Trajectory-Based Reconstruction of Flight Plans for Air Traffic Simulation and Analysis

Kurzfassung

In the field of Air Traffic Management (ATM), the use of digital twins is not only limited to real-time monitoring, but also offers powerful predictive tools for future scenario analyses. One such tool is the Future Air Traffic Simulator (FATS), an advanced simulation platform for modelling complex air traffic scenarios, developed by the Institute of Flight Guidance at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). By integrating historical air traffic data and meteorological records, FATS creates a comprehensive and detailed simulation environment which accurately replicates real-world airspace conditions. This enables the evaluation of future operational concepts and airspace configurations using factors such as feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and ecological efficiency under real-life conditions. These analyses require the prediction of trajectories by a Flight Management System (FMS), which provides critical information on fuel burn, aircraft weight, and performance parameters, all key factors in the evaluation of fuel consumption, climate impact, or other performance metrics. To predict trajectories with the FMS, a flight plan is essential. However, common air traffic data sources such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) often do not include the original filed flight plan. At the same time, the original filed flight plan does not account for possible detours or controller interventions that would be needed for a complete analysis. This paper addresses these gaps by proposing an algorithm that reconstructs a suitable flight plan from a given trajectory, providing a full representation of its path. The resulting flight plan includes a list of lateral waypoints that guide the aircraft from departure to arrival, as well as a cruise flight level estimate, altitude constraints and additional information on turns. The algorithm was implemented as an additonal feature within FATS and validated using a flight from Hannover (EDDV) to Paris (LFPG). This flight was initially generated using the navigation database of FATS and then modified in two ways: laterally, by removing and adding waypoints, and vertically, by adjusting the cruise flight level. These changes produced a flight plan that was significantly different from the original flight plan, providing a suitable test case for the algorithm. The trajectory, based on the modified flight plan, was then used as input to the algorithm, which successfully reconstructed the modified flight plan from the provided trajectory.