VALUE PROPOSITION FOR AIRPORT AUTHORITIES A White Paper on Electronic Terrain & Obstacle collection The FANS Group 8703 Yates Drive, suite 125 Westminster, Colorado 80031 www.fans-group.aero 877.710.7932
Revision History: Version Date Comments Author 1.0 April 2016 Preliminary Draft DMD 1.1 July 2016 Editorial Review STG 1.2 Sept 2016 2 nd Working Draft DMD 1
Table of Contents 1.0 Background... 3 1.1. ICAO s concept of Future Air Navigation System... 3 1.2. Enabling Technologies... 4 1.3. Implementation of FANS SESAR and NextGEN... 5 1.4. Why there is a Data Gap... 6 1.5. Our solution: Traceable Source to Bridge the Data Gap... 7 1.6. Value Proposition for Airport Authorities... 8 1.6.1. Meet International ICAO Obligations for Terrain & Obstacle identification.... 8 1.6.2. Meet domestic Civil Aviation Authority supplementary requirements... 9 1.6.3. Increase Performance-Based-Navigation flight procedures... 10 1.6.4. Support implementation of Digital NOTAMS by moving to AIXM-5.1... 10 1.6.5. Increase support for SESAR and NEXTGEN flight operations... 11 1.6.6. Enhance Routine & Emergency Airport Operations... 12 ii
Table of Figures Examples of Reduced Separation in Flight Operations... 3 Components of a FANS Implementation, in NEXTGEN or SESAR... 5 Aeronautical data gap what exists, what is missing for FANS Operations... 6 The FANS Group Process to bridge the Data Gap... 7 ICAO Annex-15 Requirements & FANS example Delivery for 2 runway airport... 8 Canada, Mexico and US regulations that differ with ICAO Annex-15... 9 Example of PBN flight procedures, courtesy of FAA... 10 Industry Documents regarding D-NOTAMS implementation... 11 Example of D-NOTAMS visualized on simple Tablet Device, courtesy of Snowflake Software... 12 Table of Tables Table of FANS Enabling technology... 5 iii
Executive Summary US and EU aviation authorities have established a future vision (SESAR & NEXTGEN) by which airline operations are accomplished thru performance-based navigation (PBN) procedure implementations, against deadlines that span from 2015 thru 2020. While that vision is pure, it is unobtainable without a highly refined fresh set of digital terrain, obstacle and highly accurate airport mapping detail. Present day mapping data is old, paper based, unverified and not reliable it cannot support safe air or ground based navigation in the FANS environment. This is the FANS information deficit that mandated our origination. SESAR & NEXTGEN will provide an unparalleled opportunity to increase Flight Operations frequency at airports in the EU, North America and all destination airports who fly to those two continents. Given the mantra of best equipped, best served that is the cornerstone of such programmes, it will be in the interests of all Airport Authorities to increase their own movement frequency to support and grow such air traffic, by investing sooner than later in the Information necessary to support SESAR & NEXTGEN flight operations. Much of the information regarding the flight operations of SESAR and NEXTGEN will require exceptional strength in the management of AIXM, FIXM and WIXM information, to support the real-time changes in the Airspace and Airways environment that SESAR & NEXTGEN demand. The FANS Group is uniquely equipped to assess, upgrade and acquire the necessary Aeronautical Information in digital form (AIXM 5.xx) in support of future roles in SESAR and NEXTGEN. Our industry leading best practices ensure a successful implementation for all stakeholders that are part of the SESAR & NEXTGEN Flight Operations. Courtesy FAA Courtesy FAA Courtesy EU Courtesy EU 1
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1.0 Background Electronic Terrain & Obstacle data (etod) for Airport Authorities 1.1. ICAO s concept of Future Air Navigation System It is widely accepted within the Air Transportation industry that conventional, voice-based Air Traffic Control (ATC) has become saturated worldwide. With the monotonic increase in fuel prices of the past several decades, the only option for air carriers to increase profitability is to embrace the migration to ICAO Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS). As it is not possible to grow the physical size of airspace worldwide, the only way to increase air traffic is the reduction of separation between aircraft, and the airport, coupled with increased awareness of 4D position reporting and navigation of those aircraft. This concept was originally described as Required Navigational performance, but is today known as Performance Based Navigation or PBN. Here are three examples of reduced separation in Flight Operations: Reduced Separation horizontally Reduced Separation vertically Reduced Separation Taxiing Examples of Reduced Separation in Flight Operations In order for ICAO to provide a clear pathway towards implementation of FANS, they wrote a document known as the Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP). This provides a 15-year global vision for all ICAO member states to collaboratively move into FANS-style air transportation. The 4 primary areas for CAA and air carriers to augment and improve are listed below: 1) Airport Operations. 2) Globally-interoperable systems and data. 3) Optimum capacity and flexible flights. 4) Efficient Flight Paths. 3
In order to ensure that each ICAO Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) implements these improvements in an coordinated and structured manner, the GANP groups together specific collections of improvements into what are defined as Block Upgrades. List of ICAO Block Upgrades The vision is that each cooperating ICAO state will implement specific Blocks in a cohesive manner, and that the metric for progress for any ICAO state be defined in terms of these specific goals. This allows all ICAO member states to proceed towards the common goal of FANS-type Operations. For each of the four blocks, there are specific improvements in each of the four key areas listed above. In Block Zero, some of the key improvements include: B0-SURF, Safety & Efficiency of Surface Operations B0-ACDM, Improved Airport Operations thru 1.2. Enabling Technologies For this broad vision to succeed, a number of key technology hurdles had to be overcome: AIXM D-NOTAM Aeronautical Information Exchange Model was invented by EUROCONTROL and elaborated in partnership with the FAA and other agencies. This allows aeronautical information about Airspace, Airways, Navaids, Procedures, Airports, Terrain & Obstacles to be electronically shared between CAA, ANSP, Air Carriers AIXM forms the nucleus of the concept of Digital NOTAMS which are in effect AIXM transactions that turn on or turn off aviation assets such as Runways, 4
Taxiways, Aprons, Gates, Airways, Waypoints, Navaids, etc. FIXM WIXM SWIM Flight Information Exchange Model was invented by EUROCONTROL and FAA to allow the automated exchange of aircraft movements in ATM environments, to standardize position reporting under all flight regimes. Weather Information Exchange Model was invented by members of the ICAO and CAA community to allow the automated exchange of Weather across all countries and ATM environments, to standardize Wx reporting and decision-making. System Wide Information Management is an Enterprise Information Sharing concept that uses the Aviation world (as defined in AIXM data), coupled to the position of all aircraft (as defined in FIXM data) to make optimum decisions about how to regulate and manage air traffic, as amended by existing weather conditions (as defined in WIXM data) Table of FANS Enabling technology 1.3. Implementation of FANS SESAR and NextGEN In order to take advantage of their FANS-compliant flight operations, the NEXTGEN and SESAR authorities have implemented a simple notion Best Equipped, Best Served. Air carriers who choose to implement the necessary components and infrastructure will benefit 1 st : 1. New Aircraft with more fuel-efficient and self-diagnosing engines. 2. New FMS & EFIS avionics that support PBN 4D operations everywhere. 3. New, highly accurate Terrain & Obstacles to allow smaller separation of PBN. 4. New, highly accurate Airport Mapping Database to enhance Surface Movements. 5. Increased training of Flight Crew to support PBN 4D operations everywhere. 6. Real-time Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) between Dispatch, Crews and ATM. 6 Components of NEXTGEN or SESAR Example of AMDB + etod Components of a FANS Implementation, in NEXTGEN or SESAR 5
1.4. Why there is a Data Gap Electronic Terrain & Obstacle data (etod) for Airport Authorities The interaction between all components of the FANS solution is known as System-Wide Information Management or SWIM. SWIM takes all Aeronautical data, places it into the three formats described above, and ensures that Air Traffic will be governed by explicit business rules, implemented by all participants or actors in the FANS environment. Some of the Aeronautical Information required by SWIM does already exists published by the FAA and or other CAA s such as the UK CAA, the DGAC in France or the DFS in Germany. This includes Enroute information Airspace, Waypoints, Low/High Enroute and navaid-based Terminal Procedures. What is missing is the much more precise etod and Airport and Environmental data required by PBN procedures, that use all of the FANS benefits of lower noise, lower carbon emission and lower fuel consumption. This data is not available today, and until it is, FANS is not achievable. Aeronautical data gap what exists, what is missing for FANS Operations In the legacy ATC world Operators were limited by their choices of data provision. Commercial Chart Providers could duplicate paper AIP s, but not manufacture any original data. Civil Aviation Authorities lack the budgets & expertise to acquire all of the new etod and Airport information to enable the smaller separations of PBN procedures. In order to deliver the benefits of NEXGEN & SESAR now we need a better approach. The key specific challenges and opportunities are summarized as follows: Present-day etod that was surveyed before the new ICAO Area-2 standards do not meet the closer proximity measurements of Terrain and Obstacles demanded by PBN operations. In July of 2010, ICAO published version 13 of the Annex-15 document that mandates collection of etod for all commercial airports by November2015. Since that time, only Ireland has complied with the mandate, leaving close to 200 other ICAO countries and the USA as delinquent. This prevents widespread FANS operations. Most countries are fully aware of their mandate, and are now actively researching solutions to meet it. FANS Group offers the only turnkey value proposition to do this. This is a unique opportunity for IATA Member airlines to leverage having the most accurate and current data possible for their own key market segments: o o Engine-Out Performance (our Obstacle & Terrain product) Electronic Flight Bag (our 3D Airport Mapping Database product) 6
o o o Electronic Terrain & Obstacle data (etod) for Airport Authorities LOFT Training (Our 3D Airport & etod product) Flight Planning (our Obstacle & Terrain and our AMDB products) Digital NOTAM inter-operation for increased flexibility & safety The graphic below illustrates how we mitigate this challenge: The FANS Group Process to bridge the Data Gap 1.5. Our solution: Traceable Source to Bridge the Data Gap We have developed a simple 3-step process to Inspect a customer s FANS data requirements, Originate what data they lack, and Execute the delivery in a SWIM environment. The outcome of the above process enables the completion of your FANS Building Blocks: Existing etod & Airport Data that met all PBN requirements is transformed into AIXM. Existing etod & Airport Data that lacked some attributes or accuracy metrics is upgraded and transformed into AIXM. Missing etod & Airport Data data needed for your NEXTGEN & SESAR operations is originated, validated, and transformed into AIXM. FANS Group has the unique combination of Aeronautical Information expertise, geospatial information manufacturing, Subject Expertise in all relevant RTCA, EUROCAE, and ICAO specifications to bridge the information Gap for any Air Carrier. 7
1.6. Value Proposition for Airport Authorities Electronic Terrain & Obstacle data (etod) for Airport Authorities Our value proposition centers around the simple notion that an airport has a certain amount of daily fixed costs to operate so why not strive to increase their daily aircraft movements, and generate new positive margins against little or no new costs. Our advantages in rapid ability to create Terrain, Obstacles and Airport features are enabling technology to support: Meet International ICAO Obligations for Terrain & Obstacle identification. Meet domestic Civil Aviation Authority supplementary requirements. Increase Performance-Based-Navigation flight procedures at each airport. Support implementation of Digital NOTAMS by moving to AIXM-5.1 based data. Increase support for SESAR and NEXTGEN flight operations. Enhance Routine & Emergency Airport Operations. 1.6.1. Meet International ICAO Obligations for Terrain & Obstacle identification. In order to implement the GANP, ICAO needs to have all signatory countries identify the terrain and obstacles surrounding all commercial and joint-use airports to a common standard, which is known as Annex-15. While it is the Civil Aviation Authority of each country that actually owns the obligation to ICAO increasingly the CAA s of each country are mandating that the individual airport authorities perform this complex task. ICAO Annex-15 Requirements & FANS example Delivery for 2 runway airport 8
The FANS Group offers a straight-forward, firm-fixed price structure to perform this on a turnkey basis where we offer all of the deliverables listed below for any country/airport: Country-wide ICAO Annex-15 Area-1 Terrain Country-wide ICAO Annex-15 Area-1 Obstacles Individual Airport ICAO Annex-15 Area-2 Terrain & Obstacles Individual Airport ICAO Annex-15 Area-2A, 2B, 2C Terrain & Obstacles Individual Airport ICAO Annex-15 Area-3 Terrain & Obstacles Individual Airport ICAO Annex-15 Area-4 Terrain & Obstacles This data is delivered in all of the required formats AIXM 5.1, Shapefile, GML/XML/KML, and in various AutoCAD formats, which is most commonly used by Airport Authorities. 1.6.2. Meet domestic Civil Aviation Authority supplementary requirements While meeting the ICAO Annex-15 fulfills the International obligation, some countries have implemented their own modified versions of the ICAO Annex-15, or require that their national version be used in lieu of the ICAO Annex 15. The FANS Group has developed the technology to acquire ICAO Annex-15 as a 1 st step, thus meeting the international obligation, and then a 2 nd step to meet local requirements. This is also provided as a firm-fixed upgrade price for the efforts described in 1.6.1. Canada, Mexico and US regulations that differ with ICAO Annex-15 9
1.6.3. Increase Performance-Based-Navigation flight procedures As the cornerstone of the GANP is to move more and more countries towards PBN flight procedures, the design and implementation of those procedures cannot be reliably completed using the legacy terrain & obstacle data available at most airports today. The acquisition of ICAO Annex-15 compliant terrain and obstacle data permits the widespread implementation of such new PBN procedures, at each airport that meets that mandate. Many ICAO signatory countries have published Migration Plans to PBN procedures, details of which can be found at this ICAO url: http://www.icao.int/safety/pbn/pages/pbn-implementation.aspx Example of PBN flight procedures, courtesy of FAA 1.6.4. Support implementation of Digital NOTAMS by moving to AIXM-5.1 Traditional, legacy NOTAMS have outlived their usefulness, to be able to support the realtime operational requirements of SESAR & NEXTGEN, and the near-real-time operational requirements of global, oceanic navigation. The FAA and EUROCONTROL have pioneered the implementation of the Digital NOTAM or D- NOTAM as it is known in the industry. This moves us away from the traditional cryptic NOTAMS of the past, towards D-NOTAMS, which are created in AIXM 5.1 as information changes, that reference specific objects, in a clear text manner. The D-NOTAM against a specific runway, or a specific taxiway, or a specific apron is in fact tied to that object, ensuring that the flight crew and ground crews all understand the NOTAM properly. 10
Most airports today do not have their Airport Maps created in AIXM 5.1, nor do they have their Obstacles mapped similarly in AIXM 5.1 When FANS Group is engaged to perform our Terrain, Obstacle and Airport mapping services, we deliver all of the information in AIXM 5.1 and thus the airport authority is now ready to start issuing their own D-NOTAMS sooner. Industry Documents regarding D-NOTAMS implementation 1.6.5. Increase support for SESAR and NEXTGEN flight operations The benefits of completion of ICAO Annex-15 compliant terrain and obstacle ripple forwards as an Airport Authority contemplates new flights that originate or terminate in SESAR and NEXTGEN countries. As the new AIXM 5.1 compliant information is delivered by the FANS Group, the airport is able to now support all the following benefits: Having Terrain and Obstacle data in electronic, digital format allows the more rapid implementation of PBN routes, to and from SESAR and NEXTGEN. Having AIXM 5.1 compliant data allows that to be transmitted as Digital NOTAMS to the SESAR and NEXTGEN operational centers, thus allowing a seamless blend of D- NOTAMS from point of departure, to arrival and to all potential alternates. Given that the mantra of SESAR & NEXTGEN is best equipped, best served it therefore follows that airports who comply with the above requirements sooner will benefit financially from the increased traffic to, from or overhead SESAR and NEXTGEN airports. 11
1.6.6. Enhance Routine & Emergency Airport Operations Once an airport authority has created a Airport Map database, in AIXM 5.1, then this can be shared by all participants in the airport environment to visualize those areas where they may go, may not go, and all things in between. The visualization of AIXM 5.1 Airport Maps may be done on simple tablet devices, using freeware software that can be downloaded from the Internet. This also allows the over lay of Digital NOTAMS on top of the original Airport Map to visually indicate to ground personnel what has changed, and what needs to be a change to routine procedures. Similarly, Emergency personnel, and normal personnel performing Emergency Services may be better aware of locations on the airport during Emergency situations that they need to go to, not go to, or other specific actions during such emergency situations (including security situations). Example of D-NOTAMS visualized on simple Tablet Device, courtesy of Snowflake Software 12