. Medical and Hospital News .




.
AEROSPACE
DLR examines the benefits of sectorless airspace
by Staff Writers
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jul 08, 2011

How an air traffic controller could work in 'sectorless' airspace.

Air traffic will continue to grow in the foreseeable future, increasing the workload of air traffic controllers. Researchers at the German Aerospace Center have been examining what would happen if air traffic controllers started to view German airspace as a whole, rather than continuing the current practice of viewing it as small areas known as 'sectors'.

This approach would reduce air traffic controllers' to reduce their workload while contending with higher volumes of air traffic; also, pilots would only have one air traffic controller as their point of contact.

Currently, the airspace managed by air traffic controllers is divided into sectors defined by fixed boundaries.

These sectors vary in size, depending on the density of air traffic. Whenever an aircraft flies into a sector, the air traffic controller responsible for the previous sector through which the aircraft flew hands over that flight to the relevant colleague responsible for guiding that aircraft through 'its' airspace before passing it on to the controller responsible for the next sector.

In the face of rising volumes of air traffic, this system has several long-term disadvantages: "the higher and more complex the air traffic volume is within a given area, the smaller the sectors need to be," explains Bernd Korn, head of the Pilot Assistance Department at DLR's Braunschweig-based Institute of Flight Guidance.

"But it is already becoming apparent that the reduction of sector sizes cannot go on indefinitely, because at some point the supply of radio frequencies required for each sector runs out, as do the options for directing air traffic within that sector," continues Korn.

There is a further disadvantage to reducing the size of the sectors and thereby increasing their total number. A higher number of sectors would mean that air traffic controllers must conduct more handovers, increasing their workload.

Increasing capacity
The concept examined by DLR, in collaboration with Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS), the company responsible for air traffic control in Germany, is very promising.

For example, if an air traffic controller guides an aircraft from its point of entry into German airspace through to the point at which it enters another country's airspace, initial studies show that the same number of air traffic controllers can handle substantially higher volumes of traffic.

This also dispenses with all the additional workload associated with frequent handovers. Moreover, the concept also offers an excellent framework for routing flights more directly, thereby reducing flight times. Pilots would also have an advantage, a single point of contact for their entire flight across German airspace.

In 2009, DLR researchers conducted a joint study with air traffic controllers from DFS under the title 'Airspace Management 2020', to establish just how feasible a concept of this kind might be in airspace at higher altitudes.

The results of this study were very encouraging, so the concept is now being examined in greater depth. At the end of 2010, eight active air traffic controllers from DFS took part in a simulation to test the control of 'upper', or high-altitude, German airspace as a single sector.

By the end of this simulation, using small display screens - a separate one for each aircraft - the air traffic controllers were able to manage up to six aircraft each.

"We tested several variants," explains Korn. "It emerged from this that the air traffic controllers were able to work effectively in this simulation environment with up to six aircraft. Analyses have shown that, with this ratio of 1:6, it would be possible to double air traffic volume."

Of course, this new concept has disadvantages; it will be necessary to establish precisely what happens when two aircraft need to make collision avoidance manoeuvres while each is in the hands of a separate air traffic controller. "For cases such as this, we have drawn up a set of rules that clarify exactly who must give way to whom," states Korn.

It is possible
The air traffic controllers adapted to these new working practices after just a short adjustment phase and demonstrated great interest in the possibilities of this new concept.

During the tests, they provided the scientists with direct feedback and a record was kept of their proposed improvements. Following this success, the DLR Institute of Flight Guidance is continuing to pursue the idea.

The researchers are considering how best to continue to improve the processes and are working on concepts that, in the longer term, will make it possible to implement the results of their work. However, there are still technical and operational matters to resolve.




Related Links
DLR
Aerospace News at SpaceMart.com

.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries






. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



AEROSPACE
DLR Airbus A320 ATRA taxis using fuel cell-powered nose wheel for the first time
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jul 08, 2011
On 30 June 2011, DLR's A320 ATRA (Advanced Technology Research Aircraft) taxied around Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport propelled by an electric nose wheel. In the taxiing tests, researchers and engineers from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), Airbus and Lufthansa Technik demonstrated a fuel cell-powered electric nose wheel. When installed in airliners, su ... read more


AEROSPACE
Japan groups alarmed by radioactive soil

Japan minister quits over gaffe in fresh blow to PM

Passer-by saves China toddler in 10-storey fall

Japan names more Fukushima evacuation areas

AEROSPACE
AI Solutions to Assist Air Force with GPS Satellite Positioning Data and Analyzing GPS Anomalies

GPS IIIB Satellites to Add Critical New Capabilities

LOCiMOBILE GPS Tracking Apps Cross over 1 Million users in 116 countries

Astrium awarded Galileo Full Operational Capability Ground Control Segment Contract

AEROSPACE
Surgeons implant first synthetic organ

Australia moves on head-covering laws

Clues to why 'they' all look alike

Finding showing human ancestor older than previously thought offers new insights into evolution

AEROSPACE
Climate change threatens endangered freshwater turtle

Frog feet could solve a sticky problem

DNA points to ancestor of all polar bears

Mother of all polar bears from Ireland

AEROSPACE
India PM hails success in battle against HIV

New rapid test tells difference between bacterial and viral infections

MSF warns of cholera epidemic in DR Congo

Hong Kong confirms second scarlet fever death

AEROSPACE
China police harass Mongol activist's family: group

Red Cross controversy threatens China philanthropy

Amnesty slams China over Xinjiang, two years after riots

Radiohead tests China's tightly controlled web

AEROSPACE
Denmark to hand over 24 pirates to Kenya for trial

Chinese ship released by pirates: EU

South Korea jails Somali pirates

US Navy recruits gamers to help in piracy strategy

AEROSPACE
China inflation accelerates to 6.4%

Outside View: A disappointing jobs report

Australian cities among world's most expensive: survey

Lagarde says debt among IMF top concerns


Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News
.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2011 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement