Oceanic Flights Research Articles

Psychophysiological effects in pilots from the effects of round-the-world ocean flight

The survey of the main psychophysiological parameters of pilots before and after the round-the-world oceanic flight around the North pole over the Arctic ocean showed the development of fatigue and General psycho-emotional stress, which indicates some decrease in adaptability, but is not critical to limit the performance of professional duties after rest.

Migration Patterns of Upland Sandpipers in the Western Hemisphere

Integrated models of the ecology of migratory species requires tracking of individual migratory organisms throughout the annual cycle. Here, we report the first information on the movement patterns of nine Upland Sandpipers (Bartramia longicauda) that were captured at breeding sites in Kansas and Massachusetts, and tracked with GPS and PTT tags to nonbreeding sites in South America. Upland Sandpipers were extreme migrants that regularly made nonstop flights that were >5,000 km in length and lasted up to 7 days. Sandpipers traveled up to 20,000 km per year in their annual movements. Our project resulted in a series of new discoveries. Sandpipers regularly crossed major ecological barriers during migration, which included long oceanic flights, high elevation mountains, and tropical forests. Migrating birds used known stopover sites in the central flyway of North America and eastern slope of the Andes in South America, and a subset of birds wintered in core nonbreeding sites in the Pampas ecoregion of Uruguay and Argentina. We documented new staging sites at canefields in the mountain valleys of Colombia, grasslands in the Llanos of Venezuela, and at airports along the Atlantic Coast of the US. Unexpectedly, some sandpipers spent the nonbreeding season on river islands in the Amazon basin, and pastures in the Cerrado ecoregion of Brazil; areas not previously known to host overwintering Upland Sandpipers. Like many other migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere, Upland Sandpipers had elliptical migration routes within the Southern Hemisphere, moved among separate activity areas during the nonbreeding season, migrated faster during southbound than northbound migration, and spent more time at nonbreeding than breeding sites. Collectively, the birds used sites across much of northern South America as a broad front migrant. Overall, the migratory patterns of Upland Sandpipers were more similar to migratory landbirds than to shorebirds that typically stage at wetlands and coastal estuaries. Upland Sandpipers should be buffered against habitat loss and degradation at local sites within their migratory range, but it may be difficult to protect specific sites or broad landscapes that would be needed to conserve a high percentage of the global population.

Analysis of Speed Prediction Error on Oceanic Flights

The accuracy of speed prediction error to the next waypoint is a key factor in maintaining longitudinal separation on oceanic routes. This estimation is often used by air traffic control to estimate the future position of aircraft, and the estimation errors result in potential separation infringement. While most aircraft can calculate the estimated time at each future waypoint using the onboard Flight Management System, the factors affecting the inaccuracy of the estimation require more clarification. This paper investigates the accuracy of the speed prediction error on oceanic routes and examines the main factor of error using airline flight data. The results show that wind prediction error is a main source of speed prediction error, and significant differences of the speed prediction error among airlines and aircraft types were observed.

Изменения параметров сердечного ритма и артериального давления за время кругосветного океанического перелета вокруг Северного полюса по Северному Ледовитому океану

Целью настоящего исследования стало комплексное изучение динамики перестроек кардиореспираторной системы за время кругосветного океанического перелета вокруг Северного полюса по Северному Ледовитому океану. Методика. В исследовании приняли участие 6 человек, мужчины в возрасте от 39 до 69 лет. Перелет продолжался 6 недель и проходил на высотах до 3000 м. Оценку показателей сердечно-сосудистой системы проводили при помощи приборного комплекса «спироартериокардиоритмограф» (САКР). Результаты. Оценка динамики показателей сердечно-сосудистой системы методом САКР за время кругосветного перелёта выявила у участников экспедиции снижение стресс-индекса и минимальной длительности межсистолических интервалов. Изучение реактивности показателей сердечно-сосудистой системы при проведении нагрузочных проб показало наличие признаков изменения функционального состояния регуляторных систем. The aim of this research was a comprehensive study of the dynamics of cardio-respiratory rearrangements during the round-the-World oceanic flight around the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean. Methods. The study involved 6 men aged 39 to 69. The flight lasted for 6 weeks and took place at altitudes up to 3,000 m. Indexes of the cardiovascular system were assessed using the «spiroarteriocardiorhythmograph» (SACR) instrumental complex. Results. Assessment of the dynamics of cardiovascular indexes using the SACR method during the round-the-world flight showed decreases in the stress index and the minimum duration of inter-systolic intervals in participants of the expedition. Studying the reactivity of cardiovascular indexes during exercise tests showed signs of changes in the functional state of regulatory systems.

Conflict resolution of North Atlantic air traffic with speed regulation

Since air traffic volume increased over the oceanic airspaces, it has been primordial to improve oceanic air traffic management procedures. One of the most important limitations in the oceans air traffic is the lack of radar coverage. The availability of new surveillance means, called automated dependence surveillance broadcast system (ADS-B), permits to enhance the strategic flight planning over the oceans by reducing the separation standards. Besides, oceanic flights are mainly subjected to strong winds caused by the jet streams. In this work, we focus on optimizing the strategic flight planning over the North Atlantic airspace. First, we organize the traffic inside a route structure that benefits from both the Jet streams and the exploitation of ADS-B systems. Indeed, from one side, these routes are merged inside the jet streams in order to be as close as possible from wind-optimal routes. On the other side, these routes are constructed to fit in with the new separation standards required when implementing the ADS-B systems. Then, we resolve conflicts between aircraft via an optimization model based on a speed regulation. Simulations were conducted for a real traffic data. Computational findings show that the proposed methodology provides satisfying results.

Refined Collision Risk Model for Oceanic Flight Under Longitudinal Distance-Based Separation in ADS-C Environment

Currently, the 30 nautical mile (nm) minimum longitudinal separation standard is applied on oceanic routes under the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract (ADS-C) environment. However, the periodic position report should be provided at least every ten minutes in Japanese airspace based on previous safety analysis. The position report is usually sent via satellite connection, so less frequent position reports would reduce connection costs by airlines. Since the previous safety analysis estimates the risk of collision conservatively, this paper proposes a refinement of the collision risk model by considering the dependency between two closely separated aircraft. The result shows that the periodic position report interval can be extended without infringing safety.

VHF 대양 네트워크를 위한 Ad-hoc 기반 다중접속기법

In oceanic flight routes, HF radio and satellite data links have weather restrictions, long propagation delay and low data throughput. In this paper, we propose oceanic aeronautical communications scheme in the VHF band based on ad-hoc communication. The proposed scheme organizes autonomously a multi-hop network that is divided into multiple local network using aircraft to fly long-distance communication and supports a hybrid type of multiple access, which consists of random access and TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) scheme. In addition, several algorithms to apply spatial reuse of transmission to multi-hop long range communication environments have been proposed. The proposed system proves performance improvement on delay time as an effective solution to communicate end-to-end on the oceanic flight routes and strengthens the reliability of oceanic aeronautical communication.

대양항로에서 장거리 공대지통신을 위한 VHF Relay Network

In oceanic flight routes, HF radio and satellite data links have been used for air-to-ground communication, but these systems have long propagation delay and low data throughput. In this paper, we propose a reliable system to overcome the weakness of current HF radio and satellite communication systems for oceanic aeronautical flight routes. The proposed scheme uses only one aeronautical VHF channel in multi-hop oceanic communication environments and supports a hybrid type of multiple access, which consists of random access and TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) scheme. The proposed system improves performance on delay and throughput as an effective solution to communicate end-to-end on the oceanic flight routes and strengthens the reliability of oceanic aeronautical communication.

Performance Evaluation of Multi Hop Relay Network for Oceanic Air Traffic Control Communication

This paper proposes a new kind of communication system for air traffic control over the oceans; it is particularly effective at handling high air traffic loads due to many oceanic flights. In this system, each aircraft position report is sent to its relevant ground station by forwardly relaying them via a multi hop ad-hoc network that is formed by the aircraft between this aircraft and the ground station. In addition, an effective multiple access scheme with optimal values is also proposed. This scheme enables the various aircraft involved in relaying the signal to operate autonomously in a flight-route airspace. Furthermore, two useful schemes are proposed for efficient timeslot reuse and timeslot assignment in cases of low aircraft densities: the position aided timeslot reuse (PATR) and distance based timeslot assignment (DBTA), respectively. Finally, another scheme is proposed to improve the achievable relayed packet rate under low aircraft densities, which is called interference-based node selection (IB-NS). In all, the proposed system combined with those three schemes show the availability to utilize this system for air traffic control communications, specifically on high traffic ocean routes.

Lost: A Sur vival Guide to Leadership Theory

The problem and the solution. Perhaps some of the most revealing aspects about leadership can be evidenced through the examination of leaders facing extreme challenges. J. J. Abram's television program, Lost, provides a compelling backdrop for the study of leadership during such times of trial. Each week millions of viewers tune in to watch the struggles of the passengers of the doomed Oceanic Air Flight 815. Confronted with the constant struggle for survival in the context of bizarre occurrences, the passengers begin to demonstrate and reveal their leadership qualities and skills.This article analyzes five different leadership theories (trait, skills, path-goal, leader-member exchange, and team) using eight different characters from the television series to demonstrate leadership theory in practice. The article concludes with different teaching activities for facilitators to use when teaching various leadership theories and practices.

Performance Metrics for Oceanic Air Traffic Management

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA’s) Oceanic and Offshore Integrated Product Team is developing a set of performance metrics and identifying methodologies for calculating them. These metrics will be used to benchmark and measure how well the FAA’s Oceanic Air Traffic Control Centers are meeting their goals and priorities, and delivering oceanic air traffic services and benefits.There are many challenges that must be addressed to meaningfully measure and evaluate the oceanic system performance. Some of these challenges are the same as those for measuring the performance of the National Airspace System (NAS) as a whole. However, since many oceanic flights start or end in other countries, there are additional challenges in obtaining the data necessary to calculate the oceanic performance metrics.The FAA’s Air Traffic Services (ATS) organization identified a set of system performance outcomes in the areas of safety and operation efficiency (e.g., predictability, flexibility, delay, and access). Oceanic airspace users indicated their priority areas as safety, on-time performance, fly as filed, flexibility, and fuel consumption. The oceanic performance metrics have been developed to measure the ATS outcomes and the users’ priorities. In addition, environmental factors (e.g., flight count, aircraft avionics equipage) that affect the service delivery are included to provide a proper context for the metrics.The oceanic metrics are collected in a “dashboard” to provide a general picture of the overall service quality provided to oceanic airspace users. A dashboard is generated for each of the New York and Oakland Oceanic Centers, as well as for sub-regions in each Center to account for the air traffic characteristics unique to that sub-region.This paper presents example analyses and results obtained for environmental and performance metrics for New York and Oakland Oceanic Centers, and shows how the metrics can be used to monitor the performance of air traffic management services provided to oceanic airspace users.

Trajectory modeling of emissions from lower stratospheric aircraft

A series of isentropic trajectory calculations has been performed for emissions by stratospheric aircraft moving across the northern midlatitude oceanic flight corridors. Emission of exhaust is simulated by the daily initialization of air parcels along a flight path on the 500 K isentropic surface. Parcels are tracked during the first three weeks of each January from 1980 to 1994 in order to determine the interannual variability in the spatial distribution of the exhaust and the likelihood of exposure to cold temperatures. Few parcels emitted along these flight paths at this time of year were found to have experienced nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) formation temperatures, except for the particularly cold Januarys 1986, 1987, and 1992. We also find that large zonal fluctuations in the distribution of the emissions are typical for this time of year and are strongly dependent on flight path. An extended 6‐month (January–June) run in which parcels were released daily along the New York–London route shows that emissions in the flight corridor increase at a time‐averaged rate which is nearly twice the rate at which the zonal average increases. In addition, local fluctuations of pollutant density can be several times higher than the zonal average and can persist for several weeks. A study of seasonal variability also shows a rapid buildup of emissions during the summer months. These elevated emission levels must be considered in the interpretation of environmental impact assessments based on two‐dimensional transport models.

Implications of three‐dimensional tracer studies for two‐dimensional assessments of the impact of supersonic aircraft on stratospheric ozone

A two‐dimensional (2D) model, which uses a residual circulation and diffusion, and a three‐dimensional (3D) model, which uses winds from a stratospheric data assimilation system, have been used to estimate the transport and dispersion of aircraft exhaust (tracer) in the lower stratosphere. Four month calculations using the 2D model with tracer injected continuously between 40°–50° north and south latitudes are compared with similar 3D calculations for the same time period. The seasonal behavior of the tracer fields in the two models is similar. The zonal mean of the 3D tracer distribution resembles the 2D distribution when the 2D calculation uses a residual circulation derived from the assimilated wind fields, but the 3D distribution indicates more rapid vertical mixing. The similarity of the 2D and 3D tracer distributions suggests the similarity of the seasonal mean mass transport in both models. However, there is a significant difference in the placement of stratosphere/troposphere exchange in the two models. In the 2D model, tracer transport to the troposphere takes place mostly at high latitudes. In the 3D model, most tracer transport takes place at middle latitudes, and is clearly associated with synoptic scale events. This may be particularly important to assessment calculations, as the pollutant source is mostly in middle latitudes. The 3D model is also used to consider the buildup of tracer in oceanic flight corridors. North Atlantic (Boston‐London), north Pacific (Los Angeles ‐ Tokyo) and tropical (Los Angeles‐Sydney) corridors are considered. For northern hemisphere winter, the tracer distributions remain zonally asymmetric. The tracer from Boston‐London is largely excluded from the Aleutian anti‐cyclone, and the tracer from Los Angeles ‐ Tokyo is largely contained within the anticyclone. The tropical tracer distribution is also asymmetric; the time scale for zonal mixing is long compared to the time for meridional transport processes due to weak zonal winds. Although more of the tracer injected in the tropical corridor is transported to higher altitude than for the other corridors, the transfer of mass from the stratosphere to the troposphere is nearly the same for the three corridors. There are no systematic differences that suggest that one corridor is inherently more or less polluting than another.

Air Navigation Systems Chapter 4. Hyperbolic Airborne Radio Navigation Aids – A Navigator's View of their History and Development

This paper is the fourth chapter of a series on Air Navigation Systems during theperiod from the early oceanic flights and the inception of commercial aviation to the introduction of INS in civil aircraft. Comments on the content of the paper would be welcomed by the author and the editor.

Air Navigation Systems: Chapter 3. The Beginnings of Directional Radio Techniques for Air Navigation, 1910–1940

This paper is the third chapter of a series on Air Navigation Systems during the period from the early oceanic flights and the inception of commercial aviation to the introduction of INS in civil aircraft. Some initial comments on the paper are included in the Forum section of this issue of theJournal. Further comments would be welcomed by the author and the editor.

Air Navigation Systems: Chapter 2. Heading References 1909–1959

This paper is the second chapter of a series on Air Navigation Systems during the fifty years from the early oceanic flights and the inception of commercial aviation to the introduction of INS in civil aircraft. These papers are intended as critical commentaries. A definitive history has yet to be written. The writer would be grateful to receive criticisms of the paper or comments on the subject.

Air Navigation Systems: Chapter I. Astronomical Navigation in the Air 1919–1969

This paper is the first of a series on Air Navigation Systems during the fifty years from the early oceanic flights and the inception of commercial aviation to the introduction of INS in civil aircraft. These papers are intended as critical commentaries. A definitive history has yet to be written. The writer would be grateful to receive criticisms of the paper or comments on the subject.

A Comparison of NMC and GWC Analysis Field Temperatures with Aircraft Measurements

Abstract Comparison between in situ aircraft observations of temperature and National Meteorological Center and Global Weather Central analysis fields of temperature is presented for a continental and oceanic flight route. The standard deviations of the temperature differences over several hundred flights are found to be 2.5 and 3.5°C for the continental and oceanic route, respectively. A bias towards warm temperatures of about 0.85°C for the analysis fields was found for the oceanic route. Only small differences are found between the NMC and GWC analysis field temperatures.

Problems of the Transoceanic Airplane

T last few years have seen a considerable improvement in large, multi-engined flying boats, particularly in this country. The major reason for this is the development of long, over-water airlines by Pan American Airways. The excellent record of this organization which operated from Miami to the Panama Canal and major cities of South America cleared the way for the next important step—the pioneering of trans-Pacific flying during the year 1935. Aviation is now prepared to extend this great step and to establish regular airline service across all oceans. Within a very few years one of the conventional ways of traveling to Europe will be by air in 24 hours or less on board a flying boat. Shortly thereafter, it will become possible to get to any point of the globe in 2 or 3 days. The encouraging results already achieved, and those we may expect in the near future, are made possible as a consequence of the general development and progress in various branches of aeronautical science and industry. The object of this article is to discuss briefly the problems connected with the development and operation of a type of aircraft designed for transoceanic operations. It is known that a modern dirigible is capable of carrying passengers across the ocean. Great credit is due the builders and flying crew of the Hindenburg for their excellent achievement. Besides this, some of the authorities of air transportation point to the many successful oceanic flights that were made with landplanes and consider that a properly designed landplane may be used to advantage for transoceanic travel. The author does not deny the possibility of the use of either of these types, but believes that the sum total of advantages definitely point to the very large flying boat as the most reliable and efficient type of equipment for long over-water voyages. As compared to a dirigible, a modern flying boat has about two times the cruising speed. The Hindenburg cruises at 78 m.p.h., while the S-42, a typical long-range flying boat, cruises at 162 m.p.h. This ratio is likely to remain unchanged. Nature placed a handicap on the lighterthan-air craft by requiring 400 to 500 cubic feet of gas to lift the load that can be carried by 1 square foot of wing area of a plane. The size of this article does not permit going much deeper into the comparison, but the author firmly believes that the flying boat is also superior from the standpoint of safety> economy and convenience of operation. In comparing the flying boat with the landplane the advantages in performance, which are quite substantial in the small landplane, become less pronounced as ships