ATC-Wake: Integrated Wake Vortex Safety and Capacity System

Abstract

With the steady increase in air traffic, civil aviation authorities are under continuous pressure to increase aircraft handling capacity. One potential approach is to reduce the separation distance between aircraft at takeoff and landing witliout compromising safety. ATC-Wake aims to develop and build an integrated system for ATC (Air Traffic Control) that would allow variable aircraft separation distances, as opposed to the fixed distances presently applied at airports. The ATC-Wake project has developed and built an integrated ATC Wake Vortex Safety and Capacity platform. A variety of subsystems is integrated and used within a test bed role: - To evaluate the interoperability of ATC-Wake with existing ATC systems currently used at various European airports; - To assess the safety and capacity improvements that can be obtained by local installation of the ATC-Wake system at various European airports; - To evaluate operational usability and acceptability of the ATC-Wake system; The ATC-Wake system is used in the planning phase where weather and wake vortex forecast information are used together with aircraft separation rules to establish the arrival and/or departure sequence. For approaches, the aim is to manage separation distances down to 2.5 nautical miles, in favorable weather conditions, for all aircraft types regardless of size. For departures, the aim is to reduce the time separation between departing aircraft to 90 seconds (in favorable wind conditions). Weather nowcasting and wake vortex prediction and detection information is used in the tactical phase to monitor and control safe separation. Wind forecast data is used to determine time frames suitable for reduced separation. Criteria on crosswind and associated safe separation minima are derived from safety assessment results obtained with the NLR WAke Vortex Induced Risk assessment (WAVIR) methodology. As main conclusion the ATC-Wake technical and operational feasibility analyses and the safety and capacity studies have built sufficient confidence in the operational concept and system design for the application of reduced separations to represent a sound evolution from existing ATC procedures and working practices, to deliver significant benefits for runway throughput and average delay per flight without major rework to the current ATC systems,while maintaining safety. The next step will be to complete the validation through production of a Safety Case, Human Factors Case, Business Case, and a Technology Case towards installation of the ATC-Wake at one or more European airports. The best would be to continue with airport shadow mode field trials, i.e., with direct involvement of airports and air traffic control centers.