MET4LOWW - MET Potentials for Arrival and Departure Management

The objective of the MET4LOWW project is to derive ATM procedures for integrating partly probabilistic wind and weather information into arrival and departure management. Wind-fields and weather-objects are implemented in University of Salzburg’s ATM/ATC simulator, and associated avoidance and adaption strategies are developed. Various traffic and weather scenarios are analysed using fast-time-simulation and evaluated based on ATM performance figures for safety, capacity, cost-efficiency and environment. Based on these results the optimal ATM-procedures and meteorological information will be derived, e.g. time-based separation. The resulting potential improvements for arrival and departure management are validated by real-time simulation.

Short Description

Motivation

The weather's influence on arrival and departure management is currently officially defined mainly by the ICAO Annex 3 products, which however, due to their somewhat outdated concepts, do not adequately meet the increasing requirements of modern air traffic control. Modern ATM procedures therefore call for more specific, tailor-made MET information that is better spatially and temporally resolved and accurately reflects reality.

Objectives

To hollistically integrate ATC procedures, meteorological fields and weather objects in the NAVSIM Fast Time Simulator.
To develop harmonised and structured ATM procedures that can process MET information directly.
To generate optimised deterministic weather information.
To explore the potential of probabilistic MET information.

Content

In this project, meteorological methods and ATM procedures are considered alongside each other rather than separately. This makes it possible to tailor the possibilities and limits offered by meteorological observations and forecasts directly to the arrival and departure management requirements. An additional positive effect results from the improved mutual understanding of respective problems.

The direct integration of MET information already takes place in the design of ATM procedures and processes, which makes subsequent lengthy and tedious adjustments obsolete. This holistic approach also facilitates the ensuing process of integration into the operational ATM system.

Purely meteorological evaluations of the forecast are replaced by an amalgamation of the quantitative assessment of the potentials of meteorological observations, analyses and forecasts with ATM performance indicators by ATM and MET.

Methodology

In the optimisation of our processes, a concept similar to the PDCA process is pursued, and the possibility of fast-time simulations allows for many experiments to be carried out. With these optimised procedures/information, the selected traffic and weather scenarios are simulated again. It is from this feedback loop that ATM procedures and the corresponding ideal MET information can be compiled.

At the end of this process, the developed procedure (including MET information) is validated with ATCOs/pilots in human in/over the loop simulations.

Expected results

In the Fast Time Simulator NAVSIM are implemented
a) Standard arrival and departure procedures for arrivals and departures
b) An optimized method for circuiting weather objects (thunderstorms)
c) Calculation of ATM Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Weather-based procedures in Arrival and Departure Management optimised with regard to the impact on the ATM Key Performance Areas (safety, capacity, cost-efficiency, environment, predictability, etc.)
Validated concept of how optimal deterministic weather information for arrival and departure management (required resolution/accuracy) ought to be designed
Validated concept for optimal integration of probabilistic weather information into arrival and departure management

Outcome

Quantitative and qualitative statements on the impact of MET information in arrival and departure management.

Downloads

Endbericht MET4LOWW (pdf, 2.18 MB)

Project Partners

Austro Control GmbH - Coordinator
Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg, Institut für Computerwissenschaften

Funding program: Take Off