Air traffic control upgrades
It has been estimated that air traffic will double within the next ten years. Maintaining our current accident rate, with double the traffic, would mathematically lead to twice as many accidents as we currently experience every year. That prospect is unacceptable (UK and International Press). There has been obvious growing concern with our airspace due to the anticipated expected growth in air traffic in the years to come. These concerns are not unwarranted with technology increasing at a furious pace and sophisticated equipment becoming more and more available. This paper will discuss what is currently being done to meet the demanding needs of future air travel. The main focus will be on the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in association to the concept of free flight, with respect to the Global Positioning System (GPS), and Air Traffic Control (ATC) automation. The ATC automation portion of this report will give specific attention to datalink applications, conflict probe, and next generation aviation safety.Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) WAAS is being developed as the next generation aviation navigation system. It will provide en route coverage t
The WAAS will result in improvements to the efficiency of the national airspace system including direct route navigation, reduced aircraft separation, increased airspace capacity and significant fuel savings for airline and cargo industries (Hughes 1999). The savings to society envisioned from WAAS are unofficially estimated to be more than $12B to airlines and aviation agencies over the first 10 years, largely due to fuel savings (more efficient navigation with GPS) and higher capacity in airports (more accurate navigation and efficient scheduling) (Lichten 1997). The use of these new technologies in an integrated global air traffic management system would provide the same freedom to airspace users that is now being advocated as 'free flight' (Air Traffic Technology International, 1998, p. 115). The term free flight has been interpreted in different ways. Some may perceive free flight as complete freedom for a pilot to fly an aircraft anywhere, at any time, and to be able to change altitude, speed and heading without needing to involve anyone else (Air Traffic Technology International, 1998, p. 116). A good definition would be the safe and efficient operational capability under instrument flight rules (IFR), in which the operators have greater flexibility in selecting the flight path and speed of their aircraft in real time (Heijl, ICAO Canada 1998). Although the free flight system will no doubt have a great affect as far as choosing preferred routes and altitudes, the concept of a chaotic, unmanaged airspace system is unrealistic. In the transition to the future global air traffic management system, safe
Some common words found in the essay are:
ICAO Canada, WAAS WAAS, Laboratory JPL, Flying April, Control Automation, Technology International, System GPS, International Press, WAAS GPS, , air traffic, free flight, lichten 1997, generation aviation, datalink applications, gps data, category precision, global positioning system, positioning system, 'free flight', heijl icao canada, traffic control, technology international 1998, global air traffic, traffic technology international,
Approximate Word count = 1094
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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