Improve Air Traffic Management Research Articles

Proposals for designing the airspace management of the ATM sectors of the Ho Chi Minh City Area Control Center to increase its capacity

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Vietnam is among the countries with the rapid development of civil aviation (CA). This development is a positive sign to enhance the role and position of Vietnam civil aviation in the civil aviation community. But at the same time, the increase in flight operations poses challenges to flight safety, increases the load on airspace and airports, and pollutes the environment. The Ho Chi Minh City (HCM) airspace is one of the largest and busiest airspace in Southeast Asia. Every year, thousands of flights depart, arrive, and cross the HCM (VVTS) airspace. In addition, aviation operations in the HCM airspace are becoming increasingly complex (they include activity of state aviation, civil and general aviation), which requires the continuous improvement of airspace management. Airspace management, in turn, requires a certain flexibility and a quick response to difficulties arising in the airspace. One of the important components of the HCM airspace is the airspace of the HCM Area Control Centre (ACC1 airspace). At present, the structure of the HCM ACC airspace, which is divided into 6 sectors, shows signs of congestion, which leads to an increase in the workload of air traffic controllers (ATC). Therefore, the HCM ACC airspace redesign is imperative. In this regard, the authors of the article consider the issue of dividing the HCM ACC airspace into 8 sectors and the proposals which are necessary for its implementation. According to the authors, the HCM airspace redesign will contribute to improving air traffic management (ATM) quality, increasing airspace capacity, and reducing ATC workload.

Using Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) Network to Improved Aviation Industry Service Quality

The airport collaborative decision-making (A-CDM) network brings together airports, airlines, and air navigation service providers to share timely and accurate information in order to facilitate optimal decision-making, plan operations and improve air traffic management. Research found that aviation service quality can be improved by integrating the A-CDM network and SERVQUAL together with Kano’s model to enhance service quality and improve network operational efficiency. The theory and methods of the A-CDM network combined with information technology and process innovation can maximise the serviceability of the aviation industry to improve network operation at the airport concerned.

Decentralized Free-Flow Traffic Management Based on Nash Equilibrium

This study introduces a decentralized traffic management algorithm for free-flowing aerial vehicles without explicit communications. The algorithm based on the concept of Nash equilibrium works to improve air traffic management efficiency while considering the different urgency levels of agents, such as unmanned aerial vehicles. An algorithm for a relatively simple two-agent case was developed first. Then, we extended the algorithm to a more general algorithm involving many agents. Numerical experiments comparing the performance of the proposed algorithm with the baseline adopted in current practice were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new approach.

Identification of air transport ecological component level in the context of ensuring sustainable development of the national economy

”. Aviation safety is an important component of the concept of general national security, the system of personal security, ecological and public safety and transport safety from external and internal threats. Maintaining an acceptable level of national aviation safety is a priority for the industry. In the context of globalization, ecological safety is becoming especially important. World leaders gathered at the United Nations (UN) and adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is a plan of action aimed at achieving global sustainable development in economic, social and environmental areas, which ensures that no UN member state is left behind. The 17 sustainable development goals on the 2030 Agenda can be used as benchmarks for the coordinated development of UN member states. One of the most important goals for the global survival of humankind is Goal 13 “Climate Change”. In order to find an adequate answer to this challenge, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has identified the following areas that can contribute to the attainment of the global aspirational goal: aircraft related technology and standards; improved air traffic management and operational improvements, development and deployment of sustainable aviation fuel and the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). The implementation of CORSIA is carried out not only at the global level, the initiative requires the search for effective management solutions at the national level. Statistics on the activities of the aviation industry of Ukraine indicate its stable development. However, unfortunately, the dynamic growth of air traffic entails an increase in emissions of chemical elements into the atmosphere, which are a real threat to the environment and can contribute to climate change processes. The main tool for ensuring ecological safety tasks is proactive risk management. The development of proactive tools for environmental risk management is relevant and has practical implications for sustainable development, both in the industry in particular and for the state as a whole. The articles offer the author's approaches to the identification of air transport ecological component level.

Quantile Regression–Based Estimation of Dynamic Statistical Contingency Fuel

Reducing fuel consumption is a unifying goal across the aviation industry. One fuel-saving opportunity for airlines is reducing contingency fuel loading by dispatchers. Many airlines’ flight planning systems (FPSs) provide recommended contingency fuel for dispatchers in the form of statistical contingency fuel (SCF). However, because of limitations of the current SCF estimation procedure, the application of SCF is limited. In this study, we propose to use quantile regression–based machine learning methods to account for fuel burn uncertainties and estimate more reliable SCF values. Utilizing a large fuel burn data set from a major U.S.-based airline, we find that the proposed quantile regression method outperforms the airline’s FPS. The benefit of applying the improved SCF models is estimated to be in the range $19 million–$65 million in fuel expense savings as well as 132 million–451 million kilograms of carbon dioxide emission reductions per year, with the lower savings being realized even while maintaining the current, extremely low risk of tapping the reserve fuel. The proposed models can also be used to predict benefits from reduced fuel loading enabled by increasing system predictability, for example, with improved air traffic management.

Mitigating Air Delay: An analysis of the Collaborative Trajectory Options Program

Congestion is a problem at major airports in the world. Airports, especially high-traffic ones, tend to be the bottleneck in the air traffic control system. The problem that arises for the airspace planner is how to mitigate air congestion and its consequent delay, which causes increased cost for airlines and discomfort for passengers. Most congestion problems are fixed on the day of operations in a tactically manner using operational enhancements measures. Collaborative Trajectory Options Program (CTOP) aims to improve air traffic management (ATM) considering National Airspace System (NAS) users business goals, particularities faced by each flight and airspace restrictions, making this process more flexible and financially stable for those involved. In CTOP, airlines share their route preferences with the air control authority, combining delay and reroute. When CTOP is created, each airline might decide its strategy without knowledge of other airline’s flights. Current solutions for this problem are based on greedy methods and game theory. There is potential space to improve. This paper examines CTOP and identifies important strategic changes to ATM adopting this philosophy, particularly in Brazil.

Improving airline fuel efficiency via fuel burn prediction and uncertainty estimation

Reducing fuel consumption is a unifying goal across the aviation industry. One fuel-saving opportunity for airlines is the possibility of reducing discretionary fuel loading by dispatchers. In this study, we propose a novel discretionary fuel estimation approach that can assist dispatchers with better discretionary fuel loading decisions. Based on the analysis on our study airline, our approach is found to substantially reduce unnecessary discretionary fuel loading while maintaining the same safety level compared to the current fuel loading practice. The idea is that by providing dispatchers with more accurate information and better recommendations derived from flight records, unnecessary fuel loading and corresponding cost-to-carry could both be reduced. We apply ensemble learning techniques to improve fuel burn prediction and construct prediction intervals (PIs) to capture the uncertainty of model predictions. The upper bound of a PI can then be used for discretionary fuel loading. The potential benefit of this approach is estimated to be $61.5 million in fuel savings and 428 million kg of CO2 reduction per year for our study airline. This study also builds a link between discretionary fuel estimation and aviation system predictability in which the proposed models can also be used to predict benefits from reduced fuel loading enabled by improved Air Traffic Management (ATM) targeting on improved system predictability.

Time to burn: Flight delay, terminal efficiency, and fuel consumption in the National Airspace System

Improved Air Traffic Management (ATM) leading to reduced en route and gate delay, greater predictability in flight planning, and reduced terminal inefficiencies has a role to play in reducing aviation fuel consumption. Air navigation service providers are working to quantify this role to help prioritize and justify ATM modernization efforts. In the following study we analyze actual flight-level fuel consumption data reported by a major U.S. based airline to study the possible fuel savings from ATM improvements that allow flights to better adhere to their planned trajectories both en route and in the terminal area. To do so we isolate the contribution of airborne delay, departure delay, excess planned flight time, and terminal area inefficiencies on fuel consumption using econometric techniques. The model results indicate that, for two commonly operated aircraft types, the system-wide averages of flight fuel consumption attributed to ATM delay and terminal inefficiencies are 1.0–1.5% and 1.5–4.5%, respectively. We quantify the fuel impact of predicted delay to be 10–20% that of unanticipated delay, reinforcing the role of flight plan predictability in reducing fuel consumption. We rank terminal areas by quantifying a Terminal Inefficiency metric based on the variation in terminal area fuel consumed across flights. Our results help prioritize ATM modernization investments by quantifying the trade-offs in planned and unplanned delays and identifying terminal areas with high potential for improvement.

An efficient algorithm for smoothing airspace congestion by fine-tuning take-off times

Current technological advances in communications and navigation have improved air traffic management (ATM) with new decision support tools to balance airspace capacity with user demands. Despite agreements achieved in flying reference business trajectories (RBTs) among different stakeholders, tight spatio-temporal connectivity between trajectories in dense sectors can cause perturbations that might introduce time or space deviations into the original RBTs, thus potentially affecting other 4D trajectories. In this paper, several challenging results are presented by properly tuning the Calculated Take-Off Times (CTOTs) as a tool for mitigating the propagation of perturbations between trajectories that can readily appear in dense sectors. Based on the identification of “collective microregions”, a tool for predicting potential spatio-temporal concurrence events between trajectories over the European airspace was developed, together with a CTOT algorithm to sequence the departures that preserve the scheduled slots while relaxing tight trajectory interactions. The algorithm was tested by considering a realistic scenario (designed and analyzed in the STREAM project (Stream, 2013)) to evaluate relevant ATM KPIs that provide aggregated information about the sensitivity of the system to trajectory interactions, taking into account the system dynamics at a network level. The proposed approach contributes to enhancing the ATM capacity of airports to mitigate network perturbations.

Improved Air Traffic Management through fuzzy approach on Conflict Detection and Resolution using Smart Antenna

Air traffic management is responsible for smooth air traffic. Although it is done by lot of computations with human interactions, the system will be at its best if there are reduced computations and less flight delay time. This system deals with an introduction of fuzzy rules at the point where they are conflict detection. So with the set of rules implying on the detection, resolution can be made on the basis of fuzzy rules. Ensuring the separation and other criteria in lieu with other aircrafts, the resolution is computed. The computations are reduced either by spatial separation or temporal separation. In the present system there is hardly any conflict detection or decision support. The conflict detection computes and derives with the resolution which reaches the ATC (Air traffic control). This paper describes how fuzzy ideas are used with the conflict detection and how the decision support is made with reduced calculations and improved air traffic flow with a reduced delay Index Terms: ATC, conflict detection, Optimization, AOC, Sensors, Smart Antenna

Towards superior air transport performance metrics – imperatives and methods

In order to improve air traffic management service delivery, we need to better characterise and measure performance, through improved metrics. We introduce complexity science and illustrate examples of the additional metrics it may bring to air traffic management. We show how exploring metric variability is preferred to focusing on central tendency. The importance of embracing passenger-centricity is demonstrated. The first results of applying complexity science techniques to the characterisation of actual European passenger trip itineraries are presented, investigating network topologies and vulnerabilities. It is anticipated that on-going work will further contribute to existing research demonstrating the differences between flight-centric and passenger-centric metrics, establishing the better alignment of the latter with key high-level policies in Europe. The specific metric contributions from complexity science remain to be fully proven – although the initial evidence is encouraging.

Recycled airport pavements for achieving environmental sustainability: An Italian case study

Both the design and the construction of airfield pavements have to be consistent with strict requirements and constraints and also higher safety standards due to their particular setting. In addition, maintenance and construction times must be minimized in order to avoid delays and limitations on airport capacity. Maintaining or constructing airfield pavements also entails working during all-weather conditions (e.g. winter time and heavy cold conditions); materials adopted therefore play a major role in the success of the maintenance or construction activity.Environmental management plans and eco-friendly policies and strategies are increasingly being adopted by airport directors. Noise reduction plans through improved air traffic management techniques, emissions control for aircraft engines and ground maneuvering vehicles, reuse of water for washing airfield pavements, use of renewable energies, and use of photocatalytic materials are only some of the numerous ways of achieving a sustainable airport.The paper focuses on construction techniques and the development of innovative materials for the achievement of environmental sustainability on airfield pavements. In particular, the authors present how a long lasting and well performing airport pavement can be built if more than 85% of the materials used are recycled materials. The environmental analysis of a case study on a major Italian airport shows that the release of almost 35% of emissions could be avoided if recycling practices are taken into account. Furthermore, pavement performance is analyzed and monitored as well in order to show that recycling does not necessarily result in lower performance.Outcomes clearly suggest that the recycled airport pavement has a comparable performance and less of an environmental impact on standard airfield pavements. Moreover, results can be implemented into an Airport Pavement Management System to assess the best strategy, considering the environmental footprint in addition to the traditional performance analysis and cost effectiveness.

Mitigation of Aviation Emissions of Carbon Dioxide

This paper investigates the interaction between economic, technological, and operational measures intended to reduce air transport-related emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2). In particular, the introduction of aviation to the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in 2012 may prompt increased uptake of presently available options for emission reduction (e.g., retrofitting winglets, expanding maintenance programs) by airlines operating in Europe. Carbon prices may also determine the use of options currently under development [e.g., open-rotor engines, second-generation biofuels, and improved air traffic management (ATM)]. The results of a several studies analyzing airline costs and emission reductions that are possible from different mitigation options are applied to a systems model of European aviation. With a set of nine scenarios (three internally consistent projections for future population, gross domestic product, oil and carbon prices, each run with three policy cases), technology uptake and the resulting effect on fuel life cycle CO2 emissions with and without an ETS are analyzed. Some options are rapidly taken up under all scenarios (e.g., improved ATM), others are taken up more slowly by specific aircraft classes depending on the scenario (e.g., biofuels), and others have negligible impact in the cases studied. High uptake of one mitigation option may also reduce the uptake of other options. European aviation fuel life cycle emissions could be reduced below 2005 levels before 2050 if cellulosic biomass fuels are made available by 2020. However, the land use requirements in this scenario may limit its practicality at currently projected cellulosic biomass yields.

SESAR: R&D and Project Portfolios for Airline Business Needs

‘Even the longest journey must begin where you stand.Lao-tzu‘In the long run, we're all dead’J. M. KeynesA version of this paper was first presented at the Royal Institute of Navigation NAV 08 Conference held at Church House, Westminster, London in October 2008.SESAR is Europe's ‘Single European Sky Air traffic Research system’, targeted at post-2020. The vision is to integrate and implement new technologies to improve air traffic management (ATM) performance. The focus for planning and executing system operations will increasingly be aircraft navigating high-quality 4D trajectories: a 4D trajectory is the aircraft path, three space dimensions plus time, from gate-to-gate, i.e. including the path along the ground at the airport. A 20+year ATM plan has to use limited information on the success of innovations and the development of large-scale, often safety critical, software, which by its nature can take markedly longer and cost markedly more than early estimates. SESAR must be sufficiently flexible in deployment to maximise financial benefits to individual stakeholdersusing their specific financial criteria. Airline needs are the main ATM system/business drivers. Airlines do not want to commit to developing an ‘ultra-modern system’per se, but rather to one that makes business-sensible investments in new technologies that are indispensable for achieving improved safety and meeting projected capacity requirements. The approach has been to use simple corporate finance ideas to examine the different viewpoints and business environments of air traffic service suppliers (ANSPs) and individual airlines. The key decision-making point is that ANSPs act as an agent for airlines as a whole. The key financial point is that a typical airline has to work hard to survive and needs quick paybacks on investment. The design of the SESAR R&D and project portfolios can learn lessons from information technology systems design and deployment. ‘Real option analysis’ of systems can increase business value by improving the sequencing and partitioning of projects, helping to ensure that the system is adaptable to technological innovation and changes in business needs.

Improving Air Traffic Management with a Learning Multiagent System

A fundamental challenge facing the aerospace industry is efficient, safe, and reliable air traffic management (ATM). On a typical day, more than 40,000 commercial flights operate in US airspace, and the number of flights is increasing rapidly. This paper shows how learning multiagent system helps improve ATM.

SESAR and NextGen: Investing In New Paradigms

SESAR is Europe's ‘Single European Sky Air traffic Research system’. NextGen is the USA's ‘Next Generation Air Transport System’. SESAR and NextGen are developments targeted at post 2020. The common vision is to integrate and implement new technologies to improve air traffic management (ATM) performance – a ‘new paradigm’. SESAR and NextGen combine increased automation with new procedures to achieve safety, economic, capacity, environmental, and security benefits. The systems do not have to be identical, but must have aligned requirements for equipment standards and technical interoperability.A key component is a ‘cooperative surveillance’ model, where aircraft are constantly transmitting their position (from navigational satellites), flight path intent, and other useful aircraft parameters – known as ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast). The focus for planning and executing system operations will increasingly be aircraft 4D trajectories: a 4D trajectory is the aircraft path, three space dimensions plus time, from gate-to-gate, i.e. including the path along the ground at the airport.In analysing potential major ATM system changes, a simple division into five Key Test areas might be: Safety Credibility, Operational Concept, Technological Feasibility, Benefits and Costs, and Transition Path. The main attention here is on Benefits and Costs of SESAR. The strategic challenge will be to convince customers and stakeholders of the benefits of paradigm shift expenditure, given the associated impacts on future user charges, aircraft equipment investments and public expenditure. The analysis here shows that the existing cost benefit analysis results for SESAR are not particularly robust, possibly over-estimating Net Present Values by some tens of € billions.

An integrated adaptive method for constructing radar images in dual-purpose control systems

This paper is devoted to the problem of improving air traffic management systems and air space monitoring on the basis of prospective methods of processing signals reflected by objects in the course of their tracking by coherent-pulse radar stations with many-frequency probing. The main content of the prospective methods for constructing two-dimensional radar images of aerodynamic aircraft is presented. An integrated adaptive method for constructing images that combines partial methods is proposed.

Spacing Instructions in Approach: A Stepwise Design

A new allocation of tasks between controller and flight crew is envisaged as one possible option to improve air traffic management, in particular the sequencing of arrival flows. It relies on a set of new spacing instructions. The flight crew can be tasked by the controller to maintain a given spacing with respect to a designated aircraft. To assess feasibility, benefits and limitations of these instructions, after an initial air-ground experiment, two streams of independent air and ground experiments were conducted with a unified perspective. This paper only reviews the ground experiments. They initially focussed on upstream sectors highlighting a positive impact on controller activity and on control effectiveness. However, the application to downstream sectors appeared as an issue. The paper shows how this issue was addressed, in particular how the organisation of roles, working method and airspace have been gradually refined for the effective use of spacing instructions. The proposed working method, though implying significant changes as compared with today, seemed easy to use and assimilate. Overall feedback from controllers was positive. The analysis of instructions and eye-fixations shows a positive impact on controller activity (relief from late vectoring and earlier flow integration). The analysis of inter aircraft spacing on final approach shows more regular spacing than with current day operations. Next step will consist in investigating interactions between upstream and downstream sectors.

Optimization-Based Analysis of Collaborative Airport Arrival Planning

This paper describes, a novel optimization-based approach to benefits analysis that allows us to analyze new collaborative air traffic management tools. We apply this method to analysis of the Collaborative Arrival Planner (CAP), a concept under development by NASA as part of a suite of decision-support tools for improved air traffic management. Central to our benefits analysis is an integer program, the Arrival Sequencing Model (ASM), which minimizes cost through adjustments to the arrival sequence. We use the ASM to evaluate whether CAP-enabled airline control over and/or visibility into the airport arrival sequencing process could improve overall performance of the air transportation system.

Concepts to Improve Air Traffic Management System Performance

Demand on the air traffic management system continues to grow. The Federal Aviation Administration is faced with the challenge of increasing capacity to meet the rising demand. Several concepts are being researched that seek to improve system performance in the areas of capacity and efficiency. This paper presents these research endeavors and how they affect air traffic system operations. The four concepts under investigation are focused on various system domains—airports, terminal/transition airspace, and en route airspace. The concepts presented include the Departure Enhanced Planning and Runway/Taxiway-Assignment System (DEPARTS), relaxation of the altitude-for-direction (AFD) rule at higher altitudes, the Transition Airspace Controller Tools (TACT), and capacity enhancements for converging runway configurations. The research objectives for each of the above concepts is discussed including results from studies and experiments and the expected operational impacts these enhancements have on air traffic management system performance.