Runway Approach Research Articles

Agri-voltaics near airport facilities. Reconciling the risk of solar glare with power generation

The installation of photovoltaic systems on cultivated land enables both agricultural and green energy production simultaneously. The result is an efficient and inclusive use of land that promotes the rural economy, enables the recovery and maintenance of land and prevents its abandonment when it is considered not profitable. This intent is facilitated in semi-rural areas where there is already the presence of infrastructure connected to the national power grid, but at the same time is limited by other human activities. Runway approach and air traffic control operations impose very stringent constraints on the possibility that photovoltaic panels, reflecting solar radiation, may glare airport operators.This article provides a methodology for verifying such phenomena (control function) and mitigating them by maximizing solar power generation (objective function). Through a case study located in central Italy, positioned near an airport, it was possible to investigate the design variables to protect the landing air routes and the airport control tower.In this case study, with an azimuth angle of 47° and tilt angle of 25°, and thanks to a 5 m high tree screen placed on the edge of the land on which the agri-voltaic installation stands, it is possible to secure airport operations by eliminating all forms of solar glare. At the same time, 21.9 GWh of photovoltaic energy is produced annually, while avoiding the release of 8,773 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Compared with the optimal, unconstrained case, photovoltaic panels arranged in this way decrease their annual energy production by only 6.8 %.

Uncovering the Hidden Correlations between Socioeconomic Indicators and Aviation Accidents in the United States

Rules and regulations for accident mitigation have been implemented between all players. It is necessary to use new technologies and resources for human factors to mitigate future accidents to decrease accidents. It has been verified that accidents by sabotage are currently non-existent and that most of the fatalities are during the flight and in the runway approach phase. Severe accidents with associated fatalities are a small number that tend to decrease over time. Human errors, although with all the mitigations over time, are still the most significant cause of accidents; although accidents have decreased, other factors may be related to this type of error, such as the lack of personnel for the operation of a flight. Accidents can also be related to other factors, such as economic factors. GDP growth is positively correlated with accidents, and inflation is negatively correlated. It is also found that the inflation factor is also related to the number of flights due to a lack of demand.

Prediction of severity of aviation landing accidents using support vector machine models

The purpose of this study was to apply support vector machine (SVM) models to predict the severity of aircraft damage and the severity of personal injury during an aircraft approach and landing accident and to evaluate and rank the importance of 14 accident factors across 39 sub-categorical factors. Three new factors were introduced using the theory of inattentional blindness: The presence of visual area surface penetrations for a runway, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) visual area surface penetration policy timeframe, and the type of runway approach lighting. The study comprised 1,297 aircraft approach and landing accidents at airports within the United States with at least one instrument approach procedure. Support vector machine models were developed in using the linear, polynomial, radial basis function (RBF), and sigmoid kernels for the severity of aircraft damage and additional SVM models were developed for the severity of personal injury.The SVM models using the RBF kernel produced the best machine learning models with a 96% accuracy for predicting the severity of aircraft damage (0.94 precision, 0.95 recall, and 0.95 F1-score) and a 98% accuracy for predicting the severity of personal injury (0.99 precision, 0.98 recall, and 0.99 F1-score). The top predictors across both models were the pilot’s total flight hours, time of the accident, pilot’s age, crosswind component, landing runway number, single-engine land certificate, and any obstacle penetration. This study demonstrates the benefit of SVM modeling using the RBF kernel for accident prediction and for datasets with categorical factors.

Safety Analysis of GNSS Parallel Runway Approach Operation at Guarulhos International Airport

The air traffic environment is a complex system that involves several players. Between the air navigation service provider (ANPS) and the final client, many different organizations act with different purposes but are strongly interfaced. Changes and modifications in terms of technology, predefined process, or personnel are constantly needed, requiring coordination among the stakeholders. However, due to the high level of interaction between the players, any change in a complex system like the air traffic environment requires risk management. This paper demonstrates the suitability and advantages of the System-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes/Systems-Theoretic Process Analysis (STAMP/STPA) method to be applied to the risk assessment of an operational air traffic modification. The method, which had never been used on an air traffic problem in Brazil before, was applied considering the implementation of segregated simultaneous operation at the Guarulhos International Airport. The results were proven to be effective in terms of deriving useful safety requirements. From such demonstration, STAMP/STPA can be considered as a feasible alternative to the brainstorming method currently applied for risk assessment and generation of safety requirements regarding modifications in the structure of the air traffic services (ATS) in Brazil.

A machine learning model to predict runway exit at Vienna airport

Runway utilisation is a function of actual yearly runway throughput and annual capacity. The aim of the analysis in this project is to find data driven prediction models based on the features and relevant scenarios that might impact runway utilisation. The Gradient Boosting machine learning method will be assessed on their forecast performance and computational time for predicting the procedural and non-procedural runway exit to be utilised after the landing rollout. The Gradient Boosting method obtained an accuracy of 79% and was used to observe key related precursors of unique data patterns. Tests were conducted using runway and final approach data consisting of 54,679 arrival flights at Vienna airport.

Spatiotemporal characteristics of motor actions by blind long jump athletes

BackgroundBlind people depend on spatial and temporal representations to perform activities of daily living and compete in sport.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to determine the spatiotemporal characteristics of long...

Agent-based modelling and mental simulation for resilience engineering in air transport

Following a discussion of recent reviews, we argue that in resilience engineering (RE) there is a need for more structured modelling approaches for analysis of resilience in sociotechnical systems that can support both qualitative and quantitative studies. In this paper we present agent-based modelling and simulation (ABMS) as an approach towards this end. An agent-based model of a sociotechnical system describes the performance and interactions of its constituent human operators and technical systems in an operational context. In support of RE it can effectively be used to analyse the capability of a sociotechnical system to deal with disturbances and performance variability. We present an RE cycle, which uses qualitative and quantitative ABMS phases for analysis of the adaptive capacity of a sociotechnical system. The focus in this paper is on the qualitative ABMS phase, including the development of a qualitative model and mental simulation using the qualitative model. The model development is supported by a set of model constructs, which represent key aspects of evolution of agents’ states and agents’ interactions. The mental simulations use reasoning on the basis of the qualitative model to structurally analyse the interactions and dynamics of the performance in the agent-based model. Results of the qualitative ABMS phase can be used to improve the resilience of operations or they may be followed by quantitative ABMS. The approach is presented in detail for aircraft runway approach operations using conventional systems and an advanced aircraft surveillance application system.

A Runway Incursion Detection Approach Based on Multiple Protected Area and Flight Status Machine for A-SMGCS

A-SMGCS is a modular system defined in the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Manual on Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS) .One of A-SMGCS goals is to provide enhanced safety and protection of the runway. This paper presents a novel runway incursion detection approach for A-SMGCS, in which a multiple protected area is proposed to decrease complexity of pre-treatment for incursion judgment, and a flight status machine is designed to specify the transitions of one flight from one target status to another. Additionally, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) independently developed by the Second Research Institute of CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) was designed in order to validate the runway incursion detection approach, the result shows that the algorithm has the potential to significantly improve runway safety by early detection and alerting of runway incursions.

Aircraft Sequencing Method for Staggered Parallel Runways Approach

Most research about the approaching aircraft sequencing is for single runway approach or standard parallel runways approach. Little of research is for the case of staggered parallel runways approach. In this paper, a mathematical model of aircraft approach sequencing is established for the case of staggered parallel runways approach, and also this model is optimized with improved genetic algorithm. This model is simulated with the improved genetic algorithm both for cases of non-staggered runway approach and staggered runway approach, and the result shows that, comparing with the situation of non-staggered runway, the delay time in the case of staggered parallel runways approach decreases by 1.6 minutes, and the fitness increases by 0.0394. It proves that, in a certain extent, staggered parallel runways can reduce the minimum interval between arrival flights, thus increase the capacity of parallel runways.

The art and science of forensic meteorology

When weather factors into a legal dispute, meteorologists use eyewitness accounts, troves of atmospheric data, and simulated reenactments to figure out what went awry.

Interactions Between Wildlife and Civil Aircraft in Mississippi

Collisions between aircraft and wildlife have increased markedly since first recorded in 1905. These strikes threaten human safety and cost the United States civil aviation industry >$677 million annually. We examined the Federal Aviation Administration's national wildlife strike database records from 1990–2010 to characterize reported strikes with civil aircraft in Mississippi. We hypothesized that daily foraging patterns and seasonal differences would affect strike frequency for birds. We summarized 381 reported strikes (366 birds, 14 mammals, and 1 reptile) comprising ≥42 species. Bird strikes per 1000 aircraft operations (take-off and landing counted as separate operations) increased between 1990–2010. The monthly number of reported strikes per 1000 operations peaked July—September, coinciding with late breeding season and fall migration. Bird strikes per 1000 operations occurred more often during runway approach than during take-off, and more often at dusk than during other times of day. These patterns mirrored nationally observed wildlife-strike patterns. Our results may aid airport biologists in Mississippi to prioritize species management and more effectively implement timing and types of animal control efforts.

Some aspects of signals in the I.A.F.

Article shall try to tell you something about the Signals Branch of the Indian Air Force, what it aims to do, some of its difficulties and some of the instances where we feel it is not as efficient as we should like it to be. The purpose of an Air Force Signal Organization is to provide communication and radar facilities which will assist the Air Commander to exercise efficient control of his forces and to develop and apply their maximum fighting strength. These various facilities comprise-(a) Wireless communication system, (b) Radio Navigational and runway approach aids, (c) Aircraft control, early warning and identification systems, (d) Airborne search system, (e) Radio warfare system. (d) Airborne search system, (e) Radio warfare system

Abnormal whole-brain functional networks in homogeneous acute mild traumatic brain injury

To evaluate the whole-brain resting-state networks in a homogeneous group of patients with acute mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and to identify alterations in functional connectivity induced by MTBI. Thirty-five patients with acute MTBI and 35 healthy control subjects, matched in age, gender, handedness, and education, underwent resting-state fMRI, susceptibility weighted imaging, neuropsychological, and postconcussive symptom assessments. We ensured the homogeneity of the patient group by limiting the injury mechanism to fronto-occipital impacts. Alterations in functional connectivity were analyzed by using data-driven independent component analysis, which is not biased by a priori region selection. We found a decrease in functional connectivity within the motor-striatal network in the MTBI group. At the same time, patients showed deficits in psychomotor speed as well as in speed of information processing. We propose that although disorders in motor function after MTBI are rarely reported, injury still has an effect on motor functioning, which in its turn may also explain the reduction in speed of information processing. Further, we found a cluster of increased functional connectivity in the right frontoparietal network in the MTBI group. We suggest that this abnormal increased connectivity might reflect increased awareness to external environment and explain excessive cognitive fatigue reported by patients with MTBI. It might also underlie the physical postconcussive symptoms, such as headache and increased sensitivity to noise/light. We proved that whole-brain functional connectivity is altered early (within 4 weeks) after MTBI, suggesting that changes in functional networks underlie the cognitive deficits and postconcussive complaints reported by patients with MTBI.

Altered emotional and motivational processing in the transgenic rat model for Huntington’s disease

Huntington disease (HD) is caused by an expansion of CAG repeat in the Huntingtin gene. Patients demonstrate a triad of motor, cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. A transgenic rat model (tgHD rats) carrying 51 CAG repeats demonstrate progressive striatal degeneration and polyglutamine aggregates in limbic structures. In this model, emotional function has only been investigated through anxiety studies. Our aim was to extend knowledge on emotional and motivational function in symptomatic tgHD rats. We subjected tgHD and wild-type rats to behavioral protocols testing motor, emotional, and motivational abilities. From 11 to 15 months of age, animals were tested in emotional perception of sucrose using taste reactivity, acquisition, extinction, and re-acquisition of discriminative Pavlovian fear conditioning as well as reactivity to changes in reinforcement values in a runway Pavlovian approach task. Motor tests detected the symptomatic status of tgHD animals from 11 months of age. In comparison to wild types, transgenic animals exhibited emotional blunting of hedonic perception for intermediate sucrose concentration. Moreover, we found emotional alterations with better learning and re-acquisition of discriminative fear conditioning due to a higher level of conditioned fear to aversive stimuli, and hyper-reactivity to a negative hedonic shift in reinforcement value interpreted in term of greater frustration. Neuropathological assessment in the same animals showed a selective shrinkage of the central nucleus of the amygdala. Our results showing emotional blunting and hypersensitivity to negative emotional situations in symptomatic tgHD animals extend the face validity of this model regarding neuropsychiatric symptoms as seen in manifest HD patients, and suggest that some of these symptoms may be related to amygdala dysfunction.

Cocaine self-administration alters the relative effectiveness of multiple memory systems during extinction.

Rats were trained to run a straight-alley maze for an oral cocaine or sucrose vehicle solution reward, followed by either response or latent extinction training procedures that engage neuroanatomically dissociable "habit" and "cognitive" memory systems, respectively. In the response extinction condition, rats performed a runway approach response to an empty fluid well. In the latent extinction condition, rats were placed at the empty fluid well without performing a runway approach response. Rats trained with the sucrose solution displayed normal extinction behavior in both conditions. In contrast, rats trained with the cocaine solution showed normal response extinction but impaired latent extinction. The selective impairment of latent extinction indicates that oral cocaine self-administration alters the relative effectiveness of multiple memory systems during subsequent extinction training.

Turn-Constrained Route Planning for Avoiding Hazardous Weather

We investigate the problem of algorithmically synthesizing turn-constrained routes that minimize exposure to hazardous weather. Such a problem is suitable to air traffic management automation and aircraft flight management systems. Our algorithm synthesizes routes that aircraft may follow from a specified start to finish location. Example applications include synthesizing routes (1) from airport metering fix locations to runway final approach fixes, and (2) from sector boundary crossing locations to airport metering fix locations. The algorithm takes into account aircraft dynamics limits on velocity and acceleration, pilot and controller workload considerations (e.g., the number of turn maneuvers), and other constraints (e.g., utilizing arrival vs. departure corridors or avoiding special use airspace regions). The solution approach is based on searching in an appropriate discretization of a geometric model of the airspace using a dynamic programming algorithm for optimal paths having a bounded number of turns. Examples are given for Dallas Ft. Worth Airport.

Evidence of a role for multiple memory systems in behavioral extinction

The acquisition of learned behavior involves multiple memory systems, and hippocampal system damage impairs cognitive learning while leaving stimulus–response habit learning intact. In view of evidence that extinction also involves new learning, the present experiments examined whether multiple memory systems theory may be applicable to the neural bases of extinction. Adult Long–Evans rats were trained to run in a straight-alley maze for food reward. Twenty-four hours later, rats matched for runway latencies during acquisition received extinction training. In a response extinction condition conducive to habit learning, rats performed a runway approach response to an empty food cup. In a latent extinction condition conducive to cognitive learning, rats were placed at an empty food cup without performing a runway approach response. Prior to daily extinction training, neural activity of the dorsal hippocampus was reversibly inactivated via infusion of bupivacaine (0.75%, 0.5 μl/side). Control rats receiving saline infusions displayed extinction behavior in both the response and latent training conditions. In contrast, rats receiving bupivacaine extinguished normally in the response condition, but did not display latent extinction. The findings (1) confirm that learning underlying extinction of the same overt behavior can occur with or without explicit performance of the previously acquired response, (2) indicate that extinction learning produced by response and latent training procedures can be neuroanatomically dissociated, and (3) suggest that similarly to initial task acquisition, the hippocampus may critically mediate extinction in situations requiring the use of cognitive learning, such as when performance of a previously acquired response habit is prevented.

Appearance of Runway Lights and Approach Lights Viewed from Pilot's Eye Position

Appearance of Runway Lights and Approach Lights Viewed from Pilot's Eye Position

Dorsal striatal lesions in rats. 2: Effects on spatial and non-spatial learning.

Rats with small electrolytic lesions of the dorsal striatum were evaluated in acquisition of spatial learning, sensorimotor learning, and a straight runway food approach response and its extinction. No differences were detected between rats with dorsal striatal lesions and sham-operated controls during acquisition of hidden and visible trials in the Morris water maze. Neither was an intergroup difference observed during acquisition of the rotorod test of motor coordination. Lesioned rats were not impaired in running for a food reward, but their running latencies on day 2 of extinction were lower than those of controls, an indication of perseveration. These results indicate that perseverative responding may occur in dorsal striatal lesioned rats in the absence of spatial or sensorimotor defects.

Promoting General Aviation Transportation in Community Economic Development Through General Aviation Public Airport Managers and State Department of Aeronautics Officials

It is very difficult to pinpoint the specific Wtransportation development needs of general aviation airports and their surrounding communities. Often, insufficient management expertise at individual airports, coupled with the state's occasional unfamiliarity with specific community problems, hinders the state's effective administration of airport assistance programs. Therefore, state officials would benefit from the airport administrators' opinions concerning how state programs might be modified to best meet individual airport needs. This paper describes a study which reveals wdifferences in perceptions· between the Alabama Department of Aeronautics (DOA) and individual general aviation public airport managers. This study examines qualitative perceptions of 15 airport factors, such as paved runway length, adequate taxiways, approach aids, hangar/tie-down space, and strong airport management, plus community support areas, such as nearby hotel/motel, industrial park, and ground transportation. Airport managers judged these factors at their own airports, ideal airport, and at several chosen as a control mechanism. Airport managers were also asked to reveal sources and amounts of funding received for capital projects and operational needs. When compared with funding data from official sources, significant discrepancies were observed. Data were obtained through a mail survey. Of the 79 strictly general aviation public airports surveyed, 54 responses were returned (68% response rate). Analysis revealed many significant differences in perception factor scores. Not only were there differences in perceptions between airport managers and DOA officials, but also between the managers' perceptions of their own airports versus the widea1 airportW revealing 10 areas where improvements are recommended (including the perception factor of strong airport management).