853d Electronic 853d Electronic Systems Group Group
Briefer:Briefer:
Date:Date:
Air Traffic Analysis at Beale AFB Air Traffic Analysis at Beale AFB Supporting Global Hawk Supporting Global Hawk
OperationsOperations
Paul Ostwald, CAASD & Bill Hershey, 853rd ELSG/NT
(MITRE)With Tee Mans, ACC/A8US
26 April 2007
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 2
ContentsContents
• Background• Purpose of this briefing• Beale Air Force Base area and airspace• What does radar data show? • Overview of the 5-day traffic analysis• Radar sites represented in the traffic data• Analysis of transponding traffic (84th RADES data)• Analysis of non-transponding tracks (84th RADES data)• Analysis of stakeholders (ETMS data)• Summary of Findings• Potential application to other situations
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 3
BackgroundBackground
• USAF planned to stand-up Global Hawk (GH) training operations at Beale AFB, CA - Nov 2006
• FAA approval was needed
• GH program had little quantitative data on traffic surrounding Beale AFB
• In June 2006, GH program requested 853 ELSG/NT support for a traffic analysis
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 4
Purpose of this BriefingPurpose of this Briefing
• Provide insight into air traffic around Beale AFB:– Traffic characteristics (hourly and day-of-week variability)– Characterization of non-transponding radar returns– Stakeholder and origin/destination counts
• Document: – Potential data sources and selection of the most useful– Data filtering and processing– Types of results achievable using available data sources
• For potential future application to:– Other locations where Global Hawk could be based– Other programs, e.g., Predator– Special situations, e.g., specific Global Hawk flights
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 5
Beale Area Airspace & Airspace Subject Beale Area Airspace & Airspace Subject to a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR)to a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR)
Sacramento (SMF)
Beale AFB
(BAB)
TFR
10 nmi radiusClass C
Airspace
Note man
y nearby
small airports
Note many
nearby small
airports
Class E
18,000 ft MSL
4,100 ft MSL
Beale AFB
Ground
Class A(All aircraft fly IFR)
Class ETFR10,000 ft MSL
2,600 ft MSL Class CClass C
Class E
18,000 ft MSL
4,100 ft MSL
Beale AFB
Ground
Class A(All aircraft fly IFR)
Class ETFR10,000 ft MSL
2,600 ft MSL Class CClass C
Mode C (altitude reporting) required
above 10,000’ and in “Mode C Veil” above
Class C airspace
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 6
Initial Plan for Global Hawk Training Initial Plan for Global Hawk Training Missions at Beale AFBMissions at Beale AFB
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MOA
Airports
ObstructionsRunways
20 nmi radius10 nmi
radius
GH Path
• Global Hawk training missions would begin and end at Beale AFB, at the center of the 10 nmi radius TFR.
• GH climbs to over 50,000 ft and executes several loops over a military operations area (MOA).
• GH descends to TFR and stays within the TFR on its approach by executing a “bow-tie” pattern.
TFR
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
0 20 40 60 80 100 120Time (minutes)
Altitude (Feet)
Longitude
Latitude
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 7
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 8
What Does Radar Data Show?What Does Radar Data Show?
• Transponding Traffic– Using a beacon transponder that transmits ID & altitude– Transponder is generally required in:
• Class E airspace (portion above 10,000 feet)• Class C airspace (directly above an airfield)• “Mode C veil” (above Class C and below 10,000 feet)
– Types of transponding traffic• Discrete: squawking an assigned beacon code• VFR (Visual Flight Rules): squawking “1200” beacon code• Mixed: discrete or VFR during different portions of the flight
• Non-transponding Traffic– Not using a beacon transponder– Generates search-only returns when seen by primary radar– Not all search-only tracks are real traffic
• e.g, birds, obstructions, and other “noise”
– Not all radars can measure altitude for search-only tracks
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 9
Overview of 5-day Traffic AnalysisOverview of 5-day Traffic Analysis
Data
Analyses
Transponding and non-transponding radar returns
84th Radar Evaluation Squadron (RADES) at Hill AFB, Utah
1. Day-of-week pattern (5 days)
2. Time-of-day pattern (Hourly)
3. Altitudes (3 ranges):
18,000’
10,000’
4,100’
Ground
Transponding aircraftFAA Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS)
1. Stakeholders(6 ways):
General Aviation
Air Carrier
Jets Turboprops Props
2. Air carriers distribution
3. Airports (origins and destinations)
4. Identification of potential non-transponding traffic
May 15 – 19, 2006 (Monday – Friday)Period
Filter to 10 nmi cylinder; show:Filter to 20 nmi cylinder; show:
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 10
Radar Sites Near Beale AFBRadar Sites Near Beale AFB
• SCK (Stockton)
• BAB (Beale AFB)• MCC (McClellan/
Sacramento)
• RBL (Red Bluff)• MIL (Mill Valley)• RBR (Rainbow Ridge)
Yes
No
5 others had small amount of data:FLX, KFL, PSR, RNO, & VAN
Long-Range Radar Sites
Short-Range Radar Sites
Data Archived in
RADES?
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RBL
KFL
RBR
MIL SCK
RNO
FLX
PSR
MCC
BAB
VAN
10 nmi radius
BAB = Beale AFB
Longitude
20 nmi radius
Latitude
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 11
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0000
0100
0200
0300
0400
0500
0600
0700
0800
0900
1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
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2200
2300
Hour (local time)
Ho
url
y C
ou
nt
Results: Transponding Traffic PatternsResults: Transponding Traffic Patterns Day-of-Week and Time-of-Day (84th RADES data) Day-of-Week and Time-of-Day (84th RADES data)
Busy most days0800-1000
Light traffic2200-0800
SlightlyLighter
1000-1300
A Little Busier1300-1800
Breakdown by Hour for All Five Days
• Thursday is busiest: 278 tracks
• Monday is least busy: 201 tracks
• However, one week of data is not a reliable predictor of a regular day-of-week pattern.
One day busy for one hour
Daily Traffic Counts
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
15th
(Mon
)
16th
(Tue
)
17th
(Wed
)
18th
(Thu
)
19th
(Fri)
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 12
740117 122 111 24
55 1 2
67 5 2
Results: Transponding Traffic Breakdown Results: Transponding Traffic Breakdown Mode C AltitudeMode C Altitude
Within 10 nmi Radius Cylinder, Surface to 18,000’Within 10 nmi Radius Cylinder, Surface to 18,000’
18,000 ft
10,000 ft
4100 ft
SurfaceTrack climbs or descends within altitude range shownTrack stays within
altitude range shown
Discre
te -
long
Discre
te -
shor
t
Mixe
d dis
cret
e & V
FR
VFR - lon
g
VFR - sh
ort
Total Track Counts – Surface to 18,000 ft(1114)7%
0 0
0 0
7%
0 0
6%Few VFR
above 10,000 ft
Long track: >=10 radar returns/trackShort track: <10 radar returns/track
66% 11% 11% 10% 2%
Most “short” tracks are
below 4100 ft
91 20 7 10
70 2 6
262 115 37 28 22
1941 58 66 1
29%
42%
11%
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 13
• Objectives:– Reject tracks unlikely to be aircraft– Highlight non-transponding traffic close to TFR boundary
• Analysis process (successive filtering steps):– Used the 15-19 May 2006 sample from 84th RADES – Selected predominantly tracks from search-only radar returns– Selected tracks coming within a 20 nmi radius of Beale AFB– Identified “good” tracks likely to represent real aircraft, i.e.,
• At least 10 radar returns (about two minutes)• Visual examination of path for speed, altitude, linearity, etc.
– Of the good tracks, identified those close to Class C airspace and proposed TFR boundary, i.e., just outside a 10 nmi radius• These represent potential conflicts with Global Hawk
Analysis of Non-Transponding TracksAnalysis of Non-Transponding Tracks (84th RADES Data)(84th RADES Data)
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 14
Results: Non-Transponding Tracks Results: Non-Transponding Tracks (84(84thth RADES data) RADES data)
• Many/most 84th RADES non-transponding tracks do NOT appear to be actual aircraft, due to characteristics such as:– Very short duration
– Very long duration, largely stationary
– Largely stationary at or near a known obstacle
– Many with height (as determined by the radar) above 10,000’
• In 5 days of data, less than 30 “reasonable” tracks were identified that were likely to be real, non-transponding aircraft (see three examples, following slide)
• Unable to verify any non-transponding aircraft entered the airspace reserved for transponder-equipped aircraft due to lack of altitude data, but some flew very close laterally.
• Other anomalies were also observed, possibly due to data filtering by 84th RADES.
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 15
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RADES Tracks that are Likely RADES Tracks that are Likely Non-Transponding AircraftNon-Transponding Aircraft
• Fewer than 30 tracks were identified as potentially “good” non-transponding aircraft
– Red Bluff radar (RBL) - 10 tracks– Mill Valley radar (MIL) - 6 tracks– Rainbow Ridge radar (RBR) - 6 tracks
Track 12124 (seen by
RBL radar)
Track 24514 (seen by
MIL & RBL radars)
Track 12617 (seen by
MIL & RBL radars)
Note proximity to proposed
TFR
Search-only track
Obstruction
Airports
Outer Ring: 20 nmi radius Inner Ring: 10 nmi radius TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction)
• Only three tracks in common (seen by two radars, i.e., RBL and MIL (see example plots)
• Unique tracks (seen by one radar only)– 7 of 10 from RBL (see example plot)
– 3 of 6 from MIL
– All 6 from RBR
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 16
Observations on 84Observations on 84th th RADES Tracks that RADES Tracks that are Not Likely to be Aircraftare Not Likely to be Aircraft
• Most search-only tracks are not aircraft • Examined all search-only tracks within 10 nmi radius of Beale
AFB, here shown as hourly counts over the five days of data:
15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 19 MayHour
TrackCount
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
3 9 15 21 3 9 15 21 3 9 15 21 3 9 15 21 3 9 15 21
• No clear pattern from day-to-day• No clear pattern within each day• Counts include many very short tracks• Peaks and lulls can occur any time of day• Peak of over 70 per hour
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 17
Analysis of Stakeholders Analysis of Stakeholders (Enhanced Traffic Management System Data)(Enhanced Traffic Management System Data)
• Objective: Determine characteristics of other airspace users near Beale.– Aircraft type– Air carrier breakdown– Origin and destination airports
• ETMS data came from the CAASD Repository System– Same five day period (15-19 May 2006) as the 84th RADES data– Aircraft transmitting a discrete beacon code for part or all of the track– Contains aircraft ID, type, origin and destination airports – Tracks from FAA’s Oakland Center (ZOA) and Northern CA TRACON– Does not include military or most VFR traffic (with 1200 beacon codes)– Data frequency is one position per minute, less often than 84th RADES data
• Analysis process– Selected all tracks that were
• within a 10 nmi radius cylinder centered on Beale AFB• below 18,000’
– Analyzed and plotted data in Excel
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 18
232 36 36 15
1 16 41 136
Breakdown of Transponding AircraftBreakdown of Transponding Aircraft15-19 May 2006 – ETMS Data15-19 May 2006 – ETMS Data
No Flight Plan (AC type, departure and arrival airport information
not available)
General Aviation
Air Carrier(see following slide
for company breakdown)
PropTurbo Prop Jet Total
319(62%)
194(38%)
513 Total flights
in Discrete and Mixed
CategoriesDoes not include military aircraft or aircraft under VFR transponding with 1200 code.
45% 7% 7% 3%
0% 3% 8% 27%
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 19
Breakdown by Air CarrierBreakdown by Air Carrier
Day (GMT)Carrier Carrier name Type 15 16 17 18 19 20 TotalSWA SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. Jet 7 10 11 12 10 7 57ASA ALASKA AIRLINES INC. Jet 4 8 8 9 9 5 43QXE HORIZON AIRLINES, INC. Turboprop 2 3 3 3 2 1 14BXR REDDING AERO ENTERPRISES, INC. Prop 3 3 2 3 2 13AMF AMERIFLIGHT, INC. Turboprop 2 4 1 3 1 11MRA MARTINAIRE Turboprop 2 3 2 2 1 10QXE HORIZON AIRLINES, INC. Jet 1 3 1 1 1 7UAL UNITED AIR LINES INC. Jet 2 2 1 1 6EJA EXECUTIVE JET AVIATION, INC. Jet 1 2 2 5Others 2 6 4 7 6 3 28Total 16 40 39 39 39 21 194
Southwest and Alaska have the largest number of flights transiting the 10 nmi radius cylinder
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 20
Breakdown by Departure and Arrival Breakdown by Departure and Arrival Operations at Nearby AirportsOperations at Nearby Airports
Departure Airport
Distance from Beale
AFBGeneral Aviation
Air Carrier Total
BAB 0.0 1 0 1 MYV 7.0 6 1 7 LHM 14.8 7 0 7 AUN 20.7 2 0 2 OVE 23.9 2 0 2 SMF 28.7 0 7 7 MCC 29.5 3 3 6 E36 31.0 1 0 1 O61 35.9 1 0 1 O41 36.0 1 0 1 MHR 37.2 4 13 17 SAC 39.3 0 2 2 CIC 46.2 3 9 12 APC 71.2 1 0 1 O05 72.6 1 0 1 CPU 73.2 1 0 1 RBL 75.0 0 1 1 STS 78.0 0 1 1 CCR 78.2 3 0 3 SCK 78.6 2 0 2 LVK 92.6 1 0 1 RDD 95.7 5 10 15 OAK 96.9 0 1 1
Arrival Airport
Distance from Beale
AFBGeneral Aviation
Air Carrier Total
BAB 0.0 1 0 1 MYV 7.0 4 1 5 LHM 14.8 7 0 7 OVE 23.9 2 0 2 O08 27.3 1 0 1 SMF 28.7 3 127 130 MCC 29.5 4 4 8 MHR 37.2 11 14 25 SAC 39.3 4 4 8 WLW 44.9 1 0 1 CIC 46.2 3 2 5 O70 57.1 1 0 1 RBL 75.0 3 3 STS 78.0 1 0 1 SCK 78.6 2 0 2 RNO 84.2 1 1 LVK 92.6 1 1 2 RDD 95.7 6 13 19 OAK 96.9 1 0 1 MOD 97.8 2 0 2
Highlights are >= 5
Air Carrier Arrivals to Sacramento Intl
are by far the largest
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 21
Summary of FindingsSummary of Findings8484thth RADES Data RADES Data
• Transponding Traffic– Day-of-week
• Some variation seen, mid-week busier, all days with over 200 tracks• 5 days (Monday – Friday) limited sample – not a reliable indicator
– Time-of-day• “Off hours” of 1900 – 0800 not too busy (under 10 tracks per hour) • Morning (0800 – 1100) consistently busy (all hours with over 10 tracks)• Other hours (1100 – 1900) slightly less busy overall (mostly 10 – 20 tracks)• Afternoon spikes of very busy 1 – 2 hour periods occur (30 tracks)
– Altitude• Discrete beacon traffic distributed across all altitudes (surface to 18,000’)• Many aircraft are transitioning altitudes• Non-discrete (VFR traffic) are mostly below 10,000’• Short tracks (less than 10 returns) are almost exclusively below 4100’
• Non-transponding traffic– Many/most non-transponding tracks do NOT appear to be actual aircraft– A small number (less than 5 per day) do appear to be aircraft tracks – Further analysis might identify some additional non-transponding tracks
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 22
Summary of FindingsSummary of FindingsStakeholder Analysis Stakeholder Analysis
(ETMS Transponding Traffic) (ETMS Transponding Traffic)
• Air Carrier Flights– About 200 air carrier flights were found
– Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines were the “top two”
– Air carriers are mostly jets
– About 2/3 of air carrier flights were arrival operations to Sacramento (SMF)
• General Aviation (GA) Flights– About 300 GA flights were found – many in Northern California
TRACON – possible VFRs receiving flight-following service
– GA included some jets but comprised mostly prop and turboprop aircraft
– GA operations included both departures and arrivals from several nearby airports
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 23
Potential Application to Other Potential Application to Other SituationsSituations
• Details of the process (computer programs, data structures, and analysis steps) are being documented for easy replication
• Similar analyses could be applied to:– Other locations where Global Hawk could be based– Analysis of specific flights – Other programs (e.g., Predator)
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 24
Back-up SlidesBack-up Slides
• Global Hawk characteristics• Comparison of radar data sources• “Search-only” radar data observations for Red
Bluff, Mill Valley, and Rainbow Ridge radar sites
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 25
Global Hawk CharacteristicsGlobal Hawk Characteristics
• Global Hawk is an Air Force unmanned air vehicle (UAV), which is used for surveillance.
• Wingspan - 116 feet / Length - 44 feet• Can range as far as 12,000 nautical
miles, at altitudes up to 65,000 feet (19,812 meters), flying at speeds approaching 340 knots (about 400 mph) for as long as 35 hours.
Source: http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=175
• Once mission parameters are programmed into Global Hawk, the UAV can autonomously taxi, take off, fly, remain on station capturing imagery, return and land.
• Ground-based operators monitor UAV health and status, and can change navigation and sensor plans during flight as necessary.
• During a typical mission, the aircraft can fly 1,200 miles to an area of interest and remain on station for 24 hours.
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 26
Comparison of Radar Data SourcesComparison of Radar Data Sources
RADES ETMS “Offload Extractor”
Archive location
84th RADES, Hill AFB, UT
MITRE/CAASD, McLean, VA
FAA ATALAB,Herndon, VA
Availability By request, may take several weeks
Via query, minutes to several hours
Via internet, tens of minutes to one day
Contents Radar data, from many FAA & Military radars
Most transponding flights as tracked by ATC
Similar to ETMS + military + many VFR
Value added
Filtering, post-processing “tracker”
Flight Plan (FP) data associated with tracks
FP associated with tracks
Advantages Data on both transponding & non-transponding flights
FP data presentNCT presentEasy & quick to get“High quality” tracks
Similar to ETMSMore complete than ETMS (+military +VFR)
Limitations Not all radars in archiveLow altitude coverageQuestionable tracks on search data (non-transponding)
No militaryNo VFRNot all ATC facilitiesNo non-transponding
Duplicate tracks of VFRs, UNKsNo non-transponding
Selected for this analysis
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 27
RBL (Red Bluff) Search-Only Radar Data RBL (Red Bluff) Search-Only Radar Data ObservationsObservations
• Note large number of search returns south of arc from SW to NE that passes just south of Beale Runway
– Appears to be some kind a filter or mask applied to the radar data
– Many questionable tracks computed with data south of this arc!
• RBL radar does not measure height of search, only position of returns
ALL Search-Only Returns for RBL Radar
Search-only track
Obstruction
Airport, Runway
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 28
MIL (Mill Valley) Search-Only Radar MIL (Mill Valley) Search-Only Radar Data ObservationsData Observations
• Higher density of search returns towards the East and Southeast
– But no distinct line or arc as in RBL data
– Overall density is close to that for RBL “above the arc”
• Majority of tracks <= 10 returns• MIL radar does measure height
– All “good” search-only tracks have reasonable height data
• Height data present for almost every search return in “good tracks”
• Majority are between 6000’ and 10,000’
All Filtered Search-Only Tracks (>10 Search
Returns & Inside 10-20 nmi Radius Ring)
All Search-Only Returns
Search-only track
Obstruction
Airport, Runway
Outer Ring: 20 nmi radius Inner Ring: 10 nmi radius TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction)
Document Number Here© 2007 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.Slide 29
RBR (Rainbow Ridge) Search-Only RBR (Rainbow Ridge) Search-Only Radar Data ObservationsRadar Data Observations
• Data predominantly west of Beale (radar furthest west)
– But some south along heading of BAB runway
– Density to west similar to density for MIL radar
– But no distinct line or arc as in RBL data
• RBR radar does measure height– All “good tracks” have height data
• Height data present for almost every search return
• But most returns were above 14,000’
• Six “good” search tracks identified– “Good” based on visual path– Height questionable– None were tracked by either of the
other radars!• Should have been seen by the other
radars at that height if they were actual flights
All Filtered Tracks (>10 Search Returns
& Inside 10-20 nmi Radius Ring)
All Search-Only Returns
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