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EMERALD - Final Summary Report
EMERALD: Emerging RTD Activities of Relevance to ATM concept Definition
CONTENTS
Background and Objectives
The European Commission Fourth Framework programme covers all the Research and Technical Development (RTD) activities which were to be carried out by the European Union during the period 1994-1998. There are 19 specific programmes which are part of the Fourth Framework programme. Project EMERALD is part of the Transport programme. Project EMERALD was initiated in response to the Air Transport Research Task 4.1.2/19in the second call for proposals by the European Commission (EC) Fourth Framework programme and was designed to provide recommendations for future RTD activities for CNS development in support of future ATM concepts, covering the period 1997 to 2015.
The project consortium was composed of industrial representatives and research centres. The partners were: DERA
National Air Traffic Services Ltd
Sofreavia/CENA
NLR (Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory)
Sextant Avionique
Thompson-CSF In addition, Aerospatiale were an associate partner.
The project was conducted over the period February 1997 to October 1998. The objectives of EMERALD were:
- to identify the emerging CNS research and technical development (RTD) activities which have an impact on concept definition for a future European Air Traffic Management System (EATMS) and which should, as a consequence, be integrated into the strategic investment plans of the European stakeholders in civil aviation and ATM;
- to make recommendations concerning a realistic deployment of future CNS systems in respect of EATMS.
The recommendations were expected to cover the following:
- Differences between current forecasts concerning the future of emerging technologies and those which pertained when long term plans were made by various groups of European decision makers;
- The industrial, commercial, political (etc.) needs of Europe as a regulatory and global trading enterprise;
- CNS RTD activities likely to respond effectively to allocation of European funds;
- Mitigation of risks associated with plans to exploit emerging and immature CNS technologies. Critical issues concerning CNS technologies which must be addressed and managed to ensure safe, efficient and effective transition to EATMS;
- Defence and enhancement of Europe's position in the airline and aerospace industries and the ATM regulation arena.
Organisation of the Work
The project was divided into two separate, but linked, pieces of work, the first intended to be broad in scope and the second to be deep. It was further divided into six work packages, which are reported individually in Volumes 2 to 7. WP1 to WP4 were linked and dealt with the broad analysis; to do this they formulated a common method based on 'capabilities' to compare proposed operational concepts with predicted fleet equipage and emerging CNS technologies. WP5 & WP6 contained detailed studies of two areas of interest, namely: Airborne Separation Assurance System/Automatic Dependant Surveillance-Broadcast (ASAS/ADS-B); and Required Navigation Performance (RNP).
The Broad Analysis Analysis - CNS/ATM RTD Activities
Definition of Baseline Scenario
WP1 developed the baseline for project EMERALD in three independent areas:
1. the relevant ATM concept description;
2. a list of emerging communication, navigation and surveillance technologies;
3. the identification of the decision making process related to the introduction of the new technologies in Europe.
Database of Fleet Equipage
WP2 provided a database of the equipage of a section of the world fleet of aircraft in terms of CNS capability. The database includes data from as wide a spectrum of airlines and airframe and avionics manufacturers as possible.
Emerging CNS Technologies
WP3 investigated the following CNS technologies:
- Communications: HF Data Link; Mode S Specific Services; Mode S Sub network; ATN; AMSS; LEO/MEO; TFTS; VDL Mode 2; VDL Mode 3; VDL Mode 4 and Gatelink.
- Navigation: GNSS Space Augmentation; GNSS Ground Augmentation; GNSS-2; 3D FMS; 4D FMS, UTC Time and WGS84.
- Surveillance; ADS; 1090MHz ADS-B; VDL Mode 4 ADS-B; TCAS; Future ACAS; Mode S Enhanced Surveillance; Mode S Multilateration and GPWS.
Each technology was characterised in terms of:
- technical description;
- dependencies on other technologies;
- deployment scenario in terms of operational trials and in-service dates;
- the future level of support from service providers, airline operators and industry;
- the standardisation activity within ICAO, RTCA/EUROCAE and AEEC as appropriate
- the level of technical risk;
- the category of airspace and expected coverage.
Relation of CNS Research to ATM Concept Elements and Fleet Equipage
WP4 investigated whether the CNS requirements of identified ATM concept elements can be satisfied in a timely fashion by current plans for fleet equipage and CNS research. Where such requirements were not satisfied, WP4 identified specific research programmes or action plans that need to be carried out in order to satisfy them.
Assessment of ADS-B/ASAS
WP5 performed an initial but domain comprehensive assessment of the ADS-B techniques for ASAS. Assessment was made of their technical and operational capabilities to support flight operation of aircraft, enhanced situation awareness and ASAS within the future EATMS environment.
On the basis of this work, WP5 made recommendations for future Research and Technical Development (RTD) activities, documented as draft RTD plans for consideration of decision makers both at the European level (i.e. the EC and EUROCONTROL) and national level.
Assessment of the Impact of the RNP Concept on ATM WP6 assessed the impact of the Required Navigation Performance (RNP) concept on the EATMS and the feasibility of implementation of the concept. Potential application scenarios were described for the RNP concepts. The work package focused on:
- a feasibility assessment of RNP type 1;
- a feasibility assessment of the use of time in navigation.
CNS/ATM RTD Activities
A systematic comparison of CNS technologies, aircraft equipage and ATM concept elements has been provided. This was achieved by:
- defining a structured approach for the comparison, including the concept of 'capabilities', to describe ATM concept elements, fleet equipage and CNS technology in a common framework (WP4);
- establishing a list of ATM concept elements (WP1);
- developing a database, EMFLEET, of actual and anticipated fleet equipage (WP2);
- establishing a list of CNS technologies (WP3);
- analysing the mismatches between the ATM concept elements, fleet equipage and CNS technologies.
This comparison resulted in several recommendations:
- a recommendation concerning the selection of appropriate ATM concept elements by individual states;
- recommendations concerning the future use, expansion and configuration management of the EMFLEET database of aircraft equipage;
- recommendations concerning the exploitation of particular CNS technologies, namely: advanced VHF datalinks, LEO/MEO communication satellites and ADS-B media;
- recommendations concerning shortfalls between ATM concept elements and CNS technologies and anticipated aircraft equipage.
In general, the result of this comparison was encouraging - with the vast majority of ATM concept elements being achievable using the technology currently under development. What is required is commitment from all parties to specific technologies to support specific operational concepts that deliver specific benefits to the aviation community.
The structured approach adopted by the project provided a systematic method for analysing the CNS and fleet equipage requirements for a stated ATM concept. The 'capabilities' defined provided a framework for such an analysis. Additional work could improve the definitions of capability levels.
ASAS/ADS-B A comprehensive range of 32 potential ASAS applications, which might also be called air-air ADS-B applications, has been analysed. Of these, three applications were selected and investigated in detail:
- Longitudinal Station Keeping;
- Closely Spaced Parallel Approaches in IMC;
- Autonomous Aircraft.
The analysis of these three applications provided experience of the issues that need to be addressed for any and all ASAS applications. The approach was based on that recommended by the ICAO SICAS Panel.
The full range of applications was then considered. They were found to fall into three groups, each of which could be analysed as a whole:
- Traffic Situational Awareness;
- Tactical Co-operative;
- Strategic Co-operative.
It was found that ASAS offers benefits in the form of improved safety, capacity and flexibility. ADS-B is a good basis for the provision of the data required by ASAS, but it may not be sufficient on its own to support all applications, so a cross link between aircraft might be required. During the transition period of partial equipage with ADS-B, the TIS (Traffic Information Service) or TIS-B (TIS-Broadcast) could be used to supplement ADS-B.
Both the leading ADS-B technologies (VDL Mode 4 and the 1090 MHz extended squitter) are suitable for ASAS, but neither is sufficient for all applications. It was concluded that a choice between ADS-B media should be delayed, and recommended that the EC continues to support RTD actions on all potential ADS-B media.
An RTD plan for ASAS and ADS-B has been developed based on 52 issues. Clearly, neither ASAS nor ADS-B is mature, much work remains to be done and the timescales reflected in plans could prove to be optimistic. Nevertheless, prompt work on the RTD plan should enable the ATM 2000+ (EATMS) timescales to be met.
Impact of the RNP Concept on ATM The impact of the RNP concept on the EATMS and an assessment of the feasibility of the implementation of the concept has been analysed in detail, for 2-D, 3-D and 4-D RNP. Potential application scenarios were identified for the following phases of flight:
- Take-off and climb;
- Oceanic/En-route;
- Descent;
- Approach and landing;
- Airport surface.
Two specific topics were identified from these scenarios for a detailed feasibility assessment, namely RNP-1 and 4-D navigation. These topics were selected because:
- The operational use of certain application scenarios can be accelerated by aircraft being compliant with P-RNAV requirements, which imply that the navigational accuracy of aircraft remains within 1 NM for almost the entire flight (RNP-1).
- The RNP concept is considered to be an essential part of the EATMS and with identified trends it should evolve to a future 4-D ATM system.
In both of the feasibility assessments the following areas were examined:
- operational benefits;
- impact on safety;
- performance compatibility;
- HMI requirements;
- transition issues;
- impact on ATM concept definition.
The implementation of RNP-1 will provide benefits, mainly in the en-route phase of flight, if the introduction of P-RNAV makes additional airspace available by the potential reduction of separation from 15 NM to 8 NM and is complemented by a re-structuring of the current routes.
In addition, the introduction of time in navigation promises great benefits to capacity, efficiency and safety. The benefits arise from possible improvements to planning tools within ground ATC systems using aircraft derived data. The use of instructions concerning required time of arrival at certain critical waypoints will enable systems to alleviate peak loads at these waypoints, or even strategically to deconflict air traffic. These benefits apply to the en-route phases of flight, there does not appear to be much opportunity to gain benefits in either the climb or descent phases of flight due to limitations of the aircraft.
Several aspects of the RNP concept require further research to determine, or realise, any potential benefits.
Conclusions
Project EMERALD has identified the emerging RTD activities that have an impact on the EATMS, and has made recommendations concerning the deployment of future CNS systems and RTD activities. The conclusions, recommendations and proposed RTD activities identified in the various volumes of the report are commended to the European Commission. Plans are in place to disseminate the report as widely as possible. |
