algorithm is benchmarked against two previous approaches: a combinatorial approach using mixed-integer linear programming, and a heuristic approach based on bacterial foraging. The configuration agnostic design of the algorithm makes it suitable for applications: even to unconventional airport layouts. The globally optimal nature of the current solution exhibits a distinct improvement over the respective solutions while maintaining minimal runtimes. The algorithm is tested for flight operations at the cross-runway configuration of the Mumbai International Airport and delivers better and quicker solutions compared to previous studies.

Toward a More Realistic, Cost-Effective, and Greener Ground Movement Through Active Routing—Part I: Optimal Speed Profile Generation

Among all airport operations, aircraft ground movement plays a key role in improving overall airport capacity as it links other airport operations. Moreover, ever-increasing air traffic, rising costs, and tighter environmental targets create pressure to minimize fuel burn on the ground. However, current routing functions envisioned in Advanced Surface Movement, Guidance and Control Systems almost exclusively consider the most time-efficient solution and apply a conservative separation to ensure conflict-free surface movement, sometimes with additional buffer times to absorb small deviations from the taxi times. Such an overly constrained routing approach may result in either a too tight planning for some aircraft so that fuel efficiency is compromised due to multiple acceleration phases, or performance could be further improved by reducing the separation and buffer times. In light of this, Parts I and II of this paper present a new Active Routing (AR) framework with the aim of providing a more realistic, cost-effective, and environmental friendly surface movement, targeting some of the busiest international hub airports. Part I of this paper focuses on optimal speed profile generation using a physics-based aircraft movement model. Two approaches based, respectively, on the Base of Aircraft Data and the International Civil Aviation Organization engine emissions database have been employed to model fuel consumption. These models are then embedded within a multiobjective optimization framework to capture the essence of different speed profiles in a Pareto optimal sense. The proposed approach represents the first attempt to systematically address speed profiles with competing objectives. Results reveal an apparent tradeoff between fuel burn and taxi times irrespective of fuel consumption modeling approaches. This will have a profound impact on the routing and scheduling and open the door for the new concept of AR discussed in Part II of this paper.

Nature Inspired Prototype Design of Collision Avoidance Aircraft System and Design of a Pair of Wing Flaps in Autodesk Maya Software

The paper presents a prototype of collision avoidance aircraft system and to design the horizontal and vertical movements of a pair of such aircraft. The proposed techniques deal with optimization shape, and size of the aircraft and its various parts. The movement of the pair of such aircraft with optimized geometrical shapes has been animated through the application of Autodesk Maya software. The entire aerial behavior commencing from the ground movement of aircraft along the runway, takeoff, and aerial flying, horizontal and vertical movement, turning and landing and safety landing have been animated by using the said optimized structure. An approximation ratio of the aircraft length and its wings dimension (tip to tip), to maintain the safe distance between two aircraft (with respect to horizontal and vertical direction) has been predicted in the present study.

Increasing operational safety through updated or enhanced airport pavement markings

This paper describes the pavement markings at Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH), Taiwan as part of a case study on airport operation safety. The two-year projects that focused on updating or improving identified markings issues consisted of relocating touchdown zone markings, redeveloping taxiway markings, and redesigning and improving apron markings. Each update or improvement project was evaluated to ensure compatibility with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards prior to construction. The objective of this paper is to present the issues identified at KHH, discuss how those issues came about, and explain how the airport authorities dealt with those issues. Through the comprehensive review and construction efforts in pavement markings, the updated or improved configurations of pavement markings at KHH have met the ICAO standards, addressed previously identified issues, and increased both aircraft operation safety and ground movement safety.

Velocity effect of vehicle rolling resistance in sand

Vehicle rolling resistance is important to vehicle and aircraft ground movement in loose soil and sand conditions, especially in military operations. Off-road rolling resistance measurements have been taken at relatively low velocities, 2.1–4.6 m/s (meters per second) (7–15 ft/s) (4–9 knots), which has precluded studying any potential velocity effect on rolling resistance. With the emergence of aircraft designed to be used on unimproved soil runways and the military’s proposed new vehicles, especially the lighter-weight, 23–500-kg (50–1100-lbs) robotics, capable of high-velocity off-road movement, it is important that the rolling resistance be measured at velocities closer to the expected operating conditions. This paper presents data from rubber tire rolling resistance measurements in three depths of uniform-density dry sand at velocities from 2.1 up to 18 m/s (7–58 ft/s) (4–34 knots) and three load ranges from 4534 to 10,266 N (1020–2308 lbs). In dry sand the rolling resistance increases with velocity until the tire starts to “plane,” where it levels off or decreases and it is modified by load. Limited past work in this area is presented along with some existing analytical descriptions of rolling resistance versus velocity. Limited agreement between the published equations and the test data, along with contradictory published results, indicate that additional work on this topic is needed.

Design and development of a high-performance passive millimeter-wave imager for aeronautical applications

We describe a high performance optomechanically scanned millimeter-wave imager intended to monitor the ground movement of aircraft in adverse weather conditions. It employs two counter-rotating mirrors that are tilted about their axes of rotation. They simulate the linear scan of a single high speed, large aperture flapping mirror. When used with a linear receiver array, they can produce a 2-D scan of the scene at TV rates. In the present application, they were used with a single receiver and a large flapping mirror to produce a 2-D scan of the scene ±10 deg vertically and 60 deg horizontally. One of the rotating mirrors has a concave surface and acts as the focusing element in the imager. The two mirrors are driven from a single servo motor using timing belts and toothed pulleys. The flapping mirror is slaved to the motion of the rotating disks using an electronic cam. The single channel 94-GHz receiver consisted of an InP LNA followed by a down converter and a detector. The video output passes to an A/D converter and is displayed on a conventional PC. This system has virtually 100% transmission and can be used at any waveband.

Airport Ground Traffic Scheduling and Control

The airport ground traffic demand has been increasing over the last decades. Several ongoing projects are intended to give a complete solution to the problem of aircraft ground movements management. Partial solutions have been proposed. A systematic solution to this problem is needed. This paper presents a mathematical model for the airport infrastructure representation. A heuristic scheduling algorithm is proposed for aircraft ground movements at the airport. The objective is to build an optimal scheduling with respect to air traffic safety regulations that minimises the delay of aircraft ground movements.

Solving push-out conflicts in apron taxiways of airports by a network-based simulation

At busy airports, push-out conflicts occur simultaneously in apron taxiways and affect gate assignment operations in apron control. In current manual operations, it is not easy for apron controllers to consider and solve such conflicts in an exact and efficient manner, due to the uncertainties involved in the operations, the difficulties in efficiently controlling and solving push-out conflicts, and also the fact that too many more important factors should be considered in these real-time operations. At most airports today, a buffer time between the use of gates is introduced in gate assignment operations to reduce the impact of push-out conflicts to the delay of aircraft getting into, or leaving from, a gate. From the standpoint of gate assignment operations in apron control, this study analyzes aircraft ground movements and conflicts in apron taxiways. For coping with increasing air traffic demand and minimizing delays caused by inefficient scheduling of aircraft ground movements, and their effect on the gate assignment operations, a network-based model is proposed to perform simulation to support the analysis of the effect of aircraft ground movements in apron taxiways to gate assignment operations. By the proposed method, the delay characteristics of aircraft ground movements in apron taxiways and the activities on gates can be analyzed and studied in detail. Furthermore, the results of the simulation are applied to solve push-out conflicts and minimize delays to aircraft on gates in apron control. Computational results of experiments are also presented and discussed.

Evaluation of Airfield Performance by Simulation

Through the application of computerized simulation techniques, the future operation of a proposed airport can be evaluated prior to construction. TAMS developed and used a fast-time computer simulation to evaluate the performance of the proposed Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport. This simulation traces each aircraft operation between arrival and departure, including runway, taxiway, and gate selection and occupancy under various operating conditions. Output of the program provides total travel time and cost per aircraft type and by airline, delay times and location, facility utilization frequencies, and a computer-generated motion picture showing aircraft ground movements.