PJ.01 W2 Enhanced Arrival and Departures - SESAR-IR-VLD-WAVE2-08-2019

Deadline: Apr 16, 2019  
CALL EXPIRED

With the extension of Arrival Management (AMAN) systems horizons, En-Route sectors are affected by concurrent arrival management strategies due to the overlapping AMAN horizons of several independent Terminal Manoeuvre Areas (TMAs). The interaction between traffic synchronisation and demand-capacity balancing (DCB) within the extended horizon needs to be addressed, and potential information integration needs and balancing mechanisms need to be investigated and developed to ensure delivering the optimal capacity. Complex interacting traffic flows in the TMA (including from/to multiple airports) need to be more actively managed to increase safety and improve fuel efficiency whilst capacity is increased. Continuous climb and continuous descent operations (CCO/CDO) at near idle thrust are environmentally friendly, because they are more fuel efficient and also minimize the time that aircraft have to be at low altitude, thereby reducing their noise impact. However, controllers often need to use intermediate level-offs in order to ensure separation. Use of stepped climbs and descents should be reduced at the same time as optimising flights laterally and with appropriate speed management, and optimising the overall Air Traffic Control (ATC) task. Multiple arrival management systems need to ensure a more regular flow of arriving aircraft managed for TMA optimisation as well as runway optimisation. Multiple departure management systems are required to enable a more consistent delivery of departures into the TMA and ultimately to En Route sectors. Improved flows will help to facilitate optimised profiles for aircraft, with dynamic route structures able to provide additional solutions integrated with the management of queues. IFR Rotorcraft operations are constrained to use same approach/departure procedures as fixed wing aircraft and due to their lower speed profiles, runway throughput is very often negatively impacted at busy airports. Specific rotorcraft procedures need to be defined in particular in adverse weather conditions to assist rotorcraft pilots by extending landing to degraded visual conditions.

The project ‘Enhanced Arrival and Departures’ covers the following candidate SESAR Solutions:

• Solution PJ.01-W2-08 Dynamic E-TMA for advanced continuous climb and descent operations and improved arrival and departure operations.

The objective of this solution is to improve descent and climb profiles in busy airspace, as well as the horizontal flight efficiency of arrivals and departures, while at the same time ensuring traffic synchronisation, short-term DCB and separation. This requires a very broad scope, which includes advances in airspace design, development of ground tools, and development of ATC and airborne procedures.

• Solution PJ.01-W2-01 Next generation AMAN for 4D environment.

This solution will provide enhancements to the arrival management systems and procedures in the context of digitalisation in ATM: uplink of AMAN constraints, uplink of a STAR or custom arrival route to the aircraft via ATN B2 from the ATSU, potential use of maximum descent speeds, etc. It investigates strategies to increase the use of managed/automatic mode for flights handled by TTL/TTG during sequencing, improved consideration of downlinked aircraft data by AMAN algorithms, use of machine learning for the refinement of AMAN algorithms, etc.

• Solution PJ.01-W2-06 Advanced rotorcraft operations in the TMA.

The solution addresses the development of a number of advanced procedures and technologies for rotorcraft (e.g. Head up Display (HUD), Helmet Mounted Display (HMD)) to assist rotorcraft pilots by extending landing to degraded visual conditions. The solution covers as well the development of new cost efficient traffic surveillance systems enhancing the pilots’ situation awareness as well as rotorcraft interoperability with GA, drones and RPAS.

This project will develop solutions that are expected to have a positive impact on the Network improving:

• Airspace capacity (improved throughput / airspace volume & time) and airport capacity (improved runway throughput flights/hour) thanks to the synchronisation of the arrival and departure sequences to and from airports using extended AMAN overlapping operations;
• Environmental sustainability and fuel Efficiency thanks to the implementation of continuous descent and climb profiles;
• Predictability with the increased accuracy of the AMAN data);
• Cost-efficiency (reduced direct ANS cost per flight);
• Safety with in particular assisting rotorcraft pilot for landing in bad weather conditions.