During the first project period, as part of WP2 Concept Definition tasks, the project objectives and scope were elaborated in detail, addressing the research scope in terms of study scenarios, together with the specification and design of the research methodology and required simulation system models and tools.
A main outcome of this definition phase was the structuration of the research in two incremental steps, namely micro and macro level study, as way to tackle the complexity of the investigation. They are:
- Step-1, performing micro-level study, that is, the study the upsets in a variety of vortex types, aircraft types, and encountering conditions in the upper flight level, and development and assessment of an absolute severity baseline, with qualitative assessment from pilots and controllers experts, and
- Step-2, performing a macro-level study, that is, the study of the hazard risk in ATM systemic terms (ECAC-wide), that is, the frequency encounter occurrence per severity level (having the severity baseline resulted from step 1), and the mitigation effect (protection level) of the separation standards under evaluation, for both, the current schemes (i.e. unit safety case), and then the new R-wake concept separation schemes (i.e. project safety case).
The simulation system was architected correspondingly in two variants of the system:
- The micro-simulation system, consisted essentially in a Wake Interaction Assessment Model (WIAM), based on high fidelity modeling of the aircraft wings, in order to compute flight dynamics effects (upsets) of the vortex encounter.
- The macro-simulation system consisted in the full set of tools integrated under a cloud-based workflow manager to perform systemic ATM scenarios for the full European area (ECAC) (this was the initial system conception).
The closure meeting concluded the project has fully achieved to deliver its five targeted tangible expected outcomes.
That is:
1) An ATM traffic simulator that includes high-fidelity wake vortex encounter (WVE) dynamic risk models, referred as the R-WAKE system, tailored to support the project research approach, understood as a framework to assess the safety and robustness level of new separation schemes.
2) A WVE hazard severity baseline, defined as a matrix of upset parameters thresholds per severity class, developed and assessed with contributions of experienced pilots and air traffic controllers.
3) A public database of simulation results, which constitutes an evidence body to support new separation scheme proposals, containing the upset and severity class computed for a large number of encounter scenarios, involving different aircraft types, geometries, separations, and weather conditions.
4) The R-WAKE-1 concept proposal, which consists of six new separation schemes referred as en-Route Minisum Wake Separation, RMWS, designed to increase safety against WVE hazards and also airspace capacity, looking at the minimum wake separation in the three dimensions: lateral, vertical, longitudinal, and also in combined lateral-vertical, and wind-dependent dynamic separations.
5) And a feasibility and impact assessment of the concept, concluding that there is enough justification for proposing R-WAKE-1 as a new SESAR Solution in the ATM Master Plan pipeline, as a first step in a roadmap of identified incremental evolutions towards a long term R-WAKE concept.
R-WAKE-1 concept: “Optimised En-Route separation minima resulting from static Distance-Based Geometry-Based Category-Wise assessment of WVE hazards”.
