Overview
This project addresses the topic “Environment and Meteorology for ATM”. The framework for this project is the integration of meteorological forecast uncertainty information into the decision-making process for Flow Management Position (FMP).
FMP is an operational position located in Area Control Centres (ACC) which serves as an interface between Air Traffic Control (ATC) and the Network Manager (NM) Operations Centre. FMP monitors the level of traffic in ATC sectors, adjusts the value of capacity in view of unexpected events, and coordinates possible traffic flow measures with the ACC Supervisor and the NM when an excess of demand over capacity is detected. The presence of storms challenges ATC: it makes the sector demand not easy to predict and increases the complexity, thus reducing the sector capacity.
The overall objective of FMP-Met is to provide the FMP with an intuitive and interpretable probabilistic assessment of the impact of convective weather on the operations, up to 8 hours in advance, coming from the combination of the probabilistic sector demand, complexity and capacity reduction, to allow better-informed decision making. FMP-Met has the following specific objectives: Tailor multi-scale, multi-source convective weather information for FMP application; forecast multi-sector demand and complexity under convective weather; translate convective weather forecasts into predictions of reduced airspace capacity; and produce guidelines on the use of probabilistic forecasts for FMP application.
The expected impact of this project is the enhancement of ATM efficiency by improving decision making in traffic flow management under convective weather. The provision of a trustworthy forecast of the future sector demand and of a reliable estimation of the impact of the convective weather in the sector capacity will support the FMP in taking anticipated, appropriate, and timely tactical flow measures, which as a consequence will lead to a reduction of delays.