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Positive identification of aircraft on airport movement area-results of FAA trials
Abstract
Current operational airport surface surveillance systems do not
positively identify aircraft as unique targets. Air traffic controllers
are instead presented with a primary radar picture showing all traffic
on the airport movement area. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
is evaluating different types of systems that will add the aircraft's
call-sign or flight number to the radar image thereby allowing
controllers to positively identify individual aircraft at all times.
This paper describes the development, implementation, and testing of the
airport surface target identification system (ATIDS), and presents
results of initial trials conducted at Atlanta Hartsfield International
Airport
Whenever traffic density becomes so critically high that it begins to jeopardize efficiency and safety, the answer lies in the ability to improve traffic coordination and movement precision. This study considers the surface-traffic problem at major airports, and establishes the possibility of high-precision taxi operations by applying state-of-the-art automatic control technologies. Due to the high-speed environment, high-precision taxi is most difficult on or across the runway, where such ability is also potentially most beneficial. In this study, a nonlinear guidance and control system is synthesized and its potential performance in high-precision taxi control is verified, including the ability to taxi continuously immediately after landing to cross an adjacent runway with the tightest of time margin.
Helicopters and other low-altitude air traffic over the Gulf of Mexico operate without the benefit of radar surveillance due to the location and range of existing onshore radar installations. The NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) is sponsoring deployment and testing of a prototype helicopter in-flight tracking system (HITS) in a portion of the Gulf of Mexico offshore area. Using multilateration principles, HITS determines the location and altitude of all transponder-equipped aircraft without requiring changes to current mode A, C or S transponders. In addition to multilateration, HITS provides surveillance reports for aircraft equipped for automatic dependent surveillance roadcast (ADS-B). This paper describes the HITS project - specifically, the system equipment (architecture, remote sensors, central processing site, and communications equipment) and system performance (accuracy, coverage, and reliability).
We study technical issues involving a wide-area surveillance system using multilateration sensors. A satellite clock reference scheme is seen as a better solution for synchronization of widely dispersed sensors. We then describe a direct solution approach to derive target positions. Techniques are developed for resolving solution ambiguities, including different sensor combinations and tracking algorithms. It is also proposed that signal strength comparison and other techniques be used to enhance the tracking performance and accuracies with Mode A/C data. Finally, some flight test results are shown to demonstrate the feasibility of multilateration system for wide-area surveillance.
A flight demonstration was conducted to address airport surface
movement area capacity issues by providing pilots with enhanced
situational awareness information. The demonstration showed an
integration of several technologies to government and industry
representatives. These technologies consisted of an electronic moving
map display in the cockpit, a Differential Global Positioning System
(DGPS) receiver, a high speed VHF data link, an ASDE-3 radar, and the
Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS). Aircraft identification was
presented to an air traffic controller on AMASS. The onboard electronic
map included the display of taxi routes, hold instructions, and
clearances, which were sent to the aircraft via data link by the
controller. The map also displayed the positions of other traffic and
warning information, which were sent to the aircraft automatically from
the ASDE-3/AMASS system. This paper describes the flight demonstration
in detail, along with preliminary results