Innovation in Network Management
Proposals for this topic must propose an innovative improvement to operations and a plan to undertake its initial validation. The analysis of data without proposing an improvement to operations is out of scope for this topic.
The following potential application areas of interest have been identified by the SJU:
Application area 1: Improvement of ATFM processes by including the consideration of convective weather information
The post-operations analysis of re-routing choices made by flight crews or airline operations (when flight-planning) when the weather situation is non-nominal (e.g. convective weather) may provide valuable information for improving how similar convective weather events are managed in the future. The objective is to anticipate the changes in demand in non-nominal weather situations, and to define scenarios and CDM processes for the management of similar situations. Proposals proposing to work in this area must demonstrate that the research activities will have access to sufficient historical information of re-routing choices to perform the initial validation of the concept.
Application area 2: Increasing the use of middle airspace
The “middle airspace” (approximately between 15.000 ft. and 25.000 ft.) is for the most part not used for cruising, except by aircraft with gas-turbine-powered propellers (turboprops), which represent a relatively low proportion of the fleet. The research should identify the extent to which the use of the middle airspace would provide benefits in terms of reducing ATFM delay minutes at ECAC level, and make an assessment of the business case for providing ATFM slots for flights in the middle airspace considering the potential increased fuel and environmental impact against the savings in terms of delay minutes. The research may propose changes to the route charging scheme in support of the business case, as well as other incentivization methods to encourage the use of turboprop vs. jet engines for the busiest routes. The impact that incentivizing the use of aircraft with smaller capacity on routes with high demand in airport operations must be considered (more flights needed to move the same number of passengers).
Application area 3: Innovation in route-charging schemes
Previous exploratory research in SESAR (projects COCTA and SATURN) has shown the potential of new trajectory pricing schemes to support a more flexible distribution of the demand. Proposals addressing this area may build on these previous research, or propose additional innovative schemes, e.g. lower charges in periods of low demand, discounts for early flight planning with route commitment (in order to promote the SESAR SBT concept and enable better ANSP resource planning), overcharge for changes after filing flight plan, etc. Research may also look into charging schemes that consider environmental penalties or rebates, e.g. higher charges for flights filing flight-plans with longer routes than necessary.
Application area 4: Consideration of airport departure slots in ATFM
This application area looks into the development and initial validation of a concept for the consideration of airport departure and/or arrival slots as an input parameter to the network TT and slot allocation processes, beyond the indirect consideration of airport arrival slots what is enabled through the AOP participation in TT allocation processes. Proposals must demonstrate awareness of previous research in this area and the reasons why previous concepts did not progress to implementation. As well as changes to the ATFM processes to improve the consideration of airport slots, the research may propose the refinement of the airport slot allocation concept and/or associated monitoring processes in order to increase their relevance to ATFM (e.g. consideration of TMA capacity in slot allocation processes, addition of tolerance values associated to airport slot compliance, detection of unrealistic planning of departure and arrival times resulting in non-compliance of airport slots, etc.).
Application area 5: Development of a trajectory broker concept
Proposals should describe a trajectory broker concept and propose a plan for the initial validation of the potential benefits. The objective is to add a brokering layer to make better use of available capacity in all phases of ATFM operation (strategic, pre-tactical, tactical) and in all areas (airport, TMA, en-route). Proposals should not only look at the technical aspects but also take into account necessary regulatory/organisational changes. The concept should either build on previous Exploratory Research in project COCTA or propose alternative approaches. Proposals for research that does not build on COCTA should explain how they diverge from COCTA and provide adequate justification and background.
The above list of application areas is not intended as prescriptive; bids proposing to work in other areas are welcome, provided adequate background and justification are provided in the proposal.
This topic covers innovative network management application concepts that aim at responding to emerging business needs that can only be addressed by the increased collaboration between stakeholders that is made possible by implementation of new technologies.
Improved network management will result in an overall performance improvement in ATM.