ASSTAR - Advanced Safe Separation Technologies and Algorithms
Overview
Background & policy context:
Air transport around the world, and particularly in Europe, experienced major capacity, efficiency and environmental challenges to improve performance. The Airborne Separation Assistance System (ASAS) uses ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) data to provide improved airborne surveillance in support of new procedures for controllers and pilots.
ASSTAR addressed these issues by researching and validating two areas of ASAS Package II functionality, which are expected to provide significant benefits in terms of operational and environmental improvements in the short-term.
Objectives:
The objective of ASSTAR was to perform research into the operational and safety aspects underlying the introduction of the following two key ASAS Package II applications with the aim of realising the significant potential benefit to the user community in the 2010-plus time frame:
- The delegation of conflict resolution manoeuvres to the air, in radar controlled airspace (i.e. ASAS crossing and passing), in order to reduce controller workload and improve flight efficiency.
- The use of ADS-B to support new operations in oceanic and other non-radar airspace, enabling more optimal routing, including enhanced use of wind corridors and passing and level changing, that are currently severely restricted due to the procedural separation standards.
Methodology:
The outcome of the ASSTAR project is a number of well-defined ASAS applications covering both the radar and non-radar themes, including: ASEP-C&P Airborne separation crossing & passing, ASEP-ITF Airborne separation in-trail-follow, ASEP-ITM Airborne separation in-trail merge, ASEP-ITP Airborne separation in-trail procedure and ASAS-FFT Self-Separation Free Flight Track.
The project establishes the viability of these applications with respect to the following:
Definition of operational concepts and scenarios
- For each of the two themes, the operational concepts and scenarios are identified, analysed and defined
ASAS manoeuvre design and execution
- The design of the applications involves the definition of the functional logic and algorithms.
Operational procedures and training requirement
- The procedures are specified, refined and then reviewed by controllers and pilots.
Ease of installation and implementation
- The air and ground infrastructure is investigated, for both radar and non-radar scenarios, with respect to the changes required to the current equipment and tool sets, the intention is to minimise the amount of changes to existing hardware and software. This activity encompasses elements of installation, certification and validation.
Benefits analysis
- Preparation of a benefits analysis, particularly in terms of the end users' business case
Safety
- Provision of feedback on applications from the safety perspective, with respect to hardware, software, human factors, environment and the interaction of these various aspects.
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