Air Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Current Research Projects on Airport Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems Kurt KLEIN, Michael ROEDER, Hassina MAYCROFT

mnprovements in Air Traffic Management are required and aim at reduction and avoidance of inefficiencies, delays and safety risks, A frame concept under the term A-SMGCS c'Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System) has been accepted /vorld-wide in order to avoid an airport bottleneck. Three projects are described in brief. ~he DLR internal project TARMAC and the European Commission sponsored projects DEFAMM and BETA.

s result of the Single Eu- ropean Market and an increasing mobility of the

........ ...... citizens, air traffic is contin- uously growing. To keep

his transportation element as effective ,~s needed, adequate research and tech- lological development effort has to be mdertaken in Air Traffic Management ATM), mainly with respect to assis- ance tools and improved operational nanagement. \n imbalance of automation support ~etween flight phases and ground ~novement has created the situation that ihe usage of airport ground infrastruc- lure (e.g. runways, taxiways, gates) is ~lot at the optimum level. The result is !:hat the airport is becoming the limiting ::actor for further growth of air traffic, as n most cases the extension of airport ~nfrastructure, such as extended runway :rod taxi areas, is not possible, particular- :,y due to environmental restrictions. Fhe efficiency and safety of ground movements at airports within the over- all ATM concept is a key element that needs particular and urgent attention. A ;rame concept under the term A- SMGCS (Advanced Surface Movement 3uidance and Control System) has been accepted world-wide by the ICAO states.

The A-SMGCS concept Fhe major European airports' results in lhe first half of 1997 show that traffic is £rowing with aircraft movements up

7"4, and freight growing at 6.2% com- pared to first half 1996. The data has been obtained through the Airports Council International (ACI) Rapid Data Exchange Programme, which accumu- lates results from the top 25 European airports accounting for between rough- ly half of the total air traffic in Europe.

Constraints at airports Caused by that traffic increase the resulting complex problem mixture at airports is outlined bv the key words: • capacity; • efficiency; • safety; • environmental impact; • working conditions. Nearly all major European airports (in the US as well) are operating at their capacity border. Due to noise and envi- ronmental impacts it is often not possi- ble to build new airports or new run- ways. As a consequence several airport operators are trying to overcome this problem by different activities (e.g. new radar system, modified procedure). Although this can improve the local sit- uation very often, the general problem is only moved to another authority (e.g. from Airport to ATC provider) or other draw backs must be considered. Air transportation is still a safe, if not the safest way of travelling. However, there is nevertheless need for action since the number of incidents on the ground has been increasing by 35% within the last 5 years (source: ACI, 1999).

The solution: from SMGCS to A-SMGCS Considering this situation and taking into account the existing but not suffi- cient tools (often alreadv referred to as Surface Movement Guidance and Control System, SMGCS), it is obvious that a new approach is urgent: "An Advanced SMGCS (A-SMGCS) is expected to provide adequate capacity and safety in relation to the specific weather conditions, traffic density and aerodrome layout by use of modern technologies and a high level of integra- tion between the various functionali- ties." (source: ICAO, 2000) ICAO coined the term A-SMGCS for a new concept of an integrated airport surface movement management system. Analysing the present day ground movement on a high level of abstraction tile functional loop may be described by four primary A-SMGCS functions. These functions are performed either bv a human or in a machine: • surveillance; • control (situation monitoring); • routing/planning; • guidance. The primary functions are supplement- ed bv secondary functions (Controller Machine Interaction, Communication, etc.). Although the human (controller, pilot) is kept in the loop as the decision maker, it is expected that changes in the role of the operators are necessary in order to gain the highest benefit f~rom the system. These changes will require careful evaluation to provide a safe, effi-

A I R & S P A C E E U R O P E • V O L . } • N o 3 / 4 2 0 0 1 ]IF~4 I

AIRPORT SURFACE MOVEMENT

cient and snloottl transition to tile new system. Furthermore the transition from i/ldividclal s\'stems (e.g. Radar, Flight Plan SystenlS) to a complex, nlodular svstenl network with a \cry high safet\ le\'el requires careful design, tests and preparation. The three projects outlined below con- tribute to this process.

TARMAC Based on the long ternl experience in ATM research and developnlent, to- gether \vith the sensoF experience (radar and GPS technology, sensor data fusion, hllage recognition, fibre optical interfer- onleter, etc.) the German Aerospace Center (DLR) was one of the first organ- isations in the world to work on tile A- SMGCS concept. Apart fionl the indus- trial \'iew finis was dri\'en by tile opera- tional needs. More than 1¢i ~ears ago, studies and s\.sten] engineering work were launctled-at tile Braunschweig and OberpDffonhofen sites of DLR. These initiati\'es and contintious contribtltions to the international aeronautical work- ing groups, the state-of-the-art A- SX'IGCS (IcSAO, IC)97)is ver\' nluch in Ihle with the DIJ~, concept. As one consequence, DLR was and is in\'oh'ed in several Etliopean Conl- nlission sponsored projects as well as in an internal project called TARMAC (Taxi And Ranlp Managenlent And Control). This project (12/19~F 12i2001 with c)5 person ):ears Of effort) takes into account the lessons learned from previous proiects. I)LR is building tip a demonstration and evaluation A- SMGCS tc~gether with nleasurenlent and simulation facilities (t7,,~un' 7). Tills will gi\e the opportunity to COMbine field ancl simulator trials, t-quipnlent can be tested with real airport traffic as well as under dense traffic situations in tilt' sinltilator with practising. < controllers and pilots in-the-loop. The objectives are; • LIser benefit \'erification of tile inte-

grated A-SMGCS concept as efficien- cy and safe\\ improvenlent approach:

• &ternlinatii~n of validated ke\ para meters for tile standardisationbodies (e.g. ICAO, EUROCONTP, CHJ;

• denlonstration of technical solutions dl'i\'en by user needs;

• devdopment, test and optimisation of key elements of an A-SMGCS (also for industrial products);

• verification of econornic configura- tions for all categories of airports.

TARMAC includes tests with practising controllers and pilots in: • a field installation at the Research

Airport Braunsci~\.veig; and • the Apron/lk}wer Simulator and tile

Cockpit Sinlu]ator with K{~ln/l:Joiln Airport and Braunschweig Airport data bases.

DEFAMM DEFAMM (DE\elopnlent ot demonstra- tion Facilities for Airport Movelllent guidance control and Mana~enlent) was a [~]Llro~ean Ct)nlmiSsion sponsored pro- iect ill tile 4th FraMework Programnle with con\rib\ilion o{ 15 partners {Foe industrv, research organisations, air- ports and air traffic control service pro\icler~, under the lead o{ AIRSYS Navigation S\~tenls.

O b j e c t i v e s the I)EFAMM project aimed at denlon- qratin~ tilt' Major all 'port nlovel l lent 4uidance and control lllallageMellt functions with real tacilities in a ilear- operational envi- ronnlent. The cle- nlonstratit~n was b- ._ proceeded by com- - - pi l ing the results Of studies tff tbeT Te- , / qLiirements and sub- / s\'stenls tests al- ready per{ornled, i I

analysing and as- i ",essin~ the avail- / able technologies cctncerning their the of A-SMGCS, dcffhqng film de- I l lonstla tion ~cena-

rios, definin~ tile demonstration svs- teal and implement- ing tile demonstration facilities for identi- fied A-SMGC5 {uric-

1 p ,k"

. . . . . . . . . . . -,.-d] .... 4- " ,

k

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tions. Tile derived benefits that were demonstrated were in tel'IllS ot illofea.-,- ed safet\, efficiency i:or the airlines, the civil a~iation and airp;>rt authc title,. The system functions and the draft pro- cedures were validated ill operational e 1 vi rOlllllen t'.:,. Demonstration sites: • Milan Berganl~ Airport: pre-inlple-

nlentatJon demonstration; • Paris Orh'. Airport: pre-inlplenlenL1-

lion demonstration; • BraLulscllwei~ Airport: I>re-imple

nlc'nL~tion deMonStl+atioil; • K6ln,' go 11 Airport: Final dt'lllOllstra-

tion.

BETA In order to support tilt' accepLalce of fix' concept and to silow the quantitati\e benefit of an A-SMGCS tilt, European Commission launched a (ollow-up pro- ject at tile beginning of tile year 2111 0 The project is named 'Operational Benefit Evaluation b\ TeMing an V S\I(_;CS' with the acronym t-$t!fA. Vhe duration of tilt' project i~, planned h~r 3~ months. t i le consortium i., formed by represun- tatives from tile following: • user ~roups (3 Airlines, 3 Airport,,,

2 ATC providers);

Figure I. TARMAC Airtoorne System D/splay

W

Air T r a n s p o r t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Operational = Concept I '

drn°°'p,, o' , (incl. Lab, rests) i [

Equipment Development &

Integration

Infrastructure DBMS Test Too is Airport E nvironmel)t User Intert'aces

Operational Trials

Figure 2. BETA approach with two test cycles.

Evaluation against Concept

cyclic (2 cydes) evaluation of objectives, to ensure that all

parmers work to - equal objecUves

/ /

/

. experienced research organisations (3); and

• six industrial companies. t;ased on an A-SMGCS architecture, the ,vailability of the technology, the t emonstration of the feasibility and the [.rincipal potential of benefits for the t ser groups, which have been worked cut during recent years in DEFAMM

nd other projects. ihe main objectives of the BETA project

re to: • identify tile currently experienced

taxiway, runway and apron utilisa- tkm constraints on airport efficiency and capacity when related to A- SMGCS;

• define an A-SMGCS operational con- cept ill terms of modified procedures in order to remove or reduce these constraints;

,' show the quantitative and qualitative operational benefits for users of all A- SMGCS system at significant airport examples;

,' show the reduction of air traffic envi- ronmental impact that can be achiev- ed through A-SMCCS implementa- tion;

° provide detailed performance data of sub-systems/systems to be supplied for the completion of the ICAO A- SMGCS Manual ([CAO, 2000).

1 he results are expected to support the x'ork of various aeronautical standardi- sation and harmonisation bodies (~OPG/PT2, EUROCAE WG41, etc.).

Other projects are dealing with exten- sive real time simulations but BETA is dedicated to real airport implementa- tion and test trials. Licensed controllers and pilots trained i l l tile use of tile new systems, wil l be involved il l testing in order to gain realistic results. Scheduled airport traffic and additional test traffic (specific test aircraft and test vel~icles) will be used. The majority of airports in Europe are medium sized ill terms of aircraft move- ments, peak movements or numbers of passengers (s. ACI list of top 25 airports mentioned above). Therefore, the main test sites in BETA are two international airports of this level in two countries (Prague and Hamburg). Tile selection is driven by the experience of the partners that extensive testing with new tools and new test procedures is only possible at airports which are not highly con-

: B E T A Leve ls of P e r s p e c t i v e

Operational Testing

Operational Functions e.g, Control Function >> HumsJ1 Machine

Interaction

Technical Functions e.g. Monitoring & Alarm System Performance Function >> Sub-Sy~em Testing

Figure 3. Test Methodologg

gested. The local airport and ATC or- ganisations are part of the consorfimn ill orcler to facilitate the tests. In addition to the main test sites a small regional airport will participate (Braunschweig). It will provide a technical test bed with excellent infrastructure. The BETA work structure (see figlm' 2) shows two corner stones • the operational concept analysis; • the evaluation of this concept through

a programme of trials, with three parallel activities in between: • proof of principles; • equipment development (e.g. HMI

extension for tile planning system), adaptation and integration; and

• infrastructure preparation.

First resu l ts

An operational concept has been worked out containing: • tile lessons learned in pre\ious pro-

jects as the starting point; • the methods applied are described; • current operations are presented in

event tables; • a generic operational concept for A-

SMGCS; • the BETA operational concept; • the BETA test sites. Ill preparation of the first test phase pilots are invol\'ed ill the following experiments at the DERA cockpit simu- lator using an On Board 'Moving Map Display' and a 'Head Up Display' to help pilots in the task of: • locating rtmway exits during landing

roll out; • judging closure rate to exit on run-

way;

~7~: AIR & SPACE EUROPE • VOL. 3 • b,lo 3.,'4 2001

AIRPORT SURFACE MOVEMENT

• optimising traffic flow on taxiways by providing time related progress for a given route;

• avoiding, or if necessary, managing runway incursions;

• selecting the correct route at a com- plex taxiway intersection;

• not getting lost on the airport surface. For the overall airport trials, a test methodology has been worked out describing four levels of testing (see fi- ~\,ure 3): • the technical level; • the human machine level; • the guidance level; and • the efficiency level. The general system architecture to be used within this project will be based on the EUROCAE WG41 work and the design of the previous large scale test installations (e.g. DEFAMM).

O u t l o o k

The A-SMGCS development process has reached the maturity to move from validation to implementation - although some of the technical tools still have to be evaluated and the relevant opera- tional procedures are yet to be adapted. The concept is generally accepted to fill the ground gap in Gate-to-Gate Air Traffic Management. The necessary technology is more or less available but there is an urgent need for operational integration in order to gain the benefits from the new systems. The modular concept allows specific adaptation and transition plans for each airport. So, in summary, although the need for an improved airport ground movement system (A-SMGCS) has been identified, it should be recognised that the technol-

ogy alone cannot resolve current or future operational problems. Accep- tance of such a system by tile 'end users' with its associated changes in opera tional procedures needs to be achieved through research pregrammes such as those outlined in this paper. •

About the authors: Kurt Klein is AIM-Simulation DeparJment Head and Mid'~el Roeder is BETA Project Manager

at German Aerospace Center DLR in Braunschweig.

Kurt.K]ein@dlr, de; Michael,Roeder@dlnde

l-lczisina IVl~/cr~l is Project Manager at DERA

For further information on these projects please consult:

http://www.dlr.de/tarmac hllp:/wwwcordis.lu/ITansport/src/defarnm,hlm

hllp://ww~.dl~ de/beta