Publications
Guidance material for Mode S-specific protocol application avionics
Summary
Summary
This ATC report presents guidance material for the use of "Ground-Initiated Comm. B" (GICB) register set contained in a Mode S transponder. The guidance material is intended to provide assistance for implementers of Mode S avionics installations. A common summary of the requirements and specifications for Mode S GICB transponder...
Enhanced regional situational awareness
Summary
Summary
Airspace protection in the capital area is provided by an Integrated Air Defense System (IADS) created through the coordinated response of U.S. government and local law-enforcement agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Capitol Police. The IADS includes U.S. Coast...
The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System
Summary
Summary
The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) has had extraordinary success in reducing the risk of mid-air collisions. Now mandated on all large transport aircraft, TCAS has been in operation for more than a decade and has prevented several catastrophic accidents. TCAS is a unique decision support system in...
Surveillance improvement algorithms for Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X (ASDE-X) at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport
Summary
Summary
Operational testing of the Runway Status Lights (RWSL) system at the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) airport has detected a number of cases where faults in the ASDE-X/DFW surveillance data have led to erroneous operation of the status lights. Among the surveillance problems noted during testing at DFW were: (a) false tracks...
Multifunction phased array radar: technical synopsis, cost implications, and operational capabilities
Summary
Summary
Current U.S. weather and aircraft surveillance radar networks vary in age from 10 to more than 40 years. Ongoing sustainment and upgrade programs can keep these operating in the near to mid term, but the responsible agencies (FAA, NWS and DoD/DHS) recognize that large-scale replacement activities must begin during the...
Required surveillance performance accuracy to support 3-mile and 5-mile separation in the National Airspace System
Summary
Summary
The Federal Aviation Administration is modernizing the Air Traffic Control system to improve flight efficiency, to increase capacity, to reduce flight delays, and to control operating costs as the demand for air travel continues to grow. Promising new surveillance technologies such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, (ADS-B), multisensor track fusion...
Improving the resolution advisory reversal logic of the traffic alert and collision avoidance system
Summary
Summary
The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II) is the worldwide standard system for manned aircraft to avoid collisions with airborne transponder-equipped traffic. A safety vulnerability of the collision avoidance logic was reported by European analysts, who also proposed a change to correct it. The safety issue concerns limitations...
Operational evaluation of runway status lights
Summary
Summary
To maintain safe separation of aircraft on the airport surface, air traffic controllers issue verbal clearances to pilots to sequence aircraft arrivals, departures, and runway crossings. Although controllers and pilots work together successfully most of the time, mistakes do occasionally happen, causing several hundred runway incursions a year and, less...
Surveillance accuracy requirements in support of separation services
Summary
Summary
The Federal Aviation Administration is modernizing the Air Traffic Control system to improve flight efficiency, to increase airspace capacity, to reduce flight delays, and to control operating costs as the demand for air travel continues to grow. Promising new surveillance technologies such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast and multisensor track...
Evaluation of proposed changes to the ACAS modified tau calculation
Summary
Summary
Modified tau is a parameter computed by ACAS to estimate the earliest time at which a collision could occur should an intruder aircraft accelerate toward the own aircraft. A concern with the modified tau calculation has been raised in a class of encounters where intruders are already close and converging...