Future European ATM Validation Infrastructure V1.0

Abstract

This paper describes the results of a broad analysis of the European validation infrastructure under the aspects of future demands to the overall ATM system. Existing infrastructures will have to cope with the upcoming major ATM developments foreseen by the SESAR project. As the ATM system is evolving, the infrastructure to validate the newly invented concepts itself has to be adapted to be able to confirm and adjust the selected approach in an efficient and appropriate way. The analysis shows that while the infrastructure in general is able to cover a lot of aspects of the proposed concept elements, necessary improvements are evident especially to cover all identified key performance areas and address the need for integration, scalability and calibration. Increased interoperability and compatibility between European validation facilities is required together with the ability to deliver comparable and consistent results through out the whole validation cycle. The analysis further shows the need for improvements regarding enhanced automatic simulation features and analytical tools as well as adaptations to the validation process. An updated inventory of the current European validation infrastructure has been compiled which is now available and can be used as basis for further studies regarding overlaps and gaps to be considered during the ongoing process of development.