Introduction: Basics, History and Overview

Abstract

Since more than fifteen years an increasing interest is observed worldwide in remote control of low traffic airports by means of some kind of virtual control tower. As outlined in the Foreword by Steve Ellis and in the Preface to the 1st ed. of this book, “Virtual Tower” depicts the idea of replacing the out-of-the-window (OTW) view from a conventional control tower on airports by a Remote Tower Control Center (RTC) relying on advanced video, image processing, and virtual reality technologies. It eliminates the need for direct visual observation and consequently the requirement for a costly tower building at an exposed location in visual distance from the runway. The virtual/remote tower idea is connected with a paradigm change in air transportation due to the growth of low-cost carriers and the corresponding increased usage of small airports which nevertheless require air traffic services (ATS). Cost constraints require new ideas and concepts to meet these requirements, and the control of one or more small airports from a remote location without the need of a direct visual observation from a local tower is one of these visions. After providing in Sect. 1 of this introduction some basics of air traffic control in the airport vicinity, we continue in Sect. 2 with a personal account of Virtual and Remote Control Tower research from the DLR perspective. The section covers the time frame from initial ideas around 2001 to 2014, including advanced video and VR technologies, addressing first operational shadow mode tests of the HMI prototype, and finishing with patent licensing to an industrial partner. In Sect. 3 the focus is on the development and implementation phase between 2010 and 2020, covering the important aspect of multiple remote tower (MRT) operation and standardization within the growing international context. The concluding Sect. 4 contains an overview on the twenty-two Chapters and four technical Appendices of this second edition of the Virtual and Remote Tower book.