Cultivating Next Gen of Av Leaders_ATCA_Journal_1_2013-Final-LR

Advancing ATC through Education

•Attractingyoungtalenttotheindustry

•Resolvingaviationworkforcechallenges

Plus • ImprovementsinATCtechnology• NextGenimplementation

www.atca.org

Q1 2013 | VOLUME 55, NO. 1

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EDITORIAL

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Contents

9 Benefits and Utility of Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting More accurate products crucial to NextGen

15 Affording Our Future Seven principles for effective NextGen infrastructure transformation

18 Weather Technology in the Cockpit Transoceanic human-over-the-loop demonstration

23 NextGen Takes Flight The Air Traffic Control Quarterly keeps up with changes in aviation

24 Roll Over, Gutenberg The 2013 update to the NextGen Implementation Plan is all electronic

40 SWIM is Operational NEMS and data standards are making SWIM a NextGen success

49 Space-Based ADS-B Will Be a Game Changer Aireon LLC extends surveillance coverage throughout the globe

56 Considerations for Management and Governance of Network-Enabled Resources in an ATC Voice Enterprise A notional Concept of Operation for management and governance of NVS network-enabled resources in the National Airspace System

60 Three-Step Changes to SESAR Joint Undertaking SESAR's programme is one of the most ambitious research and development projects ever launched by the European Union

64 Streamlining NextGen Various factors delaying NextGen deployment

3 From the President

5 Letter from the Editor

7 Member Benefits

8 Membership Application

36 From the Archives

68 Index to Advertisers

Articles

Features

Departments

Quarter 1, 2013 | Vol. 55, No. 1

Published for:

Air Traffic Control Association1101 King Street, Suite 300Alexandria, VA 22314703-299-2430703-299-2437 [email protected]

26 Teaching High School Students Air Traffic Control Why introducing ATC at the high school level benefits young minds and industry alike

30 U.S. Army Screaming Eagle “Skymasters” Deployed air traffic controllers

52 Cultivating the Next Generation of Aviation Leaders ATCA's Young Aviation Professionals program strives to resolve aviation workforce challenges

The Journal of Air Traffic Control 1

Air Traffic Infrastructure Global Markets2013 SupplementWorld Forecasts 2013 - 2022

“I am very impressed with the quality and depth of this work. Not sure I’ve seen anything its equal…”

- Charter Subscriber, Executive with a global

aerospace company

www.nexacapital.com1250 24th Street NW, Suite 300

Washington DC 20037+1 (202) 558-7417

www.atiglobalmarkets.com

Markets n Policies n Infrastructure FinanceATI Global Markets Answers These Critical Questions (and Much More):

• What are the next decade’s top 100 ATI projects globally, and what policy, technology and financial issues will define them?

• How can the new paradigm for ATI finance translate into distinct competitive advantages for ATI vendors and consortia?

• Who are the most innovative companies in the ATI supply chain and how is their role critical to ATI modernization?

• How will the new controls wielded by airlines change forever the pace and markets for ATI?

• Why will the next round in the consolidation of the aerospace industry be important to ATI markets?

2013 Supplement Includes:• 2012 Full Report

‒ Appendix of Top 60 ATI markets

‒ Forecasting models & aerospace supply chain database

• 2013 Updates ‒ Critical infrastructure

developments worldwide ‒ Changing policy and

regulations that define them

• One Day Seminar ‒ Full briefing of the report by

industry experts ‒ Additional customized

research topics

NEXA Advisors will be in attendance at the 2013 World ATM Congress in Madrid, Spain. To schedule a private meeting with one of our industry experts, Russ Chew and Hank Krakowski, please call NEXA Advisors at +1 (202) 558-7417 or contact us via our website

at www.atiglobalmarkets.com.

MCS One Page Ad 4.indd 1 1/17/2013 2:30:47 PM

By Peter F. Dumont President & CEO, ATCANew Format

for The Journal of Air Traffic Control

FROM THE PRESIDENT

HAPPy NEw yEAr AND wElcoME to the first Journal of 2013. Over the course of my tenure as President and CEO of ATCA, I have stressed that our mantra is continuous improvement of the asso-ciation and responsiveness to you – the members. In line with that thinking, I am pleased to bring you the new format of The Journal of Air Traffic Control.

This is the last step in a process that started over 18 months ago. We received feedback from the member-ship on the quality and quantity of articles presented in the Journal. In response, we reconstituted the ATCA Publications Committee and through the leadership of the Journal Editor, the Publications Committee Chair, and the Director of Communications, we set out to bring you higher quality, more rele-vant articles. The processes and people we have put in place accomplished this very formidable task.

Our previous publishing company had been in place for over six years. Upon review, we decided a change was needed; the look and feel of the Journal did not reflect the content or reader-ship. We approached multiple publish-ing companies that have experience working with associations, knowing we needed a company that understood our needs and had the capability to

help us move forward. We decided on Lester Publications.

The result of this work and your feedback is a publication with the right content and the right look and feel to reflect ATCA today. Similarly, you’ll see this fresh design and attention to detail in the recently distributed ATCA Bulletin from January, which Lester also published.

We have a very busy year ahead of us – with it come many challenges and opportunities. This issue is being released while we are at World ATM Congress (WATMC). This event is our latest effort to improve the ATC/ATM community by partnering with CANSO and extending the ATCA reach glob-ally. WATMC is an ATM event by the industry, for the industry. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

Also arriving shortly is CMAC 2013, taking place this April in Geneva, Switzerland. All of ATCA’s upcoming events are listed on our website at: www.atca.org/Calendar.

As an association, one challenge we face this year is in the form of the Senate Postal Reform Bill. ATCA has been closely following the bill, as it con-tains an amendment that would severe-ly restrict government employees from attending meetings and conferences

held by associations and other private sector organizations. Reassuringly, we have heard from committee staff – by working alongside ASAE – that any final package negotiated between the House and Senate is unlikely to include this unnecessary amendment language.

We are working closely with the FAA and Department of Transportation to ensure the actions of GSA in 2012 do not impact ATCA’s ability to bring industry perspective and collaboration with government. We will keep you up-to-date on the progress in this area.

In closing, ATCA fully supports the confirmation of the Honorable Michael Huerta as FAA Administrator. Administrator Huerta has been sup-portive of ATCA during his time at the FAA and has renewed that com-mitment moving forward. We look for-ward to a fruitful, collaborative part-nership during the next five years.

Peter Dumont, President and CEO, ATCA

Photographer: Anton Foltin / Photos.com

Air Traffic Infrastructure Global Markets2013 SupplementWorld Forecasts 2013 - 2022

“I am very impressed with the quality and depth of this work. Not sure I’ve seen anything its equal…”

- Charter Subscriber, Executive with a global

aerospace company

www.nexacapital.com1250 24th Street NW, Suite 300

Washington DC 20037+1 (202) 558-7417

www.atiglobalmarkets.com

Markets n Policies n Infrastructure FinanceATI Global Markets Answers These Critical Questions (and Much More):

• What are the next decade’s top 100 ATI projects globally, and what policy, technology and financial issues will define them?

• How can the new paradigm for ATI finance translate into distinct competitive advantages for ATI vendors and consortia?

• Who are the most innovative companies in the ATI supply chain and how is their role critical to ATI modernization?

• How will the new controls wielded by airlines change forever the pace and markets for ATI?

• Why will the next round in the consolidation of the aerospace industry be important to ATI markets?

2013 Supplement Includes:• 2012 Full Report

‒ Appendix of Top 60 ATI markets

‒ Forecasting models & aerospace supply chain database

• 2013 Updates ‒ Critical infrastructure

developments worldwide ‒ Changing policy and

regulations that define them

• One Day Seminar ‒ Full briefing of the report by

industry experts ‒ Additional customized

research topics

NEXA Advisors will be in attendance at the 2013 World ATM Congress in Madrid, Spain. To schedule a private meeting with one of our industry experts, Russ Chew and Hank Krakowski, please call NEXA Advisors at +1 (202) 558-7417 or contact us via our website

at www.atiglobalmarkets.com.

MCS One Page Ad 4.indd 1 1/17/2013 2:30:47 PM


That,s what we call an

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That,s what we call an

operational advantage.Give your operational team the leverage they need from ground to air with NAVCANatm tower automation products integrated with Searidge Technologies’ innovative collaborative surface management solutions.

Manage the skies with improved safety and efficiency with the NAVCANsuite integrated tower systems. Our leading edge electronic flight strips, fused real-time surveillance system, and automated air traffic management tools offer fast, reliable access to critical airport, tower and terminal information at a simplified workstation. Then, get a clearer view of aircraft and vehicles on the ground with the integrated Searidge intelligent video solutions. The video display, with radar-like tracking, improves visibility in movement and non-movement areas of the airport and clearly identifies targets, allowing your controllers to operate with a high degree of confidence.

The result is an innovative ATM technology solution that gives you the operational advantage.

Advanced airtraffic managementsystems

Integrated with market-leadingvideo surveillance

NAVCANatm.ca/Searidge Visit us at the World ATM Congress 2013, Booth 826

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

A Passion for Aviationour PASSioN for AViAtioN SEEMS to manifest itself around discussions on today’s operational challenges as well as operations and the technology requirement challenges of future gen-erations. We tend to forget that pas-sion can also reside in those who pro-tect and serve our country and those who teach our children. I am very proud that this Quarter 1, 2013 edition of The Journal of Air Traffic Control features two papers on the challenges of training air traffic controllers. They are diverse in composition relative to the people being trained and their introduction into air traffic control, but the passion of those managing the training is the same.

First, we have an article written by Major Ronald H. Dalton, U.S. Air Force, Retired, who speaks to the training of high school students in the basics of air traffic control. The second arti-cle is written by Army Captain Jason J. Nolan Sr., Commander of Foxtrot Company, 6-101st Aviation Regiment, Task Force Eagle, Assault Forward Operating Base, Shank Afghanistan. Captain Nolan writes to the challenges

of training his company for controlling traffic in a combat zone. Both articles are very inspiring.

On my final note for this issue, I would like to thank the ATCA Publications Committee for its out-reach efforts. The committee decided to move up the publication date for this Spring issue for the purpose of having it published in time for World ATM Congress in Madrid, Spain. This ensures an even wider audience con-sisting of international perspectives will have access to the issue. This was not an easy decision and everyone – including the authors of these papers – pushed to make the deadline. Thanks again to everyone for their profession-alism and dedication to The Journal of Air Traffic Control. You continually increase its value.

Steve Carver, Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Air Traffic Control

By Steve Carver Editor-in-Chief,

The Journal Of Air Traffic Control

Quarter 1, 2013 | Vol. 55, No. 1

Air Traffic Control Association1101 King Street, Suite 300Alexandria, VA 22314703-299-2430703-299-2437 [email protected]

Formed in 1956 as a non-profit, professional membership association, ATCA represents the interests of all professionals in the air traffic control industry. Dedicated to the advancement of professionalism and technology of air traffic control, ATCA has grown to represent several thousand individuals and organizations managing and providing ATC services and equipment around the world.

Editor-in-Chief: Steve Carver

Publisher: Lester Publications, LLC

officers and Board of DirectorsChairman: James H. Washington, B3 Solutions Chairman-Elect: Neil Planzer, The Boeing CompanyPresident & CEO: Peter F. Dumont, Air Traffic

Control AssociationTreasurer, Director-At-Large: Rachel Jackson Secretary, East Area Director: Jeff Griffith,

Washington Consulting Group Northeast Area Director: Mike Headley, ApptisSouth Central Area Director: William CottonSoutheast Area Director: Robert Coulson, Harris

CorporationNorth Central Area Director: Jim Crook, Retired,

US Air ForceWestern Area Director: Mike Lewis, JeppesenCanada, Caribbean, Central and South America,

Mexico Area Director: John Crichton, NAV CANADA

Europe, Africa, Middle East Area Director: Steve James

Pacific, Asia, Australia Area Director: Bob Gardiner, ACMAT Consultants

Directors-At-Large: Allison Patrick, SRA International, Inc.

Charlie Keegan, Raytheon Sandra Samuel, Lockheed Martin

StaffMarion Brophy, Director, CommunicationsKen Carlisle, Director, Meetings and ExpositionsBrian Courter, Meetings and Programs CoordinatorCarrie Courter, Administrative CoordinatorJonathan Fath, World ATM Congress

Communications ConsultantJessica McGarry, Communications CoordinatorChristine Oster, Chief Financial OfficerPaul Planzer, Manager, ATC ProgramsClaire Rusk, Vice President of OperationsRugger Smith, Director, International AccountsSandra Strickland, Events and Exhibits CoordinatorTim Wagner, Membership Manager

The Journal of Air Traffic Control (ISSN 0021-8650) is published quarterly by the Air Traffic Control Association, Inc. Periodical postage paid at Alexandria, VA and additional entries.

EDITORIAL, SUBSCRIPTION & ADVERTISING OFFICES at ATCA Headquarters: 1101 King Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, Virginia 22314. Telephone: (703) 299-2430, Fax: (703) 299-2437, Email: [email protected], Website: www.atca.org. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Journal of Air Traffic Control, 1101 King Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, Virginia 22314.

© Air Traffic Control Association, Inc., 2013

Membership in the Air Traffic Control Association including subscriptions to the Journal and ATCA Bulletin: Professional, $130 a year; Professional Military Senior Enlisted (E6–E9) Officer, $130 a year; Professional Military Junior Enlisted (E1–E5), $26 a year; Retired fee $60 a year applies to those who are ATCA Members at the time of retirement; Corporate Member, $500–5,000 a year, depending on category. Journal subscription rates to non-members: U.S., its territories, and possessions—$78 a year; other countries, including Canada and Mexico—$88 a year (via air mail). Back issue single copy $10, other countries, including Canada and Mexico, $15 (via air mail).

Contributors express their personal points of view and opinions that are not necessarily those of their employers or the Air Traffic Control Association. Therefore The Journal of Air Traffic Control does not assume responsibility for statements made and opinions expressed. It does accept responsibility for giving contributors an opportunity to express such views and opinions. Articles may be edited as necessary without changing their meaning.

ATCAAir Traffic Control Association



ATCA Members are part of the global air traffic dialogue.Your access to ATCA committees, publications, and meetings will increase your awareness

of the current aviation landscape and current work towards improving ATC safety, efficiency, and capacity.

What you get as an ATCA MemberConnections. Meet with other industry professionals at networking events throughout the year.

Expert Opinions. Members have exclusive access to ATCA Publications including:Valuable Content. Daily Headline News, the ATCA Bulletin, & The Journal of Air Traffic Control

Partnerships. ATCA collaborates with the U.S. Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, ICAO, CANSO, academic institutions, and many other global organizations.Reduced Rates. Members get significant discounts to all ATCA events and conferences.

www.atca.org/JoinNow

The Names & Faces of Air Traffic Gather at








LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Air Tra�c Control AssociationATCA Members are part of the global air traffic dialogue.

Your access to ATCA committees, publications, and meetings will increase your awareness of the current aviation landscape and current work towards improving ATC safety, efficiency,

and capacity.












The Names & Faces of Air Traffic Gather atT h e N a m e s & F a c e s o f A i r T r a f f i c

ATCA Members are part of the global air traffic dialogue. Your access to ATCA committees, publications, and meetings will increase your awareness of the current aviation landscape and current work towards improving ATC safety, efficiency, and capacity.


• coNNEctioNS. Meet with other industry professionals at networking events throughout the year.

• ExPErt oPiNioNS. Members have exclusive access to ATCA Publications.

• VAluABlE coNtENt. Daily Headline News, the ATCA Bulletin, & The Journal of Air Traffic Control.

• PArtNErSHiPS. ATCA collaborates with the U.S. Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, ICAO, CANSO, academic institutions, and many other global organizations.

• rEDucED rAtES. Members get significant discounts to all ATCA events and conferences.

What you get as an ATCA Member?

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DATA REPORTINg

Benefits and Utility of Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data ReportingMore accurate products crucial to NextGen

Introduction to TAMDARObservations collected by a multi-function in-situ atmospheric sen-sor on commercial aircraft, called the Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting (TAMDAR) sensor, con-tain measurements of humidity, pres-sure, temperature, winds aloft, icing, and turbulence, and along with the corresponding location, time, and alti-tude from built-in GPS, are relayed via satellite in real-time to a ground-based network operations center. One cru-cial component of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is the integration of more accurate products, as the paradigm shifts to a more probabilistic approach. The net-work of TAMDAR sensors meets the future integration enhancements and operational needs of NextGen Weather Concept of Operations (CONOPS), but is operational today.

The TAMDAR sensor was deployed by AirDat in December 2004 on a fleet of 63 Saab SF340 aircraft operated by Mesaba Airlines in the Great Lakes region as a part of the NASA-sponsored Great Lakes Fleet Experiment (GLFE). Over the last eight years, the equi-page of the sensors has expanded beyond the continental U.S. (CONUS) to include Alaska, Hawaii, Caribbean, Mexico, and Europe on Era Alaska,

Hageland, PenAir, Horizon (Alaska Air), Chautauqua (Republic Airways), Piedmont (US Airways), Mesaba, Silver Airways, AeroMéxico, and Flybe, as well as a few research aircraft.

The system can be installed on any fixed-wing airframe from small, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to long-range wide-bodies like the Boeing 777. Upon completion of the 2013 instal-lations, more than 6,000 daily sound-ings will be produced in North America and Europe at more than 400 locations1. Emphasis has been placed on equip-ping regional carriers, as these flights tend to (i) fly into more remote and diverse locations, and (ii) be of shorter duration thereby producing more daily vertical profiles and remaining in the boundary layer for longer durations.

This new TAMDAR data set is discussed below in terms of the poten-tial utility in forecasting and model-ing applications, including model initial conditions and verification, as well as determining stability, shear, ceiling, icing, turbulence, p-type, and general convective evolution via both short-term forecast models and observa-tion-based forecasting (i.e., Skew-T). In addition to the direct use of the TAMDAR soundings, a suite of models run by AirDat, including 4D-Var WRF-ARW and RTFDDA-WRF, which effec-

tively assimilate TAMDAR data and other diverse observations, provides a uniquely superior forecast for the avia-tion community.

AirDat has been working in coop-eration with Raytheon and Metron Aviation to integrate TAMDAR data and forecast information into auto-mation and weather solutions, such as the Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS), the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS), and other decision support tools. The purpose of this integration is to illustrate the improvements in fore-casting skill and decision making in an actual operational setting when the in-situ TAMDAR observations and AirDat forecast capabilities are employed. In order to properly fulfill the NextGen mission of improving the efficiency and safety within the National Airspace System (NAS), a seamless transfer of weather information to decision mak-ers must be implemented.

Use of TAMDAR is very much in line with the current FAA investment in turbulence research and reduced weather impact, and is consistent with the overall NextGen objectives, as stated by the FAA2,3,4. TAMDAR inte-gration into weather processing will facilitate a smoother transition to end-state technologies, now in the plan-

By Neil A. Jacobs, Chief Atmospheric Scientist, AirDat, LLC and Jeffrey E. Rex, Vice President, Engineering, AirDat, LLC


ning phases, than might otherwise be possible. By supplementing sparse radiosonde data with higher resolution atmospheric soundings, TAMDAR can play a critical role in the successful and safe implementation of weather-related NextGen capabilities.

Engineering development backgroundIn response to a government aviation safety initiative, NASA, in partner-ship with the FAA and NOAA, spon-sored the early development and eval-uation of a proprietary multi-function in-situ atmospheric sensor for aircraft. AirDat LLC, located in Morrisville, N.C., was formed to develop and deploy the TAMDAR system based on require-ments provided by the Global Systems Division (GSD) of NOAA, the FAA, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

TAMDAR sensors can be installed on most fixed-wing aircraft from large commercial airliners to small unmanned aerial systems (UAS), where they con-tinuously transmit atmospheric obser-vations via a global satellite network in real time as the aircraft climbs, cruises, and descends. The TAMDAR sensor (pictured on a Saab SF340, Figure 1) offers a broad range of airborne meteo-rological data collection capabilities, as well as icing and turbulence data that is critical to both aviation safety and operational efficiency.

In addition to atmospheric data col-lection, the customizable system can also provide continuous GPS aircraft tracking, a global satellite link for data,

text and voice communication, real-time TAMDAR-augmented forecast products, mapping of icing, turbulence and winds aloft, a multi-function anten-na for both satellite communications and GPS, and the ability to integrate satcom with Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) for potential display of cockpit weather.

TAMDAR observations not only include temperature, pressure, winds aloft, and relative humidity (RH), but also icing and turbulence. Additionally, each observation includes GPS-derived horizontal and vertical (altitude) coor-dinates, as well as a time stamp to the nearest second. With a continuous stream of observations, TAMDAR pro-vides much higher spatial and temporal resolution compared to the Radiosonde (RAOB) network, as well as better geo-graphic coverage, and a more com-plete data set than conventional aircraft observations through the inclusion of RH, icing, and turbulence.

Current upper-air observing sys-tems are also subject to large latency based on obsolete communication net-works and quality assurance protocol. TAMDAR observations are typically received, processed, quality controlled, and available for distribution or model assimilation in less than one minute from the sampling time. The sensor requires no flight crew involvement; it operates automatically, and sampling rates and calibration constants can be adjusted by remote command from the AirDat operations center in Morrisville, N.C.

Icing observationsAirDat icing data provides the first high volume, objective icing data available to the airline industry. Ice reporting is currently performed via pilot reports (PIREPs); while helpful, these subjec-tive reports do not provide the accu-racy and density required to effectively manage increasing demands on the finite airspace. High-density real-time TAMDAR icing reports fill this infor-mation void, creating a significantly more accurate spatial and temporal distribution of icing hazards, as well as real-time observations where icing is not occurring. The icing data can be viewed in raw observation form, or it can be used to improve icing potential model forecasts.

Turbulence observationsThe TAMDAR sensor provides objec-tive high-resolution eddy dissipation rate (EDR) turbulence observations. These data are collected for both median and peak turbulence mea-surements and are capable of being sorted on a much finer (seven-point) scale than current subjective PIREPs, which are reported as light, moder-ate, or severe. The EDR turbulence algorithm is aircraft-configuration and flight-condition independent. Thus, it does not depend on the type of plane, nor does it depend on load and flight capacity.

This high-density, real-time, in-situ turbulence data can be used to alter flight arrival and departure routes. It also can be assimilated into models to improve predictions of

DATA REPORTINg

Figure 1. The TAMDAR Probe mounted on a Saab 340 Aircraft

Figure 2. Example of a TAMDAR Point Observation from a flight out of LGA. Other planes can be seen on the LGA taxi-way, while approach-es to LGA and JFK are also visible.

Quarter 1 201310

threatening turbulence conditions, as well as being used as a verification tool for longer-range numerical weath-er prediction (NWP)-based turbulence forecasts. As with the icing observa-tions, potential utility of this data in air traffic control decision making for avoidance and mitigation of severe turbulence encounters is extremely significant.

The screenshot in Figure 2 shows planes in the vicinity of New York City and their respective TAMDAR obser-vations. Holding the mouse over a flight produces a “call out” of the most recent observations. This particular flight is currently reporting no icing or turbulence at a pressure altitude of 11,220 ft and GPS altitude of 11,920 ft. The relative humidity is 100 percent, and the temperature is five degrees Celsius with a wind speed of 22 kts at 261°, and a ground speed of 252 kts. Other TAMDAR-equipped planes can be seen lined up on the taxiway at LGA, while approach and takeoff pat-terns are visible for both LGA and JFK.

The TAMDAR sensor, combined with the AirDat satellite communica-tions network, data center, quality filtering algorithms, and atmospheric modeling, provides unique operation-al benefits for participating airlines. Some of these benefits include real-time global tracking and reporting of aircraft position, real-time delivery of aircraft systems monitoring data, and airline operational support such as automated Out-Off-On-In (OOOI) times and satcom voice communica-tions.

The TAMDAR installation includes a multi-function antenna, which can be used for receiving cock-pit weather display information, as well as transmitting or receiving text messaging, email, aircraft data, and satellite voice communication to and from the cockpit and cabin to the ground and back. Since the communi-cation link is satellite based, the cov-erage is global and seamlessly func-tional for any location and altitude with a sub-60 second latency. Since TAMDAR is independent of the exist-ing aircraft communication systems, it offers additional layers of redundancy, as well as carrier-defined data stream flexibility.

Forecast models and validationNumerous third-party studies have been conducted by NOAA-GSD, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and various uni-versities, to verify the accuracy of TAMDAR against weather balloons and aircraft test instrumentation, as well as quantify the TAMDAR-related impacts on NWP5,6,7,8,9.

Ongoing data denial experiments show the inclusion of TAMDAR data can significantly improve forecast model accuracy with the greatest gains realized during more dynamic and severe weather events6.

Upper-air observations are the sin-gle most important data set driving a forecast model. Fine-scale regional forecast accuracy is completely depen-dent on a skillful representation of the

mid- and upper-level atmospheric flow, moisture, and wave patterns. If these features are properly analyzed during the model initialization period, then an accurate forecast will ensue.

Forecast models that employ a 3-D variational assimilation technique (3D-Var or GSI), which weighs obser-vations based on their observed time are limited in their ability to extract the maximum value from a high reso-lution asynoptic data set. This method greatly reduces the effectiveness of observations not taken at the precise synoptic hour (e.g., 00, 06, 12, and 18 UTC).

Recent advancements in com-putational power have enabled 4-D variational assimilation techniques to become an operationally feasible solu-tion. This method is far superior when initializing a forecast model with a data set such as TAMDAR because the observations are assimilated into

the numerical grid at their proper space-time location10.

TAMDAR data has been shown to increase forecast accuracy over the U.S. on the order of 30-50 percent for a monthly average, even for 3D-Var (GSI) models9. For specific dynamic weather events, it is not uncommon to see the improvement in skill more than double this value.

FAA validation summaryThe FAA funded a four-year TAMDAR impact study that was concluded in January 2009. The study was con-ducted by the Global Systems Division (GSD) of NOAA under an FAA contract to ascertain the potential benefits of including TAMDAR data to the 3D-Var Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) model, which was the current operational aviation-centric model run by NCEP. Two parallel versions of the model were run with the control withholding the TAMDAR data. The results of this study concluded that significant gains in forecast skill were achieved with the inclusion of the data despite using 3D-Var assimilation methods5,8,11,12. The reduction in 30-day running mean RMS error averaged throughout the CONUS domain within the boundary layer for model state variables were:

• Up to 50 percent reduction in RH error

• 35 percent reduction in tempera-ture error

• 15 percent reduction in wind error

This study was conducted using a 3D-Var model on a 13 km hori-zontal grid. Likewise, the nature of the 30-day mean statistics dilute the actual impact provided by TAMDAR's higher resolution data during critical weather events. The forecast skill gain during dynamic events is typically much greater than what is expressed in a CONUS-wide monthly average. In other words, the increase in model accuracy is greatest during dynam-ic weather events where air traffic impacts are greatest.

The AirDat RT-FDDA-WRF fore-cast runs on a North America domain with four-km grid spacing and can include multiple nested one-km domains. A four-year collaborative study with NCAR has shown that the

DATA REPORTINg

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Ongoing data denial experiments show the inclusion of TAMDAR

data can significantly improve forecast model accuracy


FDDA/4D-Var assimilation methodolo-gy can nearly double the improvement in forecast skill over an identical model running a 3D-Var configuration13,14. Results from this study are summa-rized below using the same 30-day running mean verification statistics as employed by NOAA. TAMDAR impact using FDDA/4D-Var resulted in:

• Reduction in humidity forecast error of 74 percent

• Reduction in temperature forecast error of 58 percent

• Reduction in wind forecast error of 63 percent

To put this type of statistical improvement into an operational fore-cast perspective, successive forecast run output is presented in Figure 3. This convective frontal event pro-duced a record number of tornadic cells over the southeast U.S. on April 16, 2011. When using a forecast model as a decision-making tool, the two most important aspects are consisten-cy and accuracy. In Figure 3, there are 11 consecutive forecast cycles, which all show predicted reflectivity for 18Z April 16. The forecasts begin 72 hours prior to the event, and each successive cycle (i.e., 66 h, 60 h, etc.), valid at the same time, is shown up to the 12-hour

forecast. The bottom right image is the actual radar imagery of the event. From a consistency perspective, the space-time propagation, as well as the intensity, change very little from run to run. From an accuracy perspective, the model does very well with resolving the frontal boundary and storm cell inten-sity, while the timing and position are nearly perfect almost 60 hours prior to the event.

Forecast skill, like the example pre-sented above, is made possible by hav-ing (i) an asynoptic in-situ observing system like TAMDAR that streams continuous real-time observations to (ii) a forecast model (deterministic or prob-abilistic) that has the ability to assimi-late asynoptic data in four dimensions.

Skew-T profilesThe TAMDAR units are currently set to sample at 300-ft intervals on ascent and descent. This resolution can be adjust-ed in real time to whatever interval is desired. The satellite connection to the sensor is a two-way connection, so sampling rates, calibration constants, and reporting parameters can all be changed remotely from a ground-based location. The sampling rate in cruise is time based. The soundings – or vertical profiles – are built as each observation

is received. All of the profi le-b a s e d v a r i a b l e calculations (e.g., CAPE, CIN, etc.) are cal-culated when the plane enters cruise or touches down. When an air-port is selected, successive soundings can be displayed within a certain time window. This enables the user to view the evolution of the profile.

Auto-PIREP potential utility TAMDAR real-time icing data has the potential to improve pilot situational awareness. For example, we will con-sider the data in the vicinity of the Colgan Air icing accident near Buffalo, N.Y. on Feb. 13, 2009.

Figures 4 and 5 are graphical out-put of raw TAMDAR observations from flights into and out of Buffalo within a three hour window spanning the crash around 10 p.m. EST. The solid triangles (Figure 4) indicate icing, and the hollow triangles indicate icing with heaters activated (to melt the ice and reset). The fact that the TAMDAR heat-er remains activated throughout the descent suggests that the ice accretion rate is greater than 0.02” per minute,

DATA REPORTINg

Figure 3. Eleven consecutive forecast cycles beginning 72 hours prior to the event showing predicted reflectivity for 18Z April 16. The actual radar imagery of the event is shown in the lower right panel.

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and in some cases (based on observa-tion times) it could have been signifi-cantly greater.

The sounding in Figure 5, which is valid around 9 p.m. (local time), shows a substantial layer of saturated air below 6,500 ft between -9 and -2 degrees Celsius, which is the temperature win-dow that most supports the existence of supercooled water. TAMDAR sound-ings at KBUF continued to show this layer of icing well past 11 p.m. EST. During this window, the top of the layer dropped from 7,000 ft to 3,000 ft, but the temperature profile remains the same. All the soundings depict favorable con-ditions for supercooled water to freeze upon airframe contact. Also, the verti-cal profiles indicate winds between 25 and 45 knots within this layer through-out the duration of the sampling.

There is a small window of sub-freezing temperatures in which water can remain in liquid form (about 0 to

-9 degrees Celsius). It is known as supercooled water, and as soon as it

comes into contact with an object (like an aircraft wing), it instantly freezes to ice. Temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius are usually con-sidered too cold for aircraft icing

because the water will be in crystal (snow) form, which will not stick to the surface. TAMDAR was reporting large ice buildup rates all the way down to the surface because the entire layer was in the supercooled liquid zone.

The TAMDAR data suggests that the rates were high enough that the internal probe heater was running con-tinuously to keep up with the accretion rate. The raw observations showing this were coming in as early as four to five hours before the crash. These real-time observations can enhance deci-sion-making for users and managers of the NAS.

SummaryLower and middle-tropospheric obser-vations are disproportionately sparse, both temporally and geographically, when compared to surface observa-tions. The limited density of observa-tions is likely one of the largest con-straints in weather research and fore-casting. Since December 2004, the

TAMDAR system has been certified, operational, and archiving observations from commercial aircraft. This real-time data is available for operational forecasting both in forecast models and in raw sounding format that included the additional metrics of icing and tur-bulence, and can enable immediate NextGen Weather benefits.

A TAMDAR system overview is presented in Figure 6, and provides the following, along with customizable communication solutions:• Moisture observations • Better spatial and temporal sam-

pling • Real-time (15 seconds versus two

hour latency)• New safety-critical data metrics

not captured by RAOBs or other-wise available to the FAA includ-ing icing and turbulence (mea-sured by objective ICAO/FAA EDR standard)

• GPS stamp on each observation including latitude, longitude, alti-tude, date, and time

• Additional winds aloft and temper-ature data, which have been shown to improve situational awareness, forecast accuracy, and continuous descent approaches

DATA REPORTINg

Figure 4. Flight tracks and icing observations from TAMDAR-equipped planes within a three-hour window spanning the crash. Triangles indicate icing.

Figure 5. TAMDAR sounding valid 9 p.m. EST. Layer below 6,510 feet (green line) shows satu-rated atmosphere with temperatures between -9 and -1 degrees Celsius.


With LightWave RadaR fRom C Speed, the piCtuRe iS BeComing CLeaReR.

When the United Kingdom’s major aviation stakeholders, including major airport operators, orchestrated a test of wind turbine clutter mitigating radar in June 2012, they selected only one company – C Speed, an innovative designer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art, radar technology. This test, the mitigation of the Whitelee Windfarm in Scotland, was deemed successful as these major aviation stakeholders witnessed live demonstrations of very small radar cross-section aircraft being flown over the wind farm.

316 Commerce Blvd. Liverpool, NY 13088 • (315) 453-1043 • cspeed.com

It was a major acknowledgement of C Speed’s LightWave Radar technology, an S-band solid-state primary surveillance radar system for wind turbine mitigation. C Speed has also installed its LightWave Radar for testing and certification at Glasgow Prestwick Airport and Manston Airport, which are located in the United Kingdom. These efforts integrated LightWave Radar technology into the airport’s ATM systems.

For more information, visit www.lightwaveradar.com.

DATA REPORTINg

References[1.] Jacobs, N. A., P. Childs, M. Croke, Y. Liu, and X. Y. Huang, 2010: An

Update on the TAMDAR Sensor Network Deployment, IOAS-AOLS, AMS, Atlanta, GA.

[2.] Souders, C. G., and R. C. Showalter, 2006: Revolutionary transfor-mation to Next Generation Air Transportation System and impacts to Federal Aviation Administration’s weather architecture, ARAM, AMS, 2.5

[3.] Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Weather Plan, Version 2.0, October 29, 2010.

[4.] Federal Aviation Administration National Airspace System Capital Investment Plan (CIP) for Fiscal Years 2013–2017.

[5.] Benjamin, S. G., B. D. Jamison, W. R. Moninger, S. R. Sahm, B. E. Schwartz, T. W. Schlatter, 2010: Relative Short-Range Forecast Impact from Aircraft, Profiler, Radiosonde, VAD, GPS-PW, METAR, and Mesonet Observations via the RUC Hourly Assimilation Cycle. Mon. Wea. Rev., 138, 1319–1343.

[6.] Gao. F., Zhang, X. Y., Jacobs, N. A., Huang, X.-Y., Zhang, X. and Childs, P. P. 2012. Estimation of TAMDAR Observational Error and Assimilation Experiments. Wea. Forecasting, 27, 856-877.

[7.] Jacobs, N., P. Childs, M. Croke, Y. Liu, and X. Y. Huang, 2009: The Optimization Between TAMDAR Data Assimilation Methods and Model Configuration in WRF-ARW, IOAS-AOLS, AMS, Phoenix, AZ.

[8.] Moninger, W. R., S. G. Benjamin, B. D. Jamison, T. W. Schlatter, T. L. Smith, and E. J. Szoke, 2009: TAMDAR jet fleets and their impact on Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) forecasts, IOAS-AOLS, AMS, Phoenix, AZ.

[9.] Moninger, W. R., S. G. Benjamin, B. D. Jamison, T. W. Schlatter, T. L. Smith, E. J. Szoke, 2010: Evaluation of Regional Aircraft Observations Using TAMDAR. Wea. Forecasting, 25, 627–645.

[10.] Huang, X., Xiao, Q., Barker, D. M., Zhang, X., Michalakes, J., Huang, W., Henderson, T., Bray, J., Chen, Y., Ma, Z., Dudhia, J., Guo, Y., Zhang, X., Won, D., Lin, H., Kuo, Y., 2009: Four-dimensional variational data assimilation for WRF: Formulation and preliminary results. Mon. Wea. Rev., 137, 299-314.

[11.] Benjamin, S. G., W. R. Moninger, B. D. Jamison, and S. R. Sahm, 2009: Relative short-range forecast impact in summer and winter from aircraft, profiler, rawinsonde, VAD, GPS-PW, METAR and mesonet observations for hourly assimilation into the RUC, IOAS-AOLS, AMS, Phoenix, AZ.

[12.] Szoke, E.J., S.G. Benjamin, R. S. Collander, B.D. Jamison, W.R. Moninger, T. W. Schlatter, B. Schwartz, and T.L. Smith, 2008: Effect of TAMDAR on RUC short-term forecasts of aviation-impact fields for ceiling, visibility, reflectivity, and precipitation, ARAM, AMS, New Orleans, LA.

[13.] Childs, P., N. A. Jacobs, M. Croke, Y. Liu, W. Wu, G. Roux, and M. Ge, 2010: An Introduction to the NCAR-AirDat Operational TAMDAR-Enhanced RTFDDA-WRF, IOAS-AOLS, AMS, Atlanta, GA.

[14.] Liu, Y., T. Warner, S. Swerdlin, W. Yu, N. Jacobs, and M. Anderson, 2007: Assimilation data from diverse sources for mesoscale NWP: TAMDAR-data impact. Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 9, EGU2007-A-03109.

Figure 6. TAMDAR coverage in Alaska (A); SATCOM in remote locations (B); high density in domestic urban areas (ORD and MSP; C); real-time turbu-lence observations (D); icing (E); and winds, temperature, and RH (F)

Quarter 1 201314

SEvEN PRINCIPLES

Affording Our Future Seven principles for effective NextGen infrastructure transformation

Overcoming fiscal challenges The U.S. accounts for 35 percent of global commercial air traffic in the world’s most complex and safest air-space. Commercial aviation accounts for about five percent of the U.S. eco-nomic output, combined with an unmatched diversity in general avia-tion traffic. Yet, the U.S. maintains a vast array of aging legacy infrastruc-ture, some of which has far exceed-ed its planned lifespan. Funding, financing, and managing a large-scale infrastructure transformation to accommodate the demands of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) has proven elusive. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that one-third of NextGen programs are over budget (estimated $4.2 billion overall increase) and half are behind schedule by between two months to 14 years1.

While the FAA finally has long-term funding authorization to the tune of about $63 billion over the next four

years, the facilities and equipment (F&E) portion that funds NextGen infrastructure programs is flat at about $2.7 billion annually. The cost growth of many large programs beyond their original baselines squeezes this F&E budget, delaying the development and implementation of other associated NextGen programs and threatening their affordability. Furthermore, our mounting national debt creates added uncertainty regarding the govern-ment’s ability to afford the NextGen future it envisions as it implements measures to curtail spending and reduce deficits.

As a by-product, industry’s confi-dence in making collateral infrastruc-ture investments (e.g. investments in new avionics and equipment) neces-sary to enable NextGen operations is understandably lacking. The promise of long-term societal benefits is not sufficient motivation to unleash sig-nificant private sector investments, especially in times of economic aus-

terity. New approaches to air trans-portation infrastructure modernization are necessary to overcome the “first mover disadvantage” and encourage free market dynamics, public-private partnerships, and increased private sector investment.

Contrary to popular belief, we can afford the NextGen future, but we have to re-imagine the business mod-els to create incentives for greater pri-vate sector participation in building, owning, operating, maintaining, and financing infrastructure components – as well as sharing in the risks and rewards. Cost reduction and avoid-ance are only part of the calculus. Future approaches to large-scale sys-tems acquisition, development, and implementation must incentivize value creation and sustainable revenue gen-eration and growth mechanisms.

There is more money out there to be invested, although you won’t find it in federal budgets and appropria-tions. A study by the New American

By Brian M. Legan, Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.

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Foundation estimates that $400 bil-lion in global funds is available for equity investments in infrastruc-ture2. Private sector investment must become an essential component of large-scale infrastructure projects, such as NextGen. However, the plan-ning and operating requirements nec-essary to attract private financing are substantially different from those typically associated with government funding. For example, private equi-ty insists on well-defined rules that clearly prescribe funding and legal responsibilities, statutory authority, and transactional costs. The more clearly these factors can be defined, the more likely the investors will be to commit their capital and with lower requirements for financial returns. By contrast, the culture of public fund-ing tends to be more ambiguous about many of these considerations3. The fundamental challenge is imple-menting the business models, policy changes, and incentives to unleash some of this investment and encour-age industry to more directly affect its own destiny.

Seven principles for effective infrastructure transformation

Don’t think “spending,” think “investing” We cannot buy our way out of the current situation through more taxes, appropriations, sub-sidies, and stimulus

packages. The U.S.’ NextGen – and Europe’s SESAR equivalent – rep-resents a shift towards decentral-ized, network-centric operations and interconnected infrastructures. This decentralization allows for the re-imagining of traditional roles of gov-ernment and industry in building, owning, operating, maintaining, and financing infrastructure components. By re-imagining these roles, we can incentivize a greater degree of pri-vate sector participation and invest-ment, establish more effective risk sharing mechanisms, and mobilize private equity investment to comple-ment government appropriations and debt financing.

View innovation as an outcome, not an activityRecognize that sim-ply spending more on technological inven-tion and deploy-ing new automation capabilities does not

guarantee positive return on invest-ment. To achieve innovation from invention, especially in highly reg-ulated industries such as aviation, requires anticipating and addressing policy changes that are the necessary catalysts for operational and economic benefits.

Adopt a life cycle cost perspective that considers total cost of ownership, not just cost-to-implementToday’s global avia-

tion and air traffic management sys-tem involves the asynchronous phase-in of new capabilities and infrastruc-ture (e.g., air traffic control infrastruc-ture, avionics) and the phase-out of some legacy systems. There will be a huge amount of up-front capital invest-ment required in the next two to five years to manage through this period of intense systems integration. Affording these costs will require rethinking traditional roles of owning, operat-ing, and maintaining infrastructure components and increasing the level of private sector participation, invest-ment, and risk-sharing. When effective business models are applied, infra-structure investments are very attrac-tive to the private sector because they are a) relatively inflation-proof, b) they provide a stable cash flow, and c) they generate long-term revenue since they involve long-term assets.

Understand the benefit mechanisms, not just the absolute benefitsAviation infrastruc-ture components are more interconnected and interdependent

than ever. Furthermore, infrastructure components include military, civil, and commercial assets in various stages of evolution. An improvement in the capabilities of one asset (e.g. avion-ics capabilities) without a synchro-nized, collateral change in one or more other assets (e.g. ATC automation, airspace design) will dampen or delay benefits. Understanding the benefits mechanisms, not just the absolute benefits, will provide robust business cases that more reliably represent the risk/reward profile. One step in this direction would be to augment the NextGen concept of operation, enter-prise architecture, and implementa-tion roadmaps to include funding and financing options at their core. This enhancement would help government and industry assess the feasibility and tradeoffs of various business models as the future architecture evolves.

Be more “PC” (privatization and commercialization)Privatization is not an “all-or-none” prop-osition. Privatization is more appropri-ately characterized as degrees of pri-

vate sector participation and includes hybrid business models, funding and financing mechanisms, and varying degrees of risk/control between pub-lic and private sector stakeholders. The majority of critical infrastructures in the U.S. are privately owned or operated and we have demonstrat-ed that we can do this safely and securely. The U.S. air traffic control system infrastructure is largely built, owned, operated, and maintained by the government and funded through taxes and appropriations; it is the exception, not the norm. A recent Rockefeller Foundation survey found that Americans overwhelmingly sup-port greater private sector investment in infrastructure4. Approximately 45 percent of the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) infrastructure offers opportunities to apply alternative business models, acquisition strate-gies, and funding/financing approach-es5. Several NextGen infrastructure capabilities also lend themselves to

SEvEN PRINCIPLES

Quarter 1 201316

being “commercialized as a service” (e.g. owned, operated and maintained by the private sector, governed by a service level agreement, provided on a fee-for-service basis, and extensible to a broader customer base potentially representing new revenue streams). We must embrace commercialization and leverage the competitive forces and profit motives of industry to create performance incentives that a) accel-erate implementation, b) improve cost efficiency and containment, c) create more equitable risk/reward profiles by assigning certain commercial users to the private sector that government is unable to bear, and d) foster account-ability for delivering results (not just new systems and technologies).

Think globally, implement regionally, and manage locallyAviation is a global enterprise. Harmo-nization of air traf-fic management operations and infra-

structure (e.g. physical infrastructure, information infrastructure, airspace infrastructure, policy/procedural infrastructure) is imperative for safe, secure, seamless, and economical operation. Transformation must enlist the involvement of the mega-commu-nity of stakeholders, recognizing their unique priorities and mobilizing their involvement around converging objec-tives. This perspective fosters conver-gence globally, accelerates benefits regionally, and mitigates risks locally based upon unique operational char-acteristics. The potential results are compelling. For example, studies have shown that a 30 percent increase in air passenger volume in just one region of our country could create more than 50,000 new jobs6.

Have the courage and conviction to act now to drive change, rather than react to itOur aviation system is dynamic and resil-ient. Change is hap-pening whether we

drive it holistically or not. For instance, the FAA Air Traffic Organization continues to implement software patches, automation enhancements, and hardware upgrades to deal with evolving demands. Airlines continue to modernize and equip their fleets to suit their emerging business needs. These are significant investments in and of themselves and are done out of necessity to meet near-term operational and business objectives. However, perpetuating this model in the absence of reconceiving the whole creates additional complexity due to the growing interdependence among aviation infrastructures. The cost of this complexity is then incurred down the road when enterprise-wide systems integration occurs, and often creates additional inertia to change.

Adversity creates opportunityConsidering the state of our economy and mounting debt, there hasn’t been this much adversity – or opportunity – in generations. The opportunity that is upon us is to evolve beyond the traditional approaches to funding, financing, and managing our nation’s air transportation infrastructure. Historical approaches that subscribe to the old mantra: “If it moves, tax it; if it keeps moving, regulate it; if it stops moving, subsidize it,” are insuf-ficient to keep us moving forward. We must not only embrace technological ingenuity but also business ingenu-ity. If we do, we will be able to afford the future we desire for our nation’s

air transporta-tion system while instilling greater acc ou nt a bi l i t y and incentives for delivering results that endure.

Brian Legan is a Booz Allen Hamilton Vice President and a leader of the firm’s Engineering Center of Excellence. He has 25 years of experience in the aerospace and transportation industries working with public and private sector clients in the U.S and abroad. Legan’s responsibilities include helping clients with complex infrastructure projects vital to national and global transportation, energy, environment, and sus-tainability imperatives. His team was previously named “Best Consultancy to the Global Air Navigation Services Industry” by Air Traffic Management magazine. Legan began his career as a Crew Systems Engineer at McDonnell Douglas Corporation where he designed and implemented advanced avionics systems. Prior to joining Booz Allen in 1998, he was a Director at a Washington, D.C. technology consulting firm and Manager of Operations Engineering at a Maryland-based technology company. Legan holds a Master’s Degree from George Mason University and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana).

References[1.] Government Accountability Office

(GAO), February 2012, Air Traffic Control Modernization: Management Challenges Associated With Program Costs And Schedules Could Hinder NextGen Implementation, Report To Congressional Committees, GAO, http://1.usa.gov/w9kkvP

[2.] Gerencser, Mark, Spring 2011, Nation-Building In America: Re-Imagining Infrastructure, The American Interest, Vol. VI, No. 4, North Hollywood, CA, The American Interest, pp 34-45.

[3.] Booz Allen Hamilton, July 2012, Mega-Community Simulation To Re-Imagine Infrastructure, http://bit.ly/X1YoRF

[4.] Gerencser, Mark, ibid.[5.] Booz Allen Hamilton, July 2007, Analysis

of Alternative NextGen Business Models. [6.] Booz Allen Hamilton Analysis, May 2010,

Analysis of Changes to Passenger Capacity and Airline Operating Costs with NextGen Technology. http://bit.ly/11qoe8W

SEvEN PRINCIPlES

Contrary to popular belief, we can

afford the NextGen future, but we have to re-imagine the

business models to create incentives


WEATHER TECHNOLOgy

Weather Technology in the Cockpit Transoceanic human-over-the-loop demonstration

BackgroundThe June 1, 2009 Air France Flight 447 accident focused industry attention to the need for additional, aircraft-specific weather information in the cockpit, particularly for transoceanic flights. As long-range and ultra-long-range inter-continental flights become routine, weather information provided during preflight planning may not be adequate when a flight most needs hazardous weather information. The main motiva-tor for this research is the need for haz-ardous weather information updates in data-sparse regions while the aircraft is en route. Additionally, because fleet-wide equipage for electronic flight bags (EFBs) and/or integrated flight displays will mostly lag technology capabilities, portraying the hazardous information to the pilot may need to use current avion-ics, without modifying and certifying expensive upgrades to primary flight

displays and avionics. This research explores the concept of use, includ-ing potential training and human fac-tors issues, of simple character graphic and color graphic depictions of fre-quently updated weather information meant to supplement textual updates and airborne weather radar informa-tion. Figure 1 shows an example of both the character and graphic display concepts.

Prior proof of conceptPrior to 2007, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Weather Research Program (AWRP) spon-sored the Oceanic Weather Product Development Team (OW PDT) that developed early aviation weather prod-ucts specifically designed to meet the needs of transoceanic aircraft. The OW PDT collaborated with United Airlines to successfully demonstrate the use-

fulness of an uplinked, satellite-based product that identified the 30Kft and 40Kft convective cloud top heights on a two-waypoint look-ahead dis-play that integrated the aircraft posi-tion and flight direction. An ASCII character display was sent to the Boeing 777 aircraft onboard Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) line print-er when a significant amount of deep convection existed along the flight route. Similarly, the AWRP Turbulence PDT has demonstrated the uplink of a look-ahead turbulence severity product into the cockpit of selected CONUS United Airlines flights. Once pilots became familiar with the char-acter graphic and its underlying mete-orological basis, they generally wel-comed the updated information with its strategic awareness of deep con-vection or forecast turbulence along

By Tenny Lindholm, Cathy Kessinger, Gary Blackburn, and Andy GaydosNational Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo.

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Figure 1. Graphical depiction of the GOES-East derived cloud top heights (30Kft and 40Kft contours) from June 1, 2009 at 0115 UTC via an ASCII, line printer graphic (left) and a color-coded graphic (right) relative to the last known position of Air France Flight 447 (bottom center). The 30Kft contour is represented by a “/” and green shading; the 40Kft contour by a “C” and red shading. The images are drawn relative to the expected flight route for the next two waypoints.

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WEATHER TECHNOLOgy

the flight’s vertical and horizontal pro-file. However, a need exists for better understanding of benefit potential for oceanic air traffic managers, airline dispatch, and flight crews, plus any human factors or safety issues, prior to a large-scale, operational demon-stration.

Transoceanic human-over-the-loop (HOTL) demonstrationTo fulfill the need for better under-standing prior to a large-scale opera-tional demonstration, the demonstra-tion described here used an actual air carrier trip from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to Lima, Peru to examine human factors and use case scenarios in simulation trials. The demonstration was conduct-ed in the William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC) NextGen Integration and Evaluation Capability (NIEC) Research Cockpit Simulator (RCS) in Atlantic City, N.J. Actual weather sce-narios within the inter-tropical conver-gence zone (ITCZ) were chosen from some 30 archived convective weather cases. Cloud top height (CTOP) infor-mation was derived from GOES satellite infrared imagery, mapped to flight level using model soundings, and presented on an EFB in both a character graphic display format and a color graphic. The character graphic was meant to simu-late a printout from the ACARS thermal printer already installed on most Part 121 air carrier aircraft. Further, space-borne radar data, combined with sat-ellite-derived products, were presented

on a primary flight display (navigation display, or ND) for estimated airborne weather radar information. Four cur-rent, highly experienced pilots flew the demonstration trips and were trained on the unique characteristics of the RCS and the weather scenarios devel-oped for the simulation. The objectives were to:

• Evaluate the risk of in-flight evalu-ations of updated weather informa-tion in oceanic/remote regions

• Increase the understanding of impacts to pilot, dispatch, and air traffic management (ATM) deci-sion-making in a collaborative environment when updated ocean-ic weather information is provided to the flight deck

• Identify demonstration objectives that are best accomplished with an expanded demonstration of uplinked hazardous weather infor-mation to transoceanic airline flights

RCS configuration, capabilities, limitationsThe NIEC RCS is a reconfigurable, ful-ly-functional flight simulator that was configured as an Airbus A-320/330 for the demonstration. Most flight man-agement computer (FMC) and integra-tion of flight display capabilities were available on the center and forward dis-play consoles. All consoles were touch-screen displays that required pilots to touch and otherwise control with touch

to activate and/or adjust normal func-tions such as radar and ND controls. Specifically: • The simulator was a Class 4 simu-

lator, allowing for realistic flight scenarios from gate pushback through en route operations

• The aircraft flight management system (FMS) was partially func-tional. Because of a protective Plexiglas shield over much of the center console, parallax error and touch sensitivity made data entry difficult. The FMS was pre-load-ed with the flight plan, and did update as waypoints were passed. Fuel planning pages were working, but changes to FMS pages were difficult and not relevant to the demonstration. The ACARS was operational from both the FMS and dispatch.

• The simulator was not Future Air Navigation System-1 (FANS-1) capable; however, the NIEC inte-gration allowed for high-frequency (HF) air traffic control (ATC) com-munications/position reporting

• ATC and airline operations cen-ter (AOC) communications were simulated as needed in response to pilot requests

• The simulator was equipped with an EFB that was used to show both character and color graphics of the en route weather updates

• The NIEC RCS allowed ingest of “canned” weather data, and dis-play on the ND and EFB

Figure 2. First officer’s forward panel and the OTW depiction of weather cells

Figure 3. RCS flight deck Figure 4. First officer’s EFB and OTW depiction


WEATHER TECHNOLOgy

• Aircraft position was known (lati-tude/longitude) at all times to sup-port tailoring of satellite-based weather hazard information

• The NIEC RCS can accommodate any global flight scenarioWeather scenarios were selected

from archived weather data sets, with visual cues such as airborne weath-er display and out-the-window (OTW) weather depictions correlated in time, space, and intensity. An airborne weather simulator drove the ND weath-er depiction so that, for example, atten-uation of radar returns beyond close-in cells was realistic in terms of expected depictions on the A-320/330. Figures 2 and 3 show the flight deck layout, and Figure 4 shows the EFB as installed in the RCS (both pilots). Figure 5 is the simulated dispatch and air traffic con-trol position.

Demonstration observationsResults from this demonstration were mostly qualitative, since we were lim-ited to only two evaluation flight crews and four weather scenarios. Even so, much was learned about the altered

operational concept resulting from the availability of convective weather updates.

In general, the results showed that the uplinked weather information was valuable in all aspects observed – crew situational awareness, workload reduction (ATC, dispatch, and flight crew), more precise weather hazard avoidance, and crew decision-making. Furthermore, the EFB character graph-ic was understandable and desired in place of the updates. The color graphic as presented on the EFB was preferred and very understandable. There were no safety issues identified as a result of the uplinked CTOP product. It was important, however, for flight crews to be trained on the use and interpretation of the information presented, including its limitations. A collateral benefit of this research was the development of airborne radar display and simulation software that replicates actual weather specifically for the NIEC RCS. The air-borne weather radar simulator is an important addition to the RCS in the NextGen research environment.

Pilots were asked to compare their overall situational awareness between

current oceanic operations and the enhanced weather update case, and all rated the enhanced case “much more effective.” Some anecdotal evi-dence supporting this subjective rating included:• One pilot stated the ND radar dis-

play “painted us into a corner,” and having been exposed to the CTOP graphics during training com-mented that he “missed not hav-ing this information” during the baseline scenario.

• “The best value of this is the abil-ity to look behind a storm area” to ascertain the potential for attenu-ation. This pilot prefaced most of his decisions with an assessment of the attenuation potential during the enhanced flight.

• “In the real world, this radar [installed in the actual A-320] is only good out to 160nm.” The CTOP benefit is to supplement the airborne radar. This pilot further stated the value of the CTOP infor-mation is “greatest when tactical maneuvering using the radar, and with CTOP in-hand.”

• Pilots, in several cases, decided on deviating (baseline scenarios) not knowing what was beyond 160nm. The result was a track that was greater than 100nm off-course. One deviation resulted in a 150nm off-course situation. It happens that 160nm is the observed break-point between tactical avoidance and strategic deviation. Figure 6 is an example of an excessive deviation. This figure shows two flight tracks overlaid on a background CTOP weather scenario. Each track was flown by a different flight crew pair (same weather scenario). The max-imum deviation was nearly 150nm off of the planned route.

Figure 5. ATC and dispatch position

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WEATHER TECHNOLOgy

An important observation through pilot reaction and real-time comments was that the pilots became more adept at the proper use of the CTOP updates as they became more experienced through exposure to the scenarios and information. That is, the uplink update is more properly used as a strategic tool that supplements the airborne radar, which remains the primary source of information when/if faced with the need for tactical avoidance.

Pilots rated enhanced safety as high when given the updated CTOP information with comments like:• “Excellent situational awareness

tool.”• “Obvious, can assist in long-range

planning, avoiding short-range weather avoidance.”

• “Great help for pilots…”• “Results in more meaning-

ful discussions with dispatch.” Incidentally, communications with ATM/C and dispatch were more focused since both players had access to the same information. This reduced the time of each interaction, plus it reduced the number of times the pilots asked for deviation or for more informa-tion. Workload was reduced for all players.

• “Very useful as long as the data is valid.”Several pilot comments and

decisions that illustrate the effective-ness of the enhanced weather informa-tion display are repeated below:• Pilot verbal feedback on the ASCII

display was mostly positive, a

unique way of conveying infor-mation without using link band-width or re-equipage. One pilot commented, “Pretty nice.”

• Based on ND radar alone, pilots were tempted to “thread the needle” through the storm areas; however, the CTOP indicated the potential for attenuated returns behind the initial line of storms.

• Pilots developed (and became proficient with) strategies that involved many small heading changes using the CTOP display for guidance, then supplementing these initial deviations with radar when the storms came into view. This minimized the total devia-tion from the course.

• One pilot commented that after being exposed to the CTOP dis-play during training, he really missed not having it during the baseline case.

• Many times, the pilots were able to begin to get back on course as soon as possible given the look-ahead provided by the CTOP.

• Pilots constantly referenced their use of CTOP to identify potential attenuation. They were constant-ly cross-referencing the ND with the EFB display while attempting to determine the best strategy.Pilots did not identify any safe-

ty concerns with the CTOP display, either color or character graphic. They did identify some enhancements that might be enabled by the progression of more capable EFBs onto the flight deck (such as tablet computers).

“One peek (out the window) is worth a thousand cross-checks (on instruments).” The RCS out-the-window view of the individual cells turned out to be of value when the pilots were devising a deviation strat-egy or even during tactical maneu-vering. This was true even during full night operations because of the lightning flashes and resulting illumi-nation of individual cells. The OTW capability needs to be further refined and become a core capability for the RCS. One issue of realism was noted – pilots commented on the fact that, most of the time, individual cells were embedded and sometimes hidden by clouds. This did not diminish the

dependence pilots have on a look out the window to verify what is shown on the ND radar and CTOP displays.

What’s next?Specific recommendations are noted as a result of this demonstration:• Additional research and prod-

uct development are justified by the potential safety and efficien-cy enhancements resulting from cockpit update of weather haz-ards, especially for oceanic flights but also for long trans-continental flights.

• A seamless transition from conti-nental to oceanic weather updat-ing is needed as flights depart from locations other than coastal gateways in the U.S.

• The next step is to prepare for and accomplish weather uplink to actual line trips, making use of whatever infrastructure is available without re-equipage. Validating the science and usabil-ity of advanced weather products can only occur if the users experi-ence the technology and are able to provide operational feedback to researchers.

• The next step must include the capability to use advanced user interfaces as they are introduced to line operations. The ASCII char-acter graphic is a basic step to get the information to the flight deck. As fully integrated EFBs (as well as tethered tablets) are intro-duced, and broadband Internet becomes available on aircraft, the future demonstrations need to uti-lize that enhanced capability.

• Flight crew training on devices and weather product limits and capabilities must precede any future demonstrations.

AcknowledgementsThis research was performed in response to requirements and funding by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The views are those of the authors and do not necessarily repre-sent the official policy or position of the FAA.

Figure 6. Comparison of actual flight paths, with and without an uplink update


Civil and military leaders.Latest developments and future directions of air traffic.

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Civil / Military Aviation Conference23 – 24 April, 2013

ATCA proudly hosts CMAC with support from:Swiss Air Force • NATO OTAN

EUROCONTROL • ICAO • U.S. Department of DefenseU.S. Federal Aviation Administration • Federal Office of Civil Aviation-Switzerland

CMAC SwitzerlandComing 2013

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ATCA proudly hosts CMAC with support from:Swiss Air Force • NATO





ATCA proudly hosts CMAC with support from:Swiss Air Force • NATO OTAN


CMAC SwitzerlandComing 2013

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ATCA proudly hosts CMAC with support from:Swiss Air Force • NATO


AIR TRAFFIC CONTROl QuARTERly

NextGen Takes FlightThe Air Traffic Control Quarterly keeps up with changes in aviation

wE ArE witNESSiNG A PErioD of change in aviation that is compara-ble in scale to the beginning of flight and the introduction of radar. After decades of commercial flight opera-tions under largely unvarying proce-dures and incremental advances in air-craft, an air transportation revolution is occurring before our eyes. In many ways, the Air Traffic Control Quarterly’s readership and contributing authors are participants in that revolution. Through the technological advances afforded by diligent research in laboratories across the world, radar surveillance is in the process of being replaced by ADS-B, voice communication is being replaced by digital data links, and inertial navi-gation is being replaced by GPS. These advances will enable an air traffic con-trol system that can keep pace with continuing traffic growth, while mak-ing the system more robust and envi-ronmentally compatible.

The fleet mix is transforming at an accelerating rate, too. While conven-tional “tube and wing” aircraft have made impressive, sustained advanc-es in performance and efficiency, now more dramatic changes are appearing on the horizon. The Boeing 787 and Airbus A380 are just the beginning. In the coming years, we will likely see new platforms, such as a hybrid wing-body or truss-braced wing, the return of supersonic passenger aircraft (with vastly reduced sonic boom, noise, and emissions), and a proliferation of UAV platforms. Also within the realm of possibilities are a civil tilt rotor, hybrid and all-electric aircraft, and a new generation of highly functional air-ships. Advances inside the aircraft are equally revolutionary, with flight deck systems affording pilots greater oppor-

tunity to optimize their missions.The aviation system and its con-

stituent aircraft are not the only targets of extraordinary change, however. Even the way we conduct and report research is modernizing. Thanks to the revolu-tion in information technology, research teams can be much more widely dis-tributed than ever before by making use of collaboration tools and social networking capabilities. The power of this new ability is that highly skilled teams can be assembled rapidly, and projects can access top talent and labo-ratories, regardless of their locations. Simulations now routinely interconnect facilities across the country, enabling experiments that are more complex and higher fidelity. Collaboration technolo-gies can connect not only the individu-al members of research teams, but also entire communities of practice to share their findings and advancements rapid-ly. As an example, the recently formed NASA Aeronautics Research Institute is a “virtual” institute that fosters and facilitates technical interchange in the aeronautical sciences by leveraging network capabilities and social media.

Thus, it should be no surprise that the Air Traffic Control Quarterly has not been immune to change. In response to the changing needs of the research community we serve, the Quarterly has undertaken various initiatives to be a more effective instrument for techni-cal communication. These initiatives include establishing an online search-able archive, liberalizing style guides to accommodate new presentation for-mats, and investigating the viability of an all-electronic publication. While these experiments have not always resulted in fundamental changes to our approach, we sincerely hope that

they have helped keep the Quarterly relevant and valuable to you. Without a doubt, more such experimentation and change lie ahead, and we look forward to being a part of aviation’s future.

Guest Editorial by Andres Zellweger, Air Traffic Control Quarterly

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The above is a guest editorial writ-ten by Dr. Thomas Edwards, editor of the Air Traffic Control Quarterly and director of Aeronautics, NASA Ames Research Center, for the 20th anniver-sary issue of the publication.

The Air Traffic Control Quarterly is a quarterly journal of peer-reviewed and selected technical articles on air traffic control subjects, authored by noted ATC experts from leading research and academic organizations around the world. The publication includes quantitative studies, results of original research, reports on innovative appli-cations of ATC and related technolo-gies, and analyses of ATC operations. Among subjects addressed are ATC operations, automation, operations research, communications, navigation, surveillance, human factors, free flight, wake vortex, aviation weather, and air traffic management. This publica-tion is designed to serve as a resource for ATC engineers, scientists, research and operations specialists.

For more information about the publication, or to submit an article, please contact Managing Editor, Ned A. Spencer, at [email protected].

More about the Air Traffic Control Quarterly


NExTgEN IMPlEMENTATION PlAN

Roll Over, GutenbergThe 2013 update to the NextGen Implementation Plan is all electronic

tHE NExt GENErAtioN Air trANS-portation System (NextGen) is about getting the right information to the right person at the right time. Now the FAA is making information about its air transportation moderniza-tion effort even more accessible. The March 2013 update to the NextGen Implementation Plan will be released exclusively in electronic formats.

The Plan will be made avail-able as a downloadable e-book, eas-ily accessible on mobile and tablet devices, and as a full-layout PDF, which will provide readers with an opportunity to print those sections of the document of most interest to them. The move from print to online-only distribution follows cost-saving trends in government and industry communications with stakeholders. The new approach to the Plan will also provide added value with links to more in-depth information on the FAA website in some cases.

The NextGen Implementation Plan is one of the FAA’s two pri-mary outreach and reporting vehi-

cles for updating the aviation com-munity on the progress made while presenting an overview of plans for the future. The other is the NextGen Performance Snapshots (NPS) web-site, faa.gov/nextgen/snapshots, which the FAA launched last year to track NextGen performance metrics. For more information, see “Wheels Up on NextGen Performance Snapshots” in the Summer 2012 issue of The Journal of Air Traffic Control.

Updated annually, the Plan describes how we intend to imple-ment NextGen, and provides the avia-tion community with the informa-tion necessary to take advantage of NextGen capabilities. It further offers our international partners a summary of our planning timelines in support of the agency’s global harmonization efforts.

Highlights from the forthcoming Plan include:

• The latest information on our Optimization of Airspace and Procedures in the Metroplex

(OAPM) initiative, which had seven active metroplex sites in or entering the design and evalua-tion phases. OAPM is a fast-track effort to implement Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) proce-dures and airspace improvements to reduce fuel consumption and harmful engine emissions in the airspace around metropolitan areas where several airports are located within close proximity of one another. By this Summer, the first three sites – Washington, D.C., North Texas, and Houston – will have entered the implemen-tation phase.

• The status of Automatic Dependent Survei l lance–Broadcast (ADS-B) ground station deployment, which surpassed the 500-station milestone in September 2012. Making use of GPS and Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) technology, ADS-B is the NextGen succes-sor to ground radar for tracking aircraft in the National Airspace

By Gisele M. Mohler, Director, NextGen Performance and Outreach, Federal Aviation Administration

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System. In 2013, the program is looking toward stimulating air-craft equipage. Aircraft flying in designated airspace must be equipped with ADS-B Out by January 1, 2020.

• A rundown on technology and procedures that are providing benefits to the general aviation community, including perfor-mance-based approaches, capi-talizing on GPS and WAAS tech-nology, that are providing general aviation operators with greater access to more airports, particu-larly in poor weather conditions.

In 2012, the FAA introduced the latest evolution of the NextGen Implementation Plan as an e-book. The move to an exclusively electronic format helps conserve resources while complying with the Administration’s directive to reduce printing costs government-wide. Electronic delivery of the Plan capitalizes on advanc-es in mobile technology to provide readers with a much wider breadth of information that has historically been included in a printed document. Throughout this year’s Plan, there will be links to supplemental information available on the FAA public website: articles, program data, press releases, and fact sheets. These greater levels of detail on specific topics, as well as links to regularly updated mate-rial, such as the publication of PBN procedures, will give readers ongoing access to the most current informa-tion the agency has to offer. For e-book readers, access to Appendix B will be through an online portal that takes full advantage of the capabilities offered by today’s tablet computers.

The NextGen transformation is as important and complicated a tech-nological undertaking as any upon which the U.S. aviation community has ever embarked.

It is appropriate that the agency's

major outreach and reporting tools are being made available on the web and for use on mobile devices. In addition to housing the NPS and prior updates of the implementation Plan, the FAA’s NextGen website includes:

• NextGen homepage – brief arti-cles, videos of executive inter-views, animations, interactive flash maps, and infographics

• NextGen for Airports – outlines NextGen benefits for airports and has a downloadable brochure with an online-only section of frequently asked questions about NextGen and airports

• Quicklinks – one-click access to documents, including the Aviation Safety NextGen Workplan and the Airspace and Procedures Plan

• NextGen Videos – videos and animations on topics such as PBN and Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B)

Other resources include:• FAA NextGen eNews – a compi-

lation of news items from the past month related to U.S. National Airspace System operations, safety, security, capacity, efficien-

cy, and environment. eNews also provides a brief update on what’s new in NextGen (e.g. the latest ADS-B service volumes and new WAAS Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance (LPV) procedures). The publication is for the aviation community’s unofficial use. Please contact [email protected] to sub-scribe, and comment on eNews, or offer content suggestions and links.

• SatNav News – provides the lat-est information on FAA satellite navigation initiatives that sup-port the aviation community and the general public. SatNav News includes articles on WAAS and the Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) program status, operational issues, research and development activities, FAA’s international satellite naviga-tion initiatives, and other top-ics related to the ever-expanding applications and benefits of GPS and its augmentations (WAAS/GBAS). To subscribe, visit http://tinyurl.com/4uyet7n. Send questions or suggest articles to [email protected].

• Air Traffic link – faa.gov/air_traffic/, details air traffic Orders and Notices, airport status and delays and state- and airport-specific surface weather observations.

• Monthly Satellite Navigation updates – formatted as download-able, searchable Excel spread-sheets of LPV approach proce-dures are located on the web at http://tinyurl.com/2wc8spf. Data can be sorted by state and air-port, for example. The webpage also has links to Canadian and European LPVs.

Have questions or want more information about NextGen? Send inquiries to [email protected].

NExTgEN IMPlEMENTATION PlAN

Scan the code to download the latest edition of the NextGen Implementation Plan


FEATuRE

Teaching High School Students Air Traffic ControlWhy introducing ATC at the high school level benefits young minds and industry alike

two youNG lADiES SiGNED uP for the aviation program at the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) with the goal of becoming flight attendants. The first day they were in the control tower lab, their goals changed. They fell in love with air traffic control (ATC) and are now focusing their attention pursuing it. Offering ATC at the high school level gives students the oppor-tunity to experience ATC and deter-mine if it is something they want to do with their lives.

Are high school students mature enough to handle a subject like ATC?Maturity is a big factor in teaching ATC to high school students. In my experience, as soon as students gain confidence and realize they can pro-vide a valuable service to pilots, their maturity increases. Working in an ATC lab is a challenge for the immature student. The instructor in this environ-ment must remember they are teach-ing high school students and, with patience, the student usually steps up and accepts the seriousness of the sub-ject they are learning.

Are high school students ready to learn the material and begin acquiring the skills necessary to become an air traffic controller?The beauty of the high school ATC program is that it provides hands-on training and classroom academics are immediately applied to the control tower lab. Hands-on training is likely one of the most effective methods for young people to learn. Even if a student decides not to go into ATC after taking the class, they have gained confidence in radio procedures, learned about air-ports, and explored how weather pat-terns affect air travel; in other words,

By Major Ronald H. Dalton, Sr., U.S. Air Force, Ret., East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT)

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the ATC program has opened other areas for students to explore. In fact, one student in the ATC program has decided to go into meteorology.

Why should ATC be taught to high school students? Firstly, the ATC curriculum includes mathematics, history, and navigation principles, all of which provide students with valuable training in a hands-on environment. Secondly, students are exposed to a vocation prior to college, which allows them to decide if this is what they want to do before paying expensive college fees. Finally, the edu-cation process is relevant. The student learns procedures in the classroom and then applies them in the lab. It makes sense! They get immediate feedback. Even if they do not enter ATC, they see the purpose in studying a subject.

What are my experiences from working with high school students for 21 years?One student, now a supervisor at the Phoenix TRACON, found his passion for the industry upon entering the ATC lab for the first time. His entire focus concerning school changed – he knew what he wanted to do with his life. He motivated other members of his class because he had the overwhelm-ing desire to succeed and he pushed them and, in turn, they pushed him. It became a contest to see who could work the most traffic. “Bring them on,” he would say, meaning he would accept all the traffic the students could throw at him. He, along with two fellow students, proceeded to Beaver College in Pennsylvania where they continued their education. Because of ATC in high school, they all are employed in the industry today.

I am reminded of a very quiet young man, who did not initially show the abilities to be a control-ler; however, he seemed to like ATC and gradually gained confidence. He came out of his shell and became one of the top ATC students in his class. He went on to college and is now a controller in New Mexico. There are several former students active in ATC and in the military.

Is it expensive to teach ATC in high school?Upon arriving at South Mountain High School in Phoenix, I was given a very large budget to build an ATC pro-gram. We were able to build the ATC lab for $600. We used two-by-fours for the table frame and plywood for the top. We used Christmas tree lights for the runways and taxiways. We put up signs and painted. We used paneling

FEATuRE


for the tower cab and put in the neces-sary tower equipment. We used walkie-talkies for communication and model airplanes. We used an old computer for ATIS. We used flashlights for light guns. We installed weather equipment. The students did most of the work and immediately took ownership of the air-port and control tower. It was a lot of fun and cost considerably less than our allotted budget. Now, is this equipment as good as the simulators that are used in the college programs?

The ATC simulators that we see at Arizona State University, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and the University of North Dakota are state-of-the-art technology that is expensive not only to buy, but also to maintain. The tabletop trainer is ideal for high school as it allows for larger classes and more flexibility for the instructor. In addition to giv-ing ATC instruction, the lab allows the instructor to teach flying skills. Students who have gone on to become professional pilots have praised the radio experience they got in the ATC program.

The future in ATC trainingWe hear about NextGen and the shift from ATC to air traffic management. ATC education is in the process of developing a person with different abil-ities to become the new air traffic con-

troller. We see today’s young people possessing computer skills – the skills that will be needed by the future air traffic controller. We need to take those skills, along with the management-type skills needed by future control-lers, and develop them early. The high school programs allow for early devel-opment of the type of controlling we foresee in the future.

What can we expect in the future ATC system? We are seeing a steady increase in unmanned aerial operations (UAV). Those operations will require more coordination with our current airspace. Free flight will finally become a real-ity for our airlines. The controller of the future will be separating trajecto-ries while aircraft are separating them-selves on those trajectories. How about space? Are we going to need control-lers for space travel? I say yes. I can envision controllers on an international space station providing needed control/information for space flights.

In 1903, the first flight occurred. Thank you, Wright Brothers, for that historical achievement. It wasn’t until 26 years later when Archie League, with wheel barrel and flags, started ATC. The industry has always lagged behind in development compared to the advances made in the aircraft it controlled. Are we going to continue

to fall behind and continue to be a reactionary force, or can we be more proactive and develop our young peo-ple for the crucial job of keeping our skies safe in the future?

The controller of yesterday was an individual who enjoyed and was good at “moving metal.” I was asked once, “How many aircraft can you handle?” I was egotistical and replied, “How many aircraft are in the sky?” I enjoyed everything about fitting air-craft into those invisible holes. The controller of the future will be work-ing many more aircraft than I did, but the computer will be assisting the operation. The computer will alert the controller of future conflicts and will give long range inputs that will keep the flow of traffic smooth and efficient. Delays and congestion will disappear. The controller will truly be a manager of a complex environment.

Overall, my experience teaching high school students has been very positive. Yes, I have questioned if this is a valid subject for the high school level, but seeing students suc-ceed and getting a head-start in their training has convinced me that we need more high schools to provide this type of training.

The science of ATCCurrently, ATC is an elective credit for students. If ATC could be consid-

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EVIT students preparing for a career in ATC EVIT ATC students working in the Lab

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ered a science, students could then receive a science credit. This would be pivotal due to increased require-ments in math and science credits. Repositioning ATC from an elective to a science credit would provide more students with exposure to the science of aviation. When you consider the ATC curriculum (weather, navigation, airspace, RADAR and communication), why can’t we consider it a science? Again, if we want to make education more meaningful and motivate our stu-dents to not only learn, but enjoy their learning, we need more hands-on train-ing like ATC.

Teaching ATC at the high school level requires individuals who are not only knowledgeable and experi-enced with ATC, but also individu-als who possess competent teaching skills. They need patience, vision, and passion. There are students who are ready to meet this challenge! They’re already masters at computer games. Our challenge is to get them to apply those skills toward solving future problems the aviation industry will undoubtedly face. Can we get industry and the public to buy into a program that gives students a guar-anteed pathway to a career in ATC?

Security in ATCI concur with my colleague, Al Mittelstaedt, a former Southwest

Airlines Captain, that offering a “hands-on” ATC program to high school juniors and seniors gives those students a definite head-start toward their edu-cational pathway. It also affords termi-nology practice and situational aware-ness, which leads to greater confidence in the more-sophisticated Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) simulation environment. For those students unfa-miliar with ATC, it presents an aware-ness of another very rewarding and exciting aviation career pathway.

Look at the present system: an individual desires to be an air traf-fic controller – what are the options? First, they could go to the military and enter ATC. After serving in the military, they could apply to the FAA. The second choice is to take the test for ATC and apply to be on the wait-ing list for hiring by the FAA. Finally, the individual could attend one of the approved college programs and, after completion, apply to the FAA. Currently, the FAA is hiring only those personnel who have completed the CTI program. There are no guar-antees for employment. The individ-ual, after paying for four years of col-lege, must wait and hope to be hired by the FAA. Is it possible to give the individual a more secure path?

I guess the answer to that ques-tion lies with the government. I know giving a job guarantee is almost

impossible, but if we want the best for ATC in the future, it seems we could work out a system that would offer individuals more incentive to invest their money and time to becoming an ATC professional. What about my current students?

I have 47 students in an introduc-tory ATC class. Of those 47 students, 20 have indicated they would like to pursue a career in ATC. There are excellent college ATC programs avail-able for our graduates; however, the FAA is their only potential employer. With 22 college programs across the United States, will the supply exceed the demand? Even if we could offer the top five or ten percent a guar-anteed job, that would be a step for-ward.

I entered the Air Force in 1955 and was told I was going to ATC school in Mississippi. This was the start of a great career which has extended to the teaching profession. I’ve seen many changes in ATC over the years. I see a need to prepare individuals starting at the high school level to be the future ATC managers. I really enjoy teaching high school students ATC. It is a challenge, but an exciting opportunity to put them on the pathway to keeping our skies safe.

ATC simulator at Arizona State University Looking at the table-top simulator with the ATIS in the background


FEATuRE

U.S. Army Screaming Eagle “Skymasters”Deployed air traffic controllers

Foxtrot Company “SkymaSterS,” 6-101St Aviation Regiment is an air traffic services (ATS) com-pany stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky as part of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and is currently task organized to Task Force Eagle Assault (5-101st Aviation Regiment); they are currently deployed to Forward Oper-ating Base (FOB) Shank, Afghanistan in support of Opera-tion Enduring Freedom XII – XIII. FOB Shank is located in the heart of Logar Province; it is one of the busiest military-operated airfields in Regional Command – East, with nearly 8,500 fixed wing, rotary wing and unmanned aerial vehicle movements per month spread across five separate landing surfaces, all encompassed within Class D airspace.

Prior to this deployment, our training at Fort Campbell primarily revolved around preparing our soldiers to han-dle a multitude of air traffic control (ATC) scenarios and situations they would ultimately face while deployed. Our training, preparation, and professionalism would aide in our success once we assumed the ATS mission on FOB Shank.

The road to war: ATS styleThe key points of this article will cover our “road to war” – the ATS-related hurdles, challenges, and successes we faced during our preparation for deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom XII – XIII.

I took command of F Company in October 2011, the ideal time in the unit’s readiness cycle to do so; the unit had just received its last bit of refurbished ATS equipment and was completing the RESET process. Additionally, the unit had just begun its intensive training portion of our dwell, after a yearlong deployment in Kandahar,

Afghanistan and would soon begin gearing up for our next combat deployment.

The essentials: equipment and personnelA typical ATS Company will have four major ATS systems at their disposal: the 7A Tactical Tower, the Tactical Airspace I n t e g r a t i o n System (TAIS), two Tactical Terminal Control Systems (TTCS), and the Air Traffic Navigation, Integration, and Coordination System (ATNAVICS) along with their supporting equipment and a comple-ment of Communications and Electronics (C&E) items in order to support their overall combat mission. In a perfect world, when you have your equipment and are ready to start using it, you would have trained and avail-able personnel to operate it. Unfortunately, our equipment was ready before many of our newly arrived or inbound personnel were. In October 2011, the Company was at approximately 60 percent strength following a huge turn-over from the last deployment. This shortage of person-nel helped us to identify our leadership and experience gaps while developing our training plans and objectives as well as anticipating our inbound personnel, knowing that a rendezvous with destiny was on the horizon. Over the next two months, we started receiving personnel to fill our shortages, quickly realizing we were receiving

By Captain Jason J. Nolan Sr., Commander, Foxtrot Company, 6-101st Aviation Regiment, Task Force Eagle Assault, FOB Shank, Afghanistan

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the “wrong” personnel to fill our needs. Instead of receiv-ing sergeants and staff sergeants with more seniority and experience to fill key leadership positions, we were receiving specialists and below with lesser experience and expertise. We realized we would need to “grow” lead-ers from within our formation to fill our needs.

New equipment and trainingAlong with newly refurbished equipment comes familiar-ity and a sense of ownership for long unseen items. I was brought up believing that when you haven’t used an item in some time, it is important to dig back into the manu-als and regulations to re-learn how to properly employ, set up, operate, and tear down your equipment. Many of the personnel in the unit understood how their ATS systems functioned and could operate them well, but had forgotten

how to set them up and troubleshoot faults if some-thing was not working properly. This is a skill

vital in combat situations when the enemy has a say in your daily operations and is quick-

ly forgotten in the complexity of the profession.

After assess-ing the Company’s experience levels, we further iden-tified the train-ing that would be

needed in order to prepare the Company and Task Force for success once deployed. We

realized the time and resources were not avail-able to conduct the training “in-house” and stay on

our deployment timeline. Therefore, we initiated sev-eral conversations with Project Management Air Traffic Control (PM ATC) out of Huntsville, Alabama and con-veyed our need for basic and advanced training in critical areas within the Company in order to prepare soldiers for imminent deployment.

PM ATC was more than enthusiastic and leaped at the opportunity to assist us with training needs. They sent a team of eight personnel to Fort Campbell for three weeks with a set agenda to deliver the necessary training to every controller and C&E representative in the unit. Additionally, personnel from PM ATC coordi-nated to send Field Service Representatives (FSRs) and Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM) representatives to our location to better assess our equip-

ment and logistical requirements and needs. The training was a huge success and the Company was steered in the proper direction for battlefield success.

Continual training: CTC rotationsWith the basics of employment, set up and tear down revisited, we started to “ramp up” our training and mis-sion sets in support of our Brigade Commander’s intent and our training objectives. In the spring of 2012, the Brigade’s focus quickly shifted to Combat Training Center (CTC) rotations to validate everyone’s tactical mission sets and to work on key objectives for each Battalion. This was a per-fect way for us to tackle two primary objectives:

1. Provide our soldiers the training they needed in a field environment.

2. Spread the “Skymaster” name throughout the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade as a valued asset to suc-cess.

I coordinated with our Battalion Operations Officer and attempted to be included in the other Battalions' mission sets and training plans at their NTC and JRTC rotations in the upcoming months. The plan worked; we were able to send elements of the Company to two JRTC rotations and one NTC rotation over a five-month period of time. The interaction with other Battalions and the training our personnel received helped each Soldier in the Company to improve at their jobs. It also proved to be invaluable to our success while deployed.

Training never stopsOur equipment was packed up by late-Spring and shipped off to Afghanistan, where we would see it again when we arrived a few months later. However, not all person-nel were completely ready to assume the mission; we still needed hands-on training and application to ensure personnel could accomplish robust mission sets while deployed. With training still requiring completion, we accessed our options to borrow ATS equipment from PM ATC, local National Guard units, and the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade on Fort Campbell. Unfortunately, none of the equipment that we needed was present or would be operational when we needed it.

Subsequently, we coordinated with several civilian agencies on Fort Campbell in order to emplace some of our controllers into the Campbell Army Airfield (CAAF) tower, the Fort Campbell Army Radar Approach Control (ARAC) facility, and Saber Army Heliport tower on Fort Campbell


to help round out our training needs and objectives. This, along with a week-long training exercise in Fort Rucker, Alabama on the ATNAVICS, would facilitate the unit to attain its pre-deployment goal of 90 percent of all deploying soldiers certified/rated in their respective facilities prior to block leave.

Junior controllers and a huge missionWe began our deployment preparation with a relatively junior set of air traffic controllers – many of them with less than five years of Army experience; the majority of that time was in fixed based or tactical ATC situations. See Table 1.

More than half of the deploying controllers had not earned their first ATS rating prior to this deployment. We would not let this hold us back from developing the skills necessary to execute our combat mission. The rigors of our pre-deployment training program and the critical develop-ment of junior leaders has helped groom a junior unit to be able to perform at a varsity level and accomplish its mission upon arriving at FOB Shank, Afghanistan.

The initial deployment experienceThe majority of the Company arrived at FOB Shank in mid-August 2012, approximately one month prior to the relief in place and transfer of authority (RIP/TOA) with 2-82nd CAB, Task Force Corsair from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. We knew we would need additional time with our 2-82nd CAB counterparts in order to properly train and certify our controllers and C&E personnel to assume the complex mis-sion at FOB Shank.

We followed a strict 14-day RIP program – a “crash course” in ATS operations in an unfamiliar area. The course proceeded well and at its completion, we had a suf-ficient amount of controllers and C&E personnel rated in the Tower and Ground Controlled Approach facility in order to assume the mission. Shortly thereafter, our 2-82nd CAB counterparts departed and we were left to assume the full weight of the mission on our own. Initially, there were some growing pains and less-than-accurate radio calls from both facilities, which is to be expected. We learned from our experiences and our controllers quickly matured in order to become very competent in their new environment.

FEATuRE

Rank Time in service Controlling years % of the unit

Specialist 4 years 3 53

Sergeant 6 years 4.5 32

Staff Sergeant 9 years 6.5 7

Table 1. Average years by rank

Quarter 1 201332

Airfield Management: new territoryOne of the larger mission sets that we undertook upon arrival at FOB Shank was the duties of Airfield Management. This is the primary focus of our two Air Traffic and Airspace Management Warrant Officers with the assistance of a senior NCO from the Company. The two Warrant Officers received a short block of instruction during their Officer Basic Course on the subject and we attended a weeklong Contingency Airfield Management course at Fort Rucker, Alabama that gave us a broad overview of some of the duties and responsibilities of a typical Airfield Manager in a combat environment. Upon assumption of our duties, we quickly realized the magni-tude of additional responsibilities the Airfield Managers upheld. On a daily basis, they influence:

• Airfield operations• Airfield surface repairs• New service contracts (certified contracting officer

representatives)• New/previous maintenance contracts• Airfield and structural maintenance • Airfield parking plans• New airfield developments• Airspace management• NOTAM requests and updates• Liaisoning with civilian entities

Many of the Airfield Managers' duties and respon-sibilities were unknown to us prior to our arrival at FOB Shank. The level of responsibility that is assumed by these personnel is only as much as the level of control that is desired by the position. You get out of it what you put into it. This directly correlates to the professionalism and abilities of the Airfield Managers with influences from the Command team and the direction of the Senior Airfield Authority. With all of the unknown factors within the Airfield Management realm our Airfield Management Cell has done an excellent job in their duties and roles and contributed significantly to the overall enhancement and success of FOB Shank.

The way forwardAs we near the halfway mark in our deployment, everyone in the Company has accomplished many great accolades and contributed significantly to the overall success in the Logar Province. As the deployment endures, we can only anticipate how our personnel will continue to develop and mature into the best air traffic controllers in Regional

Command – East. Our success on FOB Shank will help shape this region of the world and enhance the lives of the Afghani people.

About the AuthorCaptain Jason Nolan is an Aviation Officer with 20 years of active federal service in the United States Army. He has been in Command of Foxtrot Company, 6-101st Aviation Regiment since October 2011. He has been on three combat de-ployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom as an Aviator. Captain Nolan attended Officer Candidate School in 2007 after serving as an Aviation Warrant Officer for five years and as an Enlisted Soldier for 10 years. He is currently serving in Afghanistan as part of Task Force Eagle Assault at FOB Shank; he can be reached at [email protected] regarding this article and his unit’s operations at FOB Shank.

DisclaimerContributors express their personal points of view and opinions that are not neces-sarily those of their employers or the Air Traffic Control Association. Therefore, The Journal of Air Traffic Control does not assume responsibility for statements made and/or opinions expressed. It does accept the responsibility for giving contribu-tors an opportunity to express such views and opinions. Articles may be edited as necessary without changing their meaning.

For everyNAS challenge,theright solution.

Commitments Kept. Excellence Delivered.Proud Winners of ATCA’s 2012 Charles E. Varnell Memorial Award for Small Business

FEATuRE

More than half of the deploying controllers had not earned their first ATS rating prior

to this deployment


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FROM THE ARCHIvES

Lindbergh: Better Weather Data Needed for Passenger Aircraft to Cross the North AtlanticcHArlES liNDBErGH AND HiS wifE Anne flew over parts of the North Atlantic in 1933 to survey routes for Pan American Airways chief Juan Trippe. The Lindberghs found that North Atlantic weather was not as bad as expected, but better weather forecasts and observations would be needed to start commercial airline service.

Today’s airlines have higher-quality weather data than available at the dawn of commercial transat-lantic passenger service, as well as improved weather models and mod-ern observation techniques. Still, there is room for improvement – espe-cially over the great expanse of ocean traversed by today’s air carriers. This is where NextGen weather research-ers come in to solve old problems with new techniques.

Many aspects of crossing the

Atlantic were risky in 1933 when the newlywed Lindberghs flew to survey possible transatlantic airline routes – they did not carry a single parachute. Charles figured “hitting the silk” over frigid North Atlantic waters or ice caps would not save anyone’s life, but using the weight saved to carry extra fuel just might. It isn’t surprising that the famous aviator favored flying boats to make the best use of water landings before many airfields were built inland.

Forecasting the futureOn September 15, 1933, Charles Lindbergh penned a remarkable letter from Reykjavik, Iceland, and a 12-page report to Pan Am’s Trippe on how to begin transatlantic commercial pas-senger service. This fascinating hand-written report is one of the treasures

in the Pan Am collection of documents at the University of Miami in Florida. When you read the original, you feel as if Lindbergh is talking to you directly today, not just to Trippe in 1933. The challenges he describes in finding the best routes and the best weather infor-mation echo today's concerns, even though oceanic air traffic manage-ment, weather forecasting, and airline aircraft have changed dramatically for the better.

Charles Lindbergh’s letter to Trippe detailed what the data-driv-en Lindbergh was learning on Pan Am-financed exploratory flights in the North Atlantic area. The letter discussed other data Pan Am would need to collect. Anne flew along in the single engine Lockheed Sirrus that Lindbergh had converted to a float plane; she served as navigator

By David Hughes, Writer/Editor, Federal Aviation Administration

Lindbergh (left) standing next to Trippe in 1928. Photo courtesy of Special Collections, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida,tinyurl.com/3dr9vfp

Quarter 1 201336

and radio operator using Morse code. The importance of weather is

highlighted when Lindbergh wrote, “It is not possible for me to emphasize the necessity of a sufficient number of radio stations on a northern route to give reliable weather information and to give bearings.” Lindbergh favored inland airports to avoid the often fog-shrouded coastlines. His favorite idea was to build an airfield somewhere in northern Maine.

In the report, Lindbergh wrote, “It must be remembered that the route which is but for our present equip-ment and experience will not neces-sarily be as good as some other route when we have more efficient aircraft and have learned more about trans-atlantic flying. It has always been my belief that with every advance in aviation the air routes will tend to follow more closely the great circle course between the localities they serve. I believe that in the future air-craft will detour bad weather areas by flying above them rather than around them. Consequently I suggest that Pan American lay plans for the eventual transatlantic air route to fol-low the approximate great circle to Europe.”

These are some prescient com-ments jotted down by Lindbergh nearly 80 years ago.

Finding routesBecause these great circle routes involved relatively bad weather, long over-water distances, and low tempera-tures, other routes would have to be considered first, including a southern one from Bermuda to the Azores and the one farthest north over Greenland.

Lindbergh was flying routes over Labrador and Greenland but said final decisions on a route would have to wait until “meteorological and other data covering a period of years is assembled and studied.” He said little flying had been done in the far north but that the difficulties had been greatly exaggerated. “There are bad weather, strong winds and low tem-peratures, but by no means to the extent commonly believed.” He wrote that the aircraft selected must have reliable engines to avoid forced land-ings that could be fatal, high speed to

deal with strong winds and sufficient performance and range to fly over or around storms.

One aircraft configuration that might work, he wrote, is the use of flat-bottom pontoons for landing on either water or snow. “I believe that the first operation in the north should be with flying boats in sum-mer and hopefully with planes which can land either on snow or water in winter. After experience has been obtained, the question of building

landing fields can be decided.” But he also thought land-based aircraft could replace flying boats once they gained a speed and payload advantage, and that ways would be found to deal with the safety problems.

The report said transatlantic ser-vice was possible; it just depend-ed on the business case of having enough service on a schedule over a route to justify the cost. Not much has changed in commercial aviation in some respects over the nearly 80 years since this letter and report were written.

The right aircraftAs the decade of the 1930s progressed, Pan Am jockeyed with British and German pioneers who also wanted

to start transatlantic airline service. Pan Am made a deal with a fledgling British airline, Imperial Airways, to obtain landing rights in key places such as Bermuda. The U.S. airline launched commercial transatlantic service in 1939 with the 77-passenger Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat, one of the largest aircraft of its time. World War II then intervened and refocused attention on military aviation; progress on commer-cial aviation slowed down.

Interest soon shifted from flying boats to land-based aircraft for com-mercial flights, and by the 1950s pas-senger jets started to appear. Trippe was a proponent of jet aircraft, and he wanted a bigger version than the narrow body aircraft available, so Pan Am became the launch customer for the Boeing 747. It was only 35-and-a-half years after Lindbergh wrote his letter to Trippe on North Atlantic service that the 747 jumbo jet made its first flight.

Virgin Group Founder and Chairman Richard Branson is a fan of Trippe’s career as a pioneer of civil aviation. In 1998, he wrote about Trippe in a Time magazine article. Branson said when Trippe went to Bill Allen, the boss of Boeing, and asked him to build a passenger jet two-and-a-half times the size of the 707, this is how the exchange went.

“If you build it,” said Trippe, “I’ll buy it.”

“If you buy it,” said Allen, “I’ll build it.”

“My kind of guys,” noted Branson in the Time article.

See “JUAN TRIPPE: Pilot Of The Jet Age” in Time magazine Dec. 7, 1998 at: http://tinyurl.com/ybmqsls

“If you build it,” said Trippe, “I’ll buy it.”

“If you buy it,” said Allen, “I’ll build it.”

FROM THE ARCHIvES

Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne, stand in front of the Lockheed Sirrus after pon-toons were fitted. The aircraft was named Tingmissartoq, or "one who flies like a bird," by the Inuits in Greenland when the Lindberghs made a stopover there. The Sirrus is on display now in the Smithsonian National Air And Space Museum on the Mall in Washington, D.C. For more information about the exhibit, see http://tinyurl.com/bon9j9u]

Photo courtesy of Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum


FROM THE ARCHIvES

Aviation weather over the oceans: old challenge, new solutions The need for accurate and relevant aviation weather forecasts and obser-vations for aircraft flying over the North Atlantic has not been entirely solved in the nearly 80 years since Charles Lindbergh wrote to Pan Am chief Juan Trippe. In fact, a number of significant challenges still remain to be met.

Steve Abelman, FAA manager of the NextGen Aviation Weather Research Branch, said he found the letter from Lindbergh to Trippe inter-esting. “A lot of problems that existed back in 1933 still exist today because when you are flying over these ocean-ic areas, observation data is still lim-ited, weather model data is limited, and the local weather radars that can give you pictures don’t exist. So you are flying with a lot lower quality of observation and forecast information than you have when you are flying across the continental United States,” he said.

Weather satellites and weather forecasting computer models do help, but the models are general in nature and not focused on aviation per se. Existing weather forecasting mod-els are only updated over the ocean about every six hours and the updates are only as good as the observation data going into them. Over the conti-nental United States, there is a high-resolution rapid refresh model run-ning every hour. But a global model focused just on aviation doesn’t exist because it would be cost-prohibitive. “If you tried something similar over the oceans, it would be very expen-sive and the cost benefit of provid-ing it to the amount of aircraft flying over the oceans wouldn’t support it,” Abelman said.

Abelman said some types of avia-tion weather forecasting have greatly

improved in recent years, in par-ticular winds aloft. “The wind fore-casts have become really good and it is allowing for much more efficient flights,” he said. The forecasts are not only more accurate, they provide higher resolution with wind speed and direction forecast depicted every 1.25 degrees of longitude or latitude.

Making progressWhile many challenges similar to those of the 1930s still exist, such as obtain-ing the best weather information for overwater flights, the FAA is work-ing very hard to improve the aviation weather information provided to pilots in the oceanic environment.

The FAA’s Aviation Weather Research Branch is conducting two NextGen initiatives to determine if it is possible to transmit more relevant and timely weather information to the cockpit or to provide improved long-range forecasts to strategic planners, such as airline dispatchers and air traffic decision makers. These initia-tives are:

• Development of a prototype pre-diction system that creates proba-bilistic convection guidance over a 36-hour timeframe to be used in strategic planning for oceanic crossings. The prototype is being developed using a design specifi-cation written under FAA-funded research by the agency along with the National Weather Services’ Aviation Weather Center and the World Area Forecast Center.

• A demonstration that is an initial step towards uplinking weather updates to aircraft flying over the oceans. The FAA conducted a simulation recently with pilots in-the-loop at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J. During a simulated air trans-port aircraft flight from Florida to

Peru, pilots received updated cloud top data to warn them of convective activity along their route of flight. The scenario explored how pilots might benefit from satellite infrared sensor data to identify cloud tops so high that they might signify the presence of convective activity.

The probabilistic convection guidance uses hurricane forecasting techniques. It takes eight or ten differ-ent computer models that all diverge to some extent. The FAA research takes multiple computer runs from multiple models and looks at them as an ensemble to come up with what researchers believe will be a more accurate forecast. If the result shows an area that is likely to have thunder-storms, it may prompt planners to add extra fuel for maneuvering or select an alternative route. Pilots can be alert for convective activity when they enter the area where it is forecast.

Randy Bass, FAA NextGen con-vective program lead, said work on the 36-hour probabilistic convection guidance system started in 2011. He said a study of aircraft accidents and incidents over the oceans involving convection show that this type of forecast may have helped in some cases. The 36-hour window is needed to account for six-hour planning win-dows, 14-hour flights and the fact that the reports from computer model runs are only issued every six hours.

Gary Pokodner, NextGen program manager for the Weather Technology in the Cockpit program, noted that pilots have voiced concerns about storms with little moisture in them going undetected by airborne radar in tropical regions. Reports from pilots flying in tropical areas indicate they often try to spot convective activity at night by simply turning off cockpit lights and looking for lightning. One

Quarter 1 201338

FROM THE ARCHIvES

goal of the NextGen research is to determine if some additional informa-tion uplinked to the cockpit in real time might help pilots detect hazard-ous convective activity.

Another aspect of the research into cloud top data is working on find-ing an inexpensive way to uplink it to

the cockpit. NextGen researchers are talking to airlines to see if there are data links they already use where the weather update information can pig-gyback on existing services if mes-sages can be designed to consume as little bandwidth as possible. “Is there a way to get the data to Part 121 air

carriers at a price they are willing to pay?” Pokodner asked. If the answer to that question is yes, then the FAA may move ahead to flight trials to demonstrate the capability. “We have to quantify the safety and efficiency benefits of providing this data to the cockpit,” Abelman added.

Lindbergh's Letter to Trippe in 1933Letter and report reprint rights courtesy of Special Collections, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida


SWIM is Operational NEMS and data standards are making SWIM a NextGen success

IntroductionAir Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) everywhere have long sought solutions for achieving interoperability with-in their internal systems. The System Wide Information Management (SWIM) program, part of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s Next Generation Air Traffic Management System (NextGen), is envisioned to be a cor-nerstone in the process of de-coupling information from large, complex, proprietary systems. In fact, nirvana for ANSPs would be to achieve system interoperability between dispa-rate ANSPs, airlines, and commercial vendors, all of which is achievable through information sharing. These data stan-dards, information management, and open systems archi-tecture are critical to realizing that type of collaboration.

Major air traffic re-engineering initiatives, like the FAA’s NextGen or Europe’s Single European Sky (SESAR)

architectures, include a service orienta-tion, SWIM, as a foundational element for achieving greater interoperability. Additionally, NextGen documentation all started with greater emphasis on net-work-centric capabilities. For the FAA, net-centricity changes the way infor-

mation is accessed across the National Airspace System (NAS). A long-standing success story, net-centric operations are bore from the defense agencies as a mechanism to get information in the hands of decision-makers faster, wherever that user might be. This model transitions well to air traffic management because of the number of stakeholders dispa-rately connected and the wide variety of information sharing types, sizes, and frequencies.

By Jim Robb & Midori Tanino, Federal Aviation Administration and Steve Link & David Almeida, Harris Corporation

SWIM IS OPERATIONAL

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SWIM IS OPERATIONAL

Enterprise messaging in the NAS: program summaryThe FAA is a large producer, collector, consumer, and dis-seminator of information across the secure and private NAS. There are many NAS stakeholders, includ-ing partners outside the NAS. The magnitude of NAS information activities and the value to stakeholder collaboration illustrates the need for information management, which through SWIM has become a key mission requirement for the FAA, continues to grow in importance, and is, in fact, a cornerstone for the FAA’s NextGen initia-tive. This past summer, the FAA initiated SWIM Segment 2 of the SWIM program, with the primary objective to establish a network-centric information-sharing infra-structure in the FAA’s NextGen initiative. SWIM accom-plishes this with the NAS Enterprise Messaging Service

(NEMS) enterprise-messaging infrastructure: simply stated, “publish information once, consume by many.” In opera-tions today, approved NAS programs publish information to

the NEMS infrastructure through SWIM-approved industry standards, and many other authorized programs consume that information efficiently and cost effectively.

The SWIM program’s objectives are primarily to facilitate and promote secure sharing of informa-tion between NAS systems through the implemen-tation of reliable and effective NAS-wide enterprise messaging services. The SWIM program is accom-

plishing this enterprise-level task through the NEMS imple-mentation, which utilizes the Harris Data Exchange (DEX) messaging infrastructure. NEMS enables increased common situational awareness and improved NAS agility to deliver

In a NextGen/SESAR world, SWIM and FIXM will empower our air traffic controllers

with the capabilities they need to automate decision-making processes

through electronic negotiations


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SWIM IS OPERATIONAL

the right information to the right people, in the right place, at the right time. The Harris DEX, an enterprise infrastructure services platform, complies with SWIM, industry service-oriented architecture (SOA) standards, and supports prima-ry messaging integration patterns, such as Java Messaging Services (JMS), web services, and REST services.

NextGen information sharing goals and objectivesEffective NAS information sharing architecture and imple-mentation has been a primary vision for the SWIM pro-gram. This vision supports the NextGen goals to facilitate and promote data sharing to improve the generation and leveraging of new and existing systems in the NAS. This includes enabling information sharing with cost-effective, secure, and reliable network-centric messaging infrastruc-ture deployed across the NAS enterprise.

Throughout 2011 and 2012, the FAA’s SWIM program goals were to establish the SWIM Segment 2 enterprise information sharing architecture in the NAS and begin providing enterprise information messaging services. The emphasis included planning the transition and deployment of SWIM Segment 1 efforts into NAS operations utilizing NEMS. Additional goals were to build out an initial shared NAS infrastructure and introduce SWIM benefits and capa-bilities to additional programs throughout the NAS. The FAA’s SWIM Segment 1 programs, such as WMSCR, CIWS, ITWS, TFM, and AIM, adopted a SOA approach, and in 2012 begun establishing content sharing services utilizing the NEMS enterprise messaging infrastructure services in NAS operations.

The goal to establish operational capability and sup-port NAS programs has been successful. NEMS messag-ing infrastructure has gone operational, supports SWIM SOA standards-based information exchange, and has start-

ed transitioning SWIM Segment 1 users to NEMS. This includes provisioning the NEMS-distributed architecture across multiple FAA NAS facilities. In addition, several operational programs have already transitioned to this new SWIM infrastructure, such as the Operational and Supportability Implementation System (OASIS), the Weather and Radar Processor (WARP), the Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X (ASDE-X) producer, and the Weather Message Switching Center Replacement System (WMSCR).

FAA NAS information sharing The need for extensive information sharing among col-laborating decision-makers has been described in the NAS Concept of Operations. Flexibility in the distribution of roles and responsibilities in planning and air traffic control is essential to the achievement of dynamic, collaborative deci-sion-making. Many FAA systems, other agency systems, and commercial systems have NAS information needs for data which require data access, filtering and routing pro-cesses to deliver the right data, at the right time, to the right authorized consumer. For example, the needs of FAA con-sumers of flight plan, track, and airspace data vary depend-ing on their operational orientation (terminal, en route or traffic management). Whereas, airline systems, for example, may use flight planning information for re-route planning, or even access to archived data for playback, post-operational analysis purposes.

Below are descriptions of several programs that cur-rently publish or are in progress of testing and deploying the publishing of valuable NAS situational awareness infor-mation to many users. Each of these programs works with SWIM to publish their data for information-sharing purpos-es, at an enterprise level, to authorized NAS and non-NAS users.

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SWIM IS OPERATIONAL

• The Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS): The TFMS provides the Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X (ASDE-X) airport surface surveil-lance information. NEMS distributes ASDE-X on a per-user subscription basis to authorized consumers at sus-tained message rates up to 1,300 messages per second.

• The Weather Message Switching Center Replacement System (WMSCR): The WMSCR PIREP and Altimeter Settings data products are cur-rently being published to NEMS for NAS distribution. These are dedicated 7X24-hour services for aviation that includes the generation of advisories on weather and includes Pilot Reports (PIREP).

• The Airspace Information Management (AIM): The Special Use Airspace (SUA) automated data exchange provided by the AIM program will substan-tially increase access to current SUA status. NEMS enterprise information sharing will enable the digital distribution of SUA geometry, schedules, and status.

• The SWIM Terminal Data Distribution Service (STDDS): The STDDS program is an example of updat-ing a legacy system with a new interface to facilitate SOA distribution of information to the NAS. Adaptation of legacy (non-IP) systems to an STDDS interface allows for the bi-directional flow of status and event information.

• The Operational and Supportability Implem-entation System (OASIS): The OASIS is on-ramped to NEMS for the consumption of the Harris Weather Data System (HWDS) composition. The OASIS program pro-vides information that enhances the air traffic specialist’s ability to provide flight plan and weather briefing infor-mation in support of general aviation.

• The Weather and Radar Processor (WARP): The WARP system is an en route weather system that provides Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) mosaic information through NEMS to air traffic control-lers and provides meteorological products to the Center Weather Service Unit meteorologists.

• Flow Information Publication Service (FIPS): FIPS, a future Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS), will support intra-NAS sharing of flow information that describes current and planned traffic flow initiatives.

As-is messaging services and infrastructure capabilitiesToday’s NEMS producer and consumer interface capability in the NAS includes the enterprise JMS, web services (e.g. SOAP/http), and REST. JMS support for producers and con-sumers is provided for with both the Oracle WebLogic Server (WLS) and the ActiveMQ (AMQ) open source interfaces.

The current NEMS infrastructure consists of nodes or servers deployed throughout the NAS. These include inter-nal NAS messaging nodes, NAS Enterprise Secure Gateway (NESG) messaging nodes, security services nodes, and the enterprise services monitoring servers. All these operate, and are managed, within the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) program and primary Network Operations Control Center (PNOCC). The messaging nodes provide the SOA messaging infrastructure functionality of NEMS. These messaging nodes perform the producer and consumer interface functions as well as major functions such as the message routing, security policy enforcement, and enterprise services monitoring. These initial nodes were deployed to locations in proximity to the producers and con-sumers that were on-ramped first. The internal messaging nodes are identified in Figure 1, below, as blue circles.

Within the NESG, DEX Gateway nodes provide secure messaging to and from external consumers such as air-line users or the other agencies (i.e., National Weather Service). Two NESG facilities exist today, one in Atlantic City, the other in Atlanta. Also shown in Figure 1 are the NEMS NESG nodes at the FTI National Test Bed (FNTB) and research and development sites, which reside at the WJHTC facility. These nodes support development and formal test activities for NEMS producers, consumers, and additional SOA capabilities. And the FTI operations and Harris Services Verification (HSV) facilities, which support all deployments and NEMS operations, shown as well.

To-be messaging service and infrastructure capabilitiesThe SWIM Segment 2 plans have been solidified and con-stitute a five-year approach, which was approved by the JRC in July 2012. The plans contain additional NAS messaging infrastructure build out to include 16 additional internal

Figure 1: Existing NEMS Diagram 2: 2013 - 2015 NEMS infrastructure

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messaging nodes, additional sophisticated SOA messaging and operational capabilities, and support for the on-ramping of FAA and National Weather Service (NWS) publishers and consumers.

The approved plan for the ‘to-be’ NEMS infrastructure contains additional NEMS nodes throughout the NAS, to be deployed between 2012 and 2015. These include addi-tional internal NAS NEMS nodes, additional NESG Gateway Messaging nodes, and additional security services that permit secure, NEMS two-way SOA Gateway services with external NAS providers and consumers. As with the existing NEMS infrastructure, all NEMS nodes will operate and be managed within the FTI. Diagram 2 shows the 16 additional internal NEMS nodes (in green), to be deployed throughout the NAS. These provide the messaging capac-ity for many new producers and consumers planning to on-ramp content and information. The additional deployments are located at the ARTCCs, where many of the information producers and consumers exist.

These planned improvements will radically change the method by which NAS stakeholders share information. Concepts like trajectory-based operations, performance-based navigation and the like, will utilize this SWIM infra-structure to support these stakeholders. Data standards are also critical to ensure all these users can collaborate effec-tively through automation information sharing and systems.

Data standards and information managementIn the aviation industry, there are several ongoing efforts to standardize the aviation data for the global Air Traffic Management (ATM) harmonization. Aeronautical Information Exchange Model (AIXM) standardizes the Aeronautical Information Services data while Weather Information Exchange Model (WXXM) standardizes com-mon vocabulary for exchanging weather data. Aviation Information Data Exchange (AIDX) supports the data stan-dardization for the Airport Collaborative Decision Making (CDM). The Flight Information Exchange Model (FIXM) standardizes information about flights throughout the life-cycle of the flights. FIXM is one of the newest members of a family of technology independent and interoperable informa-tion exchange models.

The objectives behind FIXM are to improve flight data quality in terms of accuracy and consistency, streamline data management with reusable interfaces to common data, and provide easier access to the flight data. The ICAO ATM Requirement and Performance Panel (ATMRPP) identified the need for FIXM. This data format is required to sup-port the future flight planning concept, as described in the Flight and Flow Information for a Collaborative Environment (FF-ICE) documents published by the ATMRPP in 2010. FIXM will be the international data standard for exchang-ing flight data between various ANSPs as well as between ANSPs and users.

The FAA and Eurocontrol/SESAR announced the first official release of FIXM, version 1.0, in August 2012. The release package consists of a Data Dictionary, Unified Modeling Language (UML) Model, and Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schema. The Data Dictionary provides


SWIM IS OPERATIONAL

semantic context for the data elements. The UML Model captures the relationship among the data elements and types, while providing a visual reference of how the ele-ments are structured. The XML Schema encodes data ele-ments and data types, and provides a physical exchange for-mat. The FIXM data model uses the “Core and Extensions” architecture to address the needs of the basic flight informa-tion that every flight is expected to share as well as the local and regional user needs.

The FIXM, version 1.0, consists of a core (74 data elements) and NAS Extension (12 data elements). Core data elements addressed the flight plan (FPL) mes-sage, one of the 16 Air Traffic Services (ATS) mes-sages from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Procedures for Air Navigation Services Air Traffic Management (PANS-ATM) Doc 4444], and the specifica-tion for a new Globally Unique Flight Identifier (GUFI). NAS Extension addressed the FAA’s specific flight plan needs.

The FIXM, version 1.1, was released in December 2012. This version incorporates Hazardous Cargo or Dangerous Goods data elements. The new 62 data ele-ments were derived from the Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods form, published by the International Air Transportation Association (IATA).

The FIXM, version 2.0, is under development and scheduled to be released in August 2013. The develop-ment efforts were lead by the FAA and Eurocontrol/SESAR with partners from Air Services Australia, Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), NAV CANADA and National Air Transport Services United Kingdom (NATS UK). The “lessons learned” items from the development of earlier versions, such as collaboration and transparency, will be addressed during the development of version 2.0. The candidate flight data areas for inclusion in version 2.0 are:

• ATS messages defined in ICAO PANS-ATM Doc 4444 – Remaining 15 messages since FIXM, version 1.0, addressed one out of 16 messages

• ATS Interfacility Data Communications (AIDC) mes-sages defined in ICAO Doc 9694 - 27 messages for notify, coordinate, surveillance, general information, application management, etc.

• TFM Data Exchange – ANSP-to-ANSP exchange of data supporting traffic flow management

• ANSP-airline CDM – Information used for light sched-ule creation, update, and cancellation

• Fleet Prioritization – Information that enables the flight operator to prioritize flights within their fleet

• Airport CDM – Information to improve the efficiency of airport operation

The future versions of FIXM (i.e., version 3.0 and 4.0) will address surface data, ANSP-to-ANSP tactical data, 4D trajectory data, security data elements and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) related data. FIXM development has gained momentum with many supporters in recent years. However, there are many more challenges that exist for FIXM to be internationally deployed. For example:

• Implementation issues exist at each implementing orga-nization

• International collaboration is difficult where different organizations operate in different environments

• Bandwidth requirements are large due to the nature of XML data presentation

• Certain aspects of design of good XML are different from AIXM/WXXM, due to the nature of flight data compared against the relatively static aeronautical data and large weather data with small overhead

• Security and governance responsibilities need to be addressed

The FIXM data development team is seeking comments from interested international organizations in our continued effort to harmonize development of a global FIXM. Inputs from the industry at large can be provided via http://www.FIXM.aero.

Global harmonization through interoperabilityNet-centric infrastructure makes these NextGen concepts achievable in the near term. Current NAS sys-tems were developed as point solu-tions, utilizing proprietary protocols for system interfaces, data transport, and information processing carried on a point-to-point network. NextGen requires improved access and application interoperability with on-demand access to information, acquired in real-time between stake-holders. As described, SWIM is an information technology deployed as a network-centric infrastructure that uses a “provide-once-consume many” information-sharing model. System applications produce information into SWIM, such as surveillance, flight data, weather and aeronautical, de-coupling these information services. SWIM enables the data-centric enterprise, enabling common situational aware-ness of the airspace, significantly increasing collaboration between airspace users.

Let’s explore how SWIM and FIXM contribute to achiev-ing NextGen (and SESAR) objectives.

Collaborative Air Traffic Management (CATM), for example, illustrates the benefits of net-centric operations. CATM attempts to establish a more flexible traffic manage-ment system by allowing in-flight adjustments for trajec-tories favorable to flight operator preferences by enabling advanced automation to address airspace and airport capac-ity constraints. Concepts like Trajectory Based Operations (TBO) introduce four-dimensional (4-D) trajectories, enabling ANSPs to reduce aircraft separation standards, while main-taining the highest safety levels, increasing airspace utiliza-tion. CATM extends these modernization efforts to all air-space stakeholders (military, commercial carriers, aviation information vendors, etc.).

CATM requires making NAS status information avail-able to decision-makers (e.g., weather, airport runway sta-tus, etc.) to enable improved flight planning. Today, individ-ual systems for traffic flow management and meteorology,

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among others, are referenced by decision-makers who man-ually record location, times, and rates to mitigate congestion based on scheduled demand and predicted flow constraints. In fact, air traffic managers use “playbooks” to plan traffic on alternative routes based on well-understood flow constraints (i.e., convective weather events). These playbooks are best practices to provide manual guidance on resolving conges-tion, and collaboration with NAS stakeholder occurs via open teleconference calls.

SWIM enables information-sharing information that achieves CATM goals, and data standards (i.e., FIXM) nor-malize content. Automation systems can then be enhanced to provide improved situational awareness by introducing electronic negotiations for NAS users. This supports balanc-

ing airspace demand and enables industry airspace user’s flight planning systems to electronically

share user preferences and nego-tiate in real time. The FAA’s traffic management initiative, Collaborative Trajectory Option Program (CTOP), for example, seeks to automate user-based route assignments with multiple constraints to balance demand. CACR adds flexibility through improved automation, extending

CTOP to enable defining airspace constraints within 45 minutes of departure.

The current implementation still requires human-in-the-loop negotiations. In a NextGen/SESAR world, SWIM and FIXM will empower our air traffic controllers with the capabilities they need to automate decision-making pro-cesses through electronic negotiations. Net-centric informa-tion services (information provided through the net-centric infrastructure) include the common weather, surveillance, aeronautical, and flight information NAS decision-makers required attaining NAS status.

The following is an example of how SWIM and data stan-dards will revolutionize air travel. Two flights are planned for Europe, departing from JFK and Atlanta, respectively. Air Carrier Services (ACS) plans to arrive at 6:20 p.m. JFK flight is expected to arrive at London’s Gatwick Airport at 6:45 a.m., while also planning an Atlanta 6:20 p.m. to Paris, arriving at 8:30 a.m. In the future, through the two-way SOA Gateway, ACS flight planning and dispatch automation sys-tems publish flight plan from the airline operations center (AOC) to the FAA using SWIM. These capabilities will be available in the near future, and all flight planning systems will eventually migrate to use the FIXM standards for estab-lishing flight records. In this case, however, ACS is using a legacy system and publishes in a previous format. The FAA can rely on an important SWIM technology called mediation to transform the legacy flight plan into a FIXM compliant message, before it enters the flight automation systems.

The flight plans will process into FAA automation sys-tems, where they’ll become available for planning purposes to other stakeholders, in this case, NATS, Eurocontrol, and others. Being European-bound flights, business rules are

configured to automatically route approved flight plans to a special SWIM topic to which NATS, Eurocontrol, and DSNA (France) are subscribing to. ANSPs and ACS begin to moni-tor airport surface movements displaying the same data in many different applications, native to their respective opera-tion centers, ensuring the flight has cleared the runway and is now en route. Airport surface data for 20 of the largest U.S. airports are available today and being used with this specific intent.

Having the “wheels-up” time from the departing airport allows ANSPs to program their time based metering tools, part of their arrival and department management capabili-ties, to improve predictability into NATS airspace. The dif-ference is that these systems can now ingest flight, surface surveillance and weather information, improving their pre-dictability and awareness of arriving aircraft. Despite the fact that Eurocontrol is acquiring flight information directly from the FAA, they subscribe to NATS publication (using their own SWIM implementation) of airspace over flights, demonstrating the ANSP’s ability to share information that could be used to model 4-D trajectory options, and collabo-rate on re-route planning. The French ANSP will ingest and track the flight in its arrival management tools for flight plan-ning purposes, from the FAA’s European-bound SWIM topic, then using SWIM, acquire flight information from NATS and Eurocontrol’s CFMU, until finally tracked into French air-space. All of the data will be exchanged in common formats, using SWIM technology as a basis, enabling these disparate automation systems to interoperate, seamlessly.

Democratizing, or freeing, the information from the underlying systems will empower a new generation of Decision Support Tools (DSTs) to evolve. These DSTs will be augment automation systems, leveraging access to airspace management information, and creating new capabilities, all driven by decoupling information from existing monolithic systems.

ConclusionThe examples here seem like they are far off in the future; in fact, they are not. The SWIM program, as described in this article, is currently operational and deploying addi-tional infrastructure and capabilities that will make flight, aeronautical, surveillance, and weather information widely available. In fact, surface surveillance, aeronautical, and weather products are using SWIM in the FAA’s operational environment today. Airline operations, researchers, vendors, and NAS systems are using SWIM in operations today! Expanding on this success will require a concerted effort by the community to migrate and adhere to open standards. Data standards and information management, infrastruc-ture services based on open systems, and enterprise policy and governance are the critical success factors to achieving these capabilities today.

Evolving data standards for aeronautical, weather and flight information, and innovative technologies are changing the nature and economics of achieving system interoperabil-ity. These innovations are evolving the aviation community from a system-centric operational model to one that is more Ph

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network-centric. Through SWIM, ATM stakeholders will begin to achieve a common operational view, long sought after by air traffic stakeholders working to move away from large, monolithic systems to an agile, enterprise- integration approach, achievable by migrating to a data-centric opera-tions model. SWIM, as a net-centric enterprise infrastruc-ture, is the means by which the aviation community can make this notion a reality.

About the authors Jim Robb is the FAA SWIM Program lead systems engineer, responsible for SWIM and the NEMS infrastructure, the NEMS services requirements, the SWIM SOA services implementation, and the FAA programs and consumer on-ramps. Midori Tanino is the FAA International NextGen lead, responsible for the coordination of Global ATM Harmonization. Her past responsibilities includes the development of FIXM, TFMS, and other CATM capabilities.

Steve Link is the Chief Systems Engineer at Harris Corporation for the NEMS/DEX systems and services, a certified Enterprise Architect, and an adjunct instruc-tor in Systems Engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology. David Almeida is the Director of Net-Centric Information Systems & Services for Harris Corporation, responsible for FAA Weather, Alaska flight services & SWIM/Harris DEX Programs, and establishing new, innovative network-centric technolo-gies and services, continuing Harris’ commitment to NextGen.

ReferencesFederal Aviation Administration NAS Enterprise Architecture Service Roadmaps, June 2011 Version 5.0 Federal Aviation Administration NextGen Far-Term (2025) To-Be Enterprise-Level Architecture Services Functionality Description (SV-4b) Version 1.0 January 29, 2010Federal Aviation Administration SWIM Final Program Requirements (FPR), February 7, 2012.FAA SWIM Program Overview http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/swim. FAA System Wide Information Management (SWIM) Segment Two Industry Announcement https://faaco.faa.gov/?ref=11351, Dec. 13, 2011i Air Traffic Management Requirements and Performance Panel, “Flight and Flow Information for a Collaborative Environment”, July 2010ii International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), “Procedures for Air Navigation Services – Air Traffic Management”, Doc 4444-ATM/501, Fifteenth Edition, 2007iii Ghariani, R. and Cormier, R., “Hazardous Cargo Information Management via the Flight Object”, The MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA, 2012iv Tanino, M. and Losee, P., “Development of Standardized Flight Data in support of Global ATM Harmonization – Flight Information Exchange Model (FIXM)”, the third ENRI International Workshop on ATM/CNS, Tokyo, Japan, 2013v International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), “Manual of Air Traffic Services Data Link Applications”, Doc 9694, 1999vi http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/portfolio/sol_sets/catm/index.cfmvii Federal Aviation Administration, “NextGen Segment Implementation Plan (NSIP 2010 – 2015) Ver. 3.0. 2011.

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ment and surveillance technology in many parts of the world has undergone a number of improvements in recent years. The industry’s quest for inno-vation is spurred on by the combined pressures of economic constraints, the need to reduce fuel costs, and growing environmental concerns.

Advancements, such as the expansion of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), have made a difference but surveillance over the oceans has been limited.

NAV CANADA is among the first few air navigation service providers (ANSPs) to deploy ADS-B. The compa-ny’s expansion in its use of ADS-B from Hudson Bay to the coast of Greenland was chronicled in the article, “NAV CANADA Improves Flight Efficiency with 4 Million Square Kilometres of Operational ADS-B” (The Journal of Air Traffic Control, Summer 2012).

Adding ADS-B surveillance to over four million square kilometres – including 1.3 million square kilometres

of oceanic airspace over the North Atlantic – has reaped considerable fuel savings for air carriers and led to a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But the benefits, especially considering the total size of the North Atlantic, represent an incremental improvement.

A new eraWhile the term “game changer” has lost much of its impact due to over-use, its true meaning is restored when referring to Aireon LLC, a newly formed company set up as a joint venture between Iridium Communications Inc. and NAV CANADA.

Aireon will expand existing air traffic surveillance ten-fold, extending ADS-B coverage throughout the entire globe including the oceans – which make up 71 percent of the Earth’s sur-face – as well as remote and mountain-ous areas of the world that are currently not covered by either radar or ADS-B.

Aireon will achieve worldwide air traffic surveillance by installing

The field of air Traffic manage-

expanding surveillance

Aireon LLC extends

surveillance coverage

throughout the globe

Photographer: Stasys E

idiejus/Photos.com

Submitted by NAV CANADA

ADS-B receivers on a constellation of 66 low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The receivers will be part of the payload on Iridium NEXT, Iridium’s second gener-ation constellation of LEO satellites that are scheduled to be launched between 2015 and 2017.

For all its benefits, terrestrial ADS-B is still limited by the need for ground-based receiving units. With a range of approximately 250 nautical miles, this means the vast majority of oceanic airspace could not be served by ADS-B. Further limitations to the system exist in remote areas and polar regions where ground units are difficult and expensive to install. Aireon’s space-based ADS-B system eliminates the need for ground installations, resulting in global coverage.

Currently, air traffic controllers must use procedural separation stan-dards of ten minutes, or approximately 80 nautical miles in almost 90 per-cent of the world’s airspace which has no radar or ADS-B surveillance. This severely limits the number of aircraft

The Journal of air Traffic control 49

that could fly on the most efficient routes and at the most favourable altitudes.

NAV CANADA estimates that customers on the North Atlantic alone will save more than $100 million per year in fuel costs with Aireon’s addi-tional surveillance, also translating to a reduction of GHG emissions of over 260,000 metric tons annually.

The systemScheduled to begin launching in 2015, Iridium NEXT will include a total of 81 advanced communications satellites consisting of:

• 66 operational LEO satellites• 6 in-orbit spare satellites• 9 ground spares

Iridium NEXT will recreate the existing Iridium constellation of LEO satellites deploying the cross-linked architecture that provides continuous coverage over the entire Earth’s sur-face. Having 15 satellites as backups helps ensure the system’s resiliency and redundancy – both in space and on the ground.

The satellite constellation operates

in near-circular low-Earth orbit approxi-mately 780 kilometres above the Earth’s surface. There are 11 satellites in each of six orbital planes, creating a cross-linked mesh network that provides cov-erage pole-to-pole. The low-flying satel-lites travel at approximately 27,000 kilo-metres per hour, completing an orbit of the Earth every 100 minutes.

“A key advantage with Aireon is that the system will use the same ADS-B onboard equipage currently in use by airlines around the world,” said Sid Koslow, NAV CANADA Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. “There is no costly retrofit to be done which can be an impediment to imple-menting any new technology. That’s the objective – to have one system that provides benefits in many places with-out requiring changes to the aircraft.”

Many aircraft are already ADS-B equipped and the FAA has issued a rule which requires all planes operat-ing in airspace where a transponder is mandatory, to be ADS-B-ready by 2020. Currently, 85 percent of the flights tran-siting the North Atlantic are flown by ADS-B-equipped aircraft.

The ADS-B receiving units for Aireon will be modified from the cur-rent ground instal lations. “The ADS-B antennae and amplifiers are being designed specifically for the satellite appli-cation,” noted Koslow. “But the work in terms of process-ing the signal once it is received will be very similar.”

Another advantage to a space-based system is the avoid-ance of costs related to the installa-tion, maintenance, and operation of ground stations in remote locations, notes Kim Troutman, NAV CANADA Vice President, Engineering. “The installation of ADS-B ground stations in remote regions is difficult and the operating costs are high.

“Most of our installations are located in isolated areas with lim-ited infrastructure. The monthly cost of dedicated telecommunication lines and power can be thousands of dollars,” Troutman said. “And when you have multiple locations, it starts to add up.”

Troutman also noted that NAV CANADA air traffic management soft-ware, such as Gander Automated Air Traffic System (GAATS) and Canadian Automated Air Traffic System (CAATS), have already been adapted for ADS-B. “There will be some further modifica-tions required for the satellite system, but these will be relatively minor.”

Benefits for ANSPsAt the announcement in June, NAV CANADA said that it would not only be a partner in Aireon, it would also be its first customer.


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From left: Don L. Thoma, President & CEO of Aireon LLC; Russ Chew, Advisor, Managing Partner NEXA Capital Partners; John Crichton, President and CEO, NAV CANADA; Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium; and Norman Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation

The initial agreement establishing Aireon LLC was announced in June 2012. The agreement finalizing the terms of the joint venture between NAV CANADA and Iridium was reached in November.

“We are very excited to be working with Iridium and pleased that NAV CANADA is part of this new and exciting venture that will be a quantum leap in air traffic surveillance, improving safety and reducing the industry’s environmental impact,” said John Crichton, President and CEO. “The anticipated fuel savings to airlines and aircraft operators in the North Atlantic alone makes a strong business case for our involvement.”

“Aireon truly is a revolutionary advancement and I am excited about the opportunities it will present for Iridium, NAV CANADA and other air navigation service providers who may choose to collaborate with us,” said Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium. “The joint venture agreement we completed was a very important step towards bringing this critical innovation to market, and providing the benefits of faster, safer, more efficient air travel to consumers and businesses around the world.”

NAV CANADA will acquire up to a majority interest in Aireon with an aggre-gate total investment of up to US $150 million.

This investment will be made in phases between now and late 2017 with each phase dependent on the achievement of performance milestones. Currently, the NAV CANADA investment is equivalent to 5.1 percent of the fully diluted equity of Aireon following the first payment of US $15 million.

Leading Aireon is Don Thoma, who was named President and CEO of the newly formed company. Prior to this role, Thoma was Executive Vice President of Marketing at Iridium Communications Inc., joining the company in 2001 where he held various senior leadership positions during his tenure.

“I am very excited to be taking on this new challenge at Aireon,” said Thoma. “It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something that can make a long last-ing, meaningful difference to global aviation.

“I have learned a lot about NAV CANADA in the past year and knowing what I know about Iridium, I can say that the two companies share the same culture of innovation, each within their own expertise. Aireon is a perfect partnership for this project because it brings together a world-leading air traffic control provider that has been a pioneer in the use of ADS-B in remote areas and over a part of the Atlantic, with the industry leader in global satellite communications that operates the world's largest commercial constellation of LEO satellites,” Thoma said.

Aireon’s Advisory Board includes Chairman, Norm Mineta, former U.S. Transportation Secretary and Russ Chew, whose long career as a leader in the air transportation industry includes four years as Chief Operating Officer for the FAA.

Constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites

The Partnership

“As an ANSP that is focused on improving service and saving money for our own customers, we see the big advantages in having global ADS-B, especially when you consider that we manage part of the busiest oceanic airspace,” said Crichton. “We are in discussions with other ANSPs on the ways they can benefit from the ser-vice, enabling them to extend to their airline customers significant fuel sav-ings and avoided GHG emissions in vast reaches of airspace which today are confined to inefficient procedural separation.”

Aside from the benefits for ANSPs that control traffic over the world’s oceans, there are also advantages for countries that have surveillance gaps in domestic airspace, often over remote regions with difficult terrain. With Aireon, they can improve service and save on the infrastructure costs associated with radar or ADS-B ground stations.

It is anticipated that Aireon will provide ADS-B surveillance data to ANSPs around the world beginning in 2017.



By Ariel Scheirer, SELEX Systems Integration Inc. and

Lisa Sullivan, Harris Corporation

industry, the Aviation sector garnered unprecedented inter-est in its prime. Not only was there prestige associated with working in this cutting-edge field, which enjoyed a near-deluge of resumes, but the Traditionalist generation of the early to mid-1900s saw a workforce where nearly a quarter of job candidates enjoyed military experience, and came already trained and ready to take civilian jobs, many of them available to fill positions at airlines, the fed-eral government, and in A&D more broadly. Flash forward to today, some decades later: the flow of highly pre-trained indi-viduals has dried to a trickle, the allure for top talent appears to be gone, and it has been a decade since an aviation company has ranked in the top companies to work for. But why is that? Aviation in itself is still excit-ing, there are still problems to solve, the wages and benefits are better than average and until a Star Trek-like teleporting capability comes to the market, it will remain a key driver to any nation’s economy. We believe that the prob-lem and solution to aviation’s diminished cache lies predominantly with the workforce, particularly within the next generation of aviation leaders.

The new workforce To grasp some of the challenges facing the current aviation workforce, it is useful to consider the educational and economic profiles, and values and drivers for the most recent generation: the Millennials. The Millennial generation refers to the first generation to come of age in the new mil-lennium, and begins with those born after 1980 . In recent research con-ducted by the Pew Research Center, Millennials, by their own assessment,

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have several distinguishing character-istics in comparison to Generation X (1966-1980), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), and the Traditionalists (or the Silent Generation) (1928-1945).

• Use of technology – Millenials consider their use of technology to be their most salient genera-tional characteristic (24 percent, in comparison to Gen-Xers who report 12 percent). In particular, their adoption of technology as an integral means of expressing themselves personally and profes-sionally, rather than simply a tool for accomplishing tasks.

• Highly educated – Millennial women tipped the scales on bach-elor degrees in comparison to their male counterparts in previous gen-erations, but regardless of gender, they claim a higher degree of edu-cation than preceding generations (54 percent have “at least some” col-

lege education). Yet, increasingly fewer degrees are in the sci-ence and engineering fields , and their education doesn’t place them on as clear a career path as previ-ous generations.

• Job hopping – More Millennials than any previous generation believe they will switch careers, and intriguingly, nearly six-in-ten employed Millennials have already switched jobs, and state that they do not see themselves with their current employer for the rest of their career. A sharp contrast to their managers from the Gen-X generation, where over 60 percent believe they will stay with their current employer.

The above data points suggest that the aviation industry faces a workforce that enjoys a fused identify with tech-nology, expects global scale challenges like they faced in school (and may fatigue of smaller ventures), is unde-cided, drawn to the next best thing,

highly mobile, and actively wants to try on new roles and ventures. The Millennial Generation, not dissimilarly to Generation X before them, seeks challenge above all else, and talent will go where the opportunity is brightest.

How we compareA review of the Fortune Top 10 list of the best companies to work for back through 2000, notes only one avia-tion company: Southwest Airlines in the number two position in 2002. Conversely, the companies that rule the surveys from Fortune to Forbes, and even LinkedIn, are the likes of Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook.

The ascendency of Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook as hotbeds of technological innovation speaks to the ability of the companies to pres-ent nearly unreasonable challenges that are consistently met and sur-passed with a remarkably young work-force. Google leads the pack of the top 20 companies to work for and consistently does so because they pro-vide meaningful work and purpose to their workers and, most importantly, do a good job of getting employees to understand their work’s impact – critical “needs” for the Millennial Generation. In turn, the companies’ profitability speaks for itself.

Clearly, the challenge of attract-ing and retaining talent in the avi-ation workforce is not uniformly felt across the spectrum of technology companies. Emerging talent and lead-ership will seek out areas to grow and

advance, but engaging, cultivating, and retaining that talent will prove elusive if employers ignore the next generation’s call for consistently challenging and socially engaging work. Considering the awesome challenges within avia-tion, it’s surprising the industry faces a shortfall in workers, and struggles with talent retention. Aviation seems to struggle with engaging young workers on critical challenges with the speed of a dial-up connection, while their inno-vation rivals are trying to surpass 4G.

Attracting and cultivating aviation leaders The aviation industry faces a broad requirement to challenge and inspire the next generation of aviation lead-ers. Perhaps the failure to launch has less to do with the new workforce or types of challenges facing the aviation community, and more with an inabil-ity to draw meaningful connections between the near-term tasks for those just taking off in their careers and the broader challenges facing aviation.

The flow of highly pre-trained individuals has dried to a trickle, the allure for top

talent appears to be gone, and it has been a decade since an aviation company has ranked in the top companies to work for

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Moving to the NextGen and SESAR air traffic management environments requires unprecedented creativity and dedication not only for implementation of current solutions, but also for com-prehension of a dynamic and interde-pendent system. Challenges to the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) don’t enjoy that same level of accessibility for young workers as those of Google or Facebook, because most young work-ers don’t “sign into” the NAS as part of their day-to-day lifestyle. Articulating the big picture of a complex and evolv-ing sector to new talent in tangible ways may be the foremost challenge of today’s aviation community, followed closely by exposing them to the knowl-edge and problems, and engaging them through relationships, rapidly changing tasks, and social groups to understand their personal involvement and impact.

ATCA’s Young Aviation Professionals The Young Aviation Professionals (YAP) group within the Air Traffic Control Association was developed by a small group of workers with less than 5 years of management experience in aviation. In the beginning of 2012, the YAP mis-sion was set: To foster the next genera-tion of aviation leaders by empowering young professionals with the knowl-edge, exposure, and relationships to tackle critical aviation challenges over the course of their careers.

The YAP organization provides a platform to engage emerging leaders through a variety of tours, network-ing events, and speaker events. Few organizations can provide a full view of the aviation field highlighting the complexities and opportunities that ensue, but YAP can provide a holistic view. Whether it is by providing a sys-

tems engineer a tour of the Potomac TRACON, a marketing analyst an opportunity for a Cessna 172 discovery flight, or an aerospace engineer the opportunity to learn about the busi-ness case aspects of an airline, or all YAP members dialogue with leaders throughout the entire aerospace com-munity, snapshots of the entire aviation field serve to generate interest and pro-mote collaborative growth.

Industry desperately requires the opportunity to build a far-reaching knowledge base, and cultivate relation-ships between communities within avi-ation – IT, engineering, communica-tions, pilots, air traffic controllers, and business managers – not only because collaboration has proven to be the best way to develop new ideas and start new initiatives, but because the emerging workforce expects this type of engage-ment, and is uniquely positioned to implement this type of interaction through their near-fixation on social net-working. The beauty of social network-ing is that seemingly disparate individ-uals are able to rapidly connect around a single cause or interest. YAP mimics the advent of the social network mind-set, and enables companies and other stakeholders to provide their employees with the big and evolving challenges that the Millennial generation demands to remain engaged in any industry.

Conclusion Although the aviation industry cer-tainly faces workforce challenges today and in the coming decade, we believe the struggles are very manageable. For the aviation industry to continue to soar, it will be critical to create ave-nues to inspire curiosity and enthusi-asm within the emerging workforce.

The goal is not only to retain talent, but to cultivate an expanding pool of energetic and thoughtful leaders, by meeting the next generation’s needs for exposure to new challenges and connection to a diverse group on topics of similar interest. Meeting that goal is the foremost reason for why we created YAP, and why we invite you to share this opportunity for engagement with your colleagues and encourage them to participate. Ensuring our ability to rise to the critical challenges of tomorrow, lies in our ability to build a vigorous aviation workforce.

References[1.] Pew Research Center, "Millenials: A Portrait

of Generation Next" February 2010 ()[2.] AIA “Launching the 21st Century American

Aerospace Workforce” December 2008. ()[3.] CNNMoney, “100 Best Companies To Work

For” 2012 (http://money.cnn.com/maga-zines/fortune/best-companies/2012/snap-shots/1.html)

about the authorsAriel and Lisa both work in Washington D.C. in the aviation sector and represent the next generation of aviation leaders. They have worked with ATCA over the last year to launch the young aviation professional organization known as YAP. Both have a passion for the aviation industry and believe organizations like YAP can help to encourage and foster the next generation of aviation leaders for the public and private sectors.

Ariel Scheirer may be reached [email protected].

Lisa Sullivan may be reached [email protected]

To learn more about ATCA’s Young Aviation Professionals (YAP) organization, please visit www.atca.org/youngprofessionals

YAP's DCA Tower Tour 2012

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Young aviation professionals

The Journal of Air Traffic Control is a quarterly magazine devoted to

developments in air traffic control.

Recognized worldwide as the oldest regularly published magazine of air traffic control technical information and

knowledge, The Journal targets the interests of all professionals involved in air traffic control and other aviation disciplines.

Proud Publishing Partner of the Air Traffic Control Association, Inc.

Quarter 1 201354

The Journal of Air Traffic Control is a quarterly magazine devoted to

developments in air traffic control.

Recognized worldwide as the oldest regularly published magazine of air traffic control technical information and

knowledge, The Journal targets the interests of all professionals involved in air traffic control and other aviation disciplines.

Proud Publishing Partner of the Air Traffic Control Association, Inc.


AbstractThe National Airspace System (NAS) Voice System (NVS) is referred to as a NextGen-enabling program because it will provide a modern and flexible operational voice enter-prise; an essential element to achieving the FAA’s NextGen objectives. NVS will take advantage of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to enable the FAA to migrate to a networked capability that is operated and managed as a voice enterprise.

Current ATC communications are based on the use of Dedicated Transmission Services (DTS); pre-defined, point-to-point communication links that connect facilities with each other via legacy ground-to-ground (G/G) trunks and with air-to-ground (A/G) resources such as radios. The NVS will network-enable G/G and A/G resources, support-ing NextGen objectives such as Load Sharing, Operational Contingency Planning (OCP), Business Continuity Planning (BCP), and Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operations. Under NVS, ATC positions, G/G trunks, and A/G radios can

become enterprise resources, available at any facility with the proper authorization of the resource owner, regardless of physical location. NVS provides an unprecedented level of flexibility as well as location independence, which is essential to establishing the voice enterprise capabilities envisioned by the FAA.

The unprecedented flexibility that NVS provides also creates new operational possibilities and questions that need to be answered; questions such as how G/G and A/G resources that are available on the NVS enterprise are shared. Who has authorization to use them and who pro-vides that authorization? There are also workflow consid-erations such as how an airspace reconfiguration involving multiple facilities gets initiated and executed. Who is autho-rized to make changes that affect multiple facilities?

This article presents a notional Concept of Operation (CONOPS) for management and governance of NVS net-work-enabled resources in the NAS that will help frame the discussion that will ultimately answer these questions.

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Considerations for Management and Governanceof Network-Enabled Resources in an ATC Voice EnterpriseBy Jerry Kikla, Harris Corporation, NVS Chief System Engineer andSteve Spicer, Harris Corporation, NVS Voice Enterprise Engineering Lead

Quarter 1 201356

Resource sharingThe sharing of air-ground resources in the current system, among facilities not sharing a common voice switch (non split-backplane facilities), is typically limited to two facili-ties, either by using an “overnight switch” which switches the dedicated telecommunication service from one end point to another, by using the legacy Radio Control Equipment (RCE) Dual Control Site operational mode, depicted by the highlighted RCEs in Figure 1 and again in Figure 2, or by using a remote radio interface between two facilities.

These methods are prohibitive to the wide-scale shar-ing of radio resources and are generally only used in specific instances where resources are shared routinely, such as part-time ATCT operations.

Contingency planningImplementing operational contingency plans in the current system is limited by the inflexible nature of the current point-point connectivity. An OCP Parent Facility can only divest airspace to neighboring Support Facilities that have existing radio coverage in that airspace. Its radio sites and G/G trunks themselves cannot be re-allocated for use by other facilities. In addition, a transfer from OCP to a lon-ger-term BCP requires a multi-week effort to transition the multitude of dedicated, point-point telecommunications ser-vices to the designated BCP facility.

System management todayIn the current NAS voice system, each ATC facility is separate and cannot be managed or re-configured on an enterprise scale in most cases. This does not provide the flexibility for remote system re-configuration in the event it becomes necessary in an OCP or BCP scenario.

Management of an OCP event is typically orches-trated by the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) with the aid of the web-based Automated Contingency Tool (ACT) which shares, organizes and dis-tributes information relative to operational contingency planning. Execution of the OCP consists largely of airspace reassignments and aircraft routing changes based on Support Facility locations and radio coverage. It may involve

sterilizing the affected facility’s airspace and re-routing, by the OCP Support Facility, all air traffic around the Affected Facility’s airspace. While airspace boundaries and proce-dures can be modified to adapt to operational contingen-cies, the system itself is not re-configurable on an enterprise scale, and therefore not able to adapt.

Future NAS voice architecture The NVS architecture, provided by Harris’ VCS21 commu-nication system and based on the international ED-137 ATC VoIP protocols, will provide the capability for any-to-any connectivity among Controller Working Positions (CWPs) and network-enabled Remote Radio Nodes (RRNs). As illustrated in Figure 3, legacy G/G or A/G resources tied to one ATC Voice Node (AVN) can be made available to other AVNs across the enterprise, effectively erasing the distinction between legacy and IP resources. Any A/G or G/G resource at an AVN can be made available as an enter-prise resource. A Facility Media Gateway (FMG) is a “bolt-on” appliance that allows legacy facilities to participate in NextGen operations by network-enabling individual A/G or G/G voice resources.

Current NAS voice architectureThe current NAS voice architecture consists of legacy voice switches connected to remote A/G and G/G resources (radios and remote operator positions) over dedicated, point-to-point, telecommunication services as shown in Figure 1. The sys-tem is largely fixed and inflexible. Re-assigning or sharing communication resources requires ordering new or additional point-point telecommunication services, which can take sixty days or more.

Figure 1. The current NAS Architecture

Figure2. A/G resource sharing in the legacy system

The unprecedented flexibility that NVS provides also creates new operational possibilities and questions that need to be answered

evolving aTc


viding a database of RRNs and AVNs authorized to connect to each other. One governance approach is to establish a Managing AVN for each RRN. This relationship will likely be established based on current physical connections from RCEs to facilities (the current owner remains the owner).

A notional example is shown in Figure 4. The four RRNs at the XYZ Remote Communications Air-Ground facility (XYZ RCAG) are allocated to the AVN at Facility A (they were connected to Facility A via RCE prior to the AVN instal-lation). Facility A is the Managing AVN and has full authority to grant another AVN access to the RRN at XYZ RCAG. In this scenario,

a user at Facility B with enterprise management credentials can view operational RRNs in adjacent airspaces, evaluate the health of those RRNs, view frequency and sector assignment information, and

identify their connection method (legacy RCE modem or IP). The user at Facility B can request access to one or more selected RRNs from Facility A. The request can be made either via the Enterprise Manager or directly to the managing AVN. A user at Facility A with proper creden-tials can grant access to the RRN, and establish Facility B as an Authorized AVN for that asset. Once authorized, Facility B can build CWP configuration maps to use the authorized RRN. The Enterprise Manager, whether involved in the exchange or not, would maintain the data-base of authorized AVNs for each RRN.

Performance monitoringThe NVS Enterprise Manager provides the capability to assess the impact that configuration changes will have on the overall performance of the system. Configuration changes affect band-width utilization at the local AVN as well as on the Wide Area Network (WAN). The modeling and simulation functions pro-vided at the enterprise level allow managers to make informed decisions regarding any system reconfigurations.

Situational awareness of voice enterprise operationsThe NVS Enterprise Manager gathers status information from NVS elements. It has the ability to combine NVS status with other NAS system status retrieved from the Enterprise Service Bus (SWIM). It creates a consolidated situational awareness view showing the NAS Communications Inventory that is filterable by AVN. A consolidated view allows for informed decisions regarding NAS configuration changes.

The NVS Enterprise Manager will also provide a geo-graphic view of an AVN site and it’s interconnected RRNs. This feature would allow the Enterprise Manager user to quickly view the sites that have been transitioned to NVS and those that support the enterprise with legacy equip-ment. It would also illustrate other AVN sites that have access to those RRNs.

Figure 5 illustrates the NVS Enterprise Manager User Interface displaying a geographic view of the Orlando (MCO) TRACON and its connections to the Daytona Beach (DAB) RRN. Legacy and IP connections are identified in the portlet on the right side of the display. An IP connection

The NVS architecture shown in Figure 3 provides the flexibility to make RRNs, legacy G/G trunks, and local radios available as network-enabled resources. The NVS Enterprise Management System provides for the manage-ment and governance of these network-enabled resources.

All AVNs have a Local Manager that provides for con-figuration and management of the AVN at that facility in order to fully support local ATC operations. The NVS Enterprise Manager provides the FAA with the capability to manage and coordinate enterprise ATC operations; oper-ations that are not possible in the NAS currently. It provides enterprise management and coordination of complex func-tions such as load sharing, OCP and BCP. Through the use of Single-Sign-On, enterprise management functionality is available at any NAS location. It’s not where you are, but who you are that determines if an individual can perform enterprise-level functions. The NVS architecture does not tie enterprise management to a specific location.

Four key functional capabilities of the NVS Enterprise Manager essential to providing governance are:

• Managing access to network-enabled A/G and G/G resources

• Performance monitoring• Situational awareness• Inventory and transition awareness

Managing access to network-enabled resourcesThe technologies of NVS will allow any-to-any connectivity between AVNs and RRNs. With this flexibility, some level of governance is necessary to authorize access to these assets. In other words, authorizing AVNs to access selected RRNs. Figure 4 introduces this authorization concept to share an RRN among two facilities.

Existing voice assets support dual-homed radios (RCE Dual Control Site), but in the NVS era up to seven AVNs may simultaneously access a single RRN. The NVS Enterprise Manager will allow this flexibility to be managed by pro-

Figure 3. The NVS architecture

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Quarter 1 201358

SummaryThe network-enabled resources of the ATC Voice Enterprise provide the flexibility to meet all of the FAA’s NextGen goals. The NVS architecture adds enterprise-level capabil-ities while also expanding the capabilities available at the local level. These new capabilities create new operational possibilities, along with questions that need to be answered and challenges that need to be addressed related to gov-ernance, resource management, inventory awareness, and configuration status for transition and airspace reconfigu-rations. The NVS architecture provides all of the tools and capabilities to meet these challenges and to support evolv-ing FAA CONOPS. The task ahead is to integrate the new capabilities that NVS provides into the NAS. Harris and the FAA are working closely together to integrate the FAA’s NVS solution, Harris’ VCS21 communication system, into existing FAA day-to-day, contingency and business conti-nuity operations.

about the authorsJerry Kikla is currently the Chief System Engineer for Harris on the NVS program. He has over 17 years working with the FAA and over 30 years experience in total. Highlights in his FAA portfolio include the Chief System position on NADIN II, WARP, and OASIS. Jerry also worked on the FTI-SAT and ANICS programs. He has received two annual Presidential Engineering awards and is a member of the FAA Arctic Circle club for his work on Alaska flight service.

Steve Spicer is currently the Voice Enterprise Engineering Lead on the NVS pro-gram. He has over 17 years experience working on FAA communications programs with extensive field experience, including over 6 years on FTI. Steve was an F-14 Tomcat avionics tech in the US Navy for 11 years and, prior to joining Harris, he was the Chief System Engineer and Program Manager for RCE at General Dynamics (formerly CSTI). He received the Harris Presidential Engineering award for his network design for FS21. In his spare time he enjoys being a commer-cial pilot and an airplane owner.

indicates NVS equipment is providing the RRN interface. The Enterprise Manager also provides frequency oversight functions that prohibit unintentional or unexpected users of an A/G or G/G resource, as well as orphaned or un-mon-itored frequencies. The goal of the Enterprise Manager’s situational awareness capabilities is to implement configu-ration changes in a controlled and safe manner by providing for a full vetting of how configuration changes will affect the system. The enterprise and local NVS Management System functions are web-based and can be accessed from any NVS workstation provided the user has the appropriate role-based authorizations.

Inventory and transition awarenessA robust, centralized inventory of NAS voice assets will facilitate configuration control of the NVS transition. The Enterprise Manager maintains an inventory of all NAS voice assets; AVNs (including legacy G/G trunks) and RRNs along with their current transition state. As each facility and its interfaces are converted from legacy equipment and con-nectivity to NVS and VoIP, the inventory database will be updated to accurately reflect the asset configuration. Once a facility’s interfaces are transitioned from the legacy voice switch to the NVS AVN, they become network resources, available to other NVS facilities. The NVS Enterprise Manager will provide the database and application to track this transition and provide a view of communications assets available to support dynamic NAS configuration changes.

Figure 4. Concept for authorizing use of an RRN

Figure 5. NVS Enterprise Manager Geographic View

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ment phase in 2008, we at Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Joint Undertaking have basically driven the programme through three steps:

1. The first step was the set-up of the public-private partnership with the negotiation and agreement of the technical content and the contrac-tual steps to manage the development phase of the €2.1 billion SESAR pro-gramme. Founded by the European Union and Eurocontrol, SESAR JU brings together 15 industry mem-bers representing all actors in air traf-fic management: the manufacturing industry (e.g Airbus, Thales, Indra, or SELEX Sistemi Integrati), airports (e.g Frankfurter Flughafen, Aéroports de Paris, BAA Airports), and air naviga-tion service providers (e.g. Deutsche Flugsicherung, Aena, DSNA).

2. The second step was the launch of the programme in June 2009 and the ramp-up of the technical activities.

A further 25 associate partners, including non-European companies (e.g. Boeing or Thales Australia), SMEs, universities, and research institutes, were taken aboard in 2010-11 to pro-vide additional input and expertise to the programme. In total, around 2,500 experts in Europe and worldwide now are working together on more than 300 interdependent projects to bring ATM technology up to 21st century standards.

Additionally, the SESAR Joint Undertaking actively involves key stakeholders such as airspace users, staff and professional associations as well as regulatory authorities or the military sector in the programme via ad hoc working arrangements. Through their early involvement in the work pro-gramme, the SESAR JU ensures that their needs and expertise are fully reflected in the final SESAR technol-ogies and procedures. This makes the SESAR Joint Undertaking a truly inter-national public-private partnership.

3. The third step is the move to the delivery approach through the SESAR releases, which began in 2011. We are currently in this phase, about to now launch Release 3 of the programme. To prove to the aviation community that SESAR is not a research programme hiding in laboratories, SESAR JU and its members defined the so-called SESAR Release approach. Since 2011, a yearly list of projects ready for early val-idation is approved. The ground-break-ing aspect of the SESAR approach is that all technological improvements are directly verified in an operational environment and ready for deployment by European leading airlines.

The 2011 Release featured 25 operational validation exercises which took place throughout Europe in 2011 and early 2012. The exercises focused essentially on the developments of efficient and green terminal air-space operations, the initial 4-D trajectory, enhancing flight safety and collabo-rative network management. Out of

Since The launch of The deVeloP-

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these 25 exercises, seven have already been deemed conclusive to support a decision of industrialization.

Release 2 and further Releases will build on the experience gained during Release 1, widening the scope of the work and aiming for a more coher-ent strategy, ensuring that the ATM Master Plan is properly addressed, in line with end-user expectations.

In 2012, the Release – still ongoing – has built on the results from Release 1 with a wider scope and an emphasis on coherence with the overall SESAR programme. Its 35 exercises concen-trated on four main areas of operational improvements: airport platform safety, airborne operations, ATC operations, and network management.

For 2013, Release 3 will feature 19 validation exercises focusing on the five areas of traffic synchronization, airport integration and throughput, moving from airspace to 4-D trajectory manage-ment, conflict management and auto-mation, network collaborative manage-

ment, and dynamic capacity balancing.“We are progressively building

our experience, strengthening our approach, and leveraging the maturity of the partnership to prioritize the work and prepare for deployment; in that context, bringing tangible evidences of performance benefit will become, more now than before, the absolute priority in 2013 and beyond,” concludes Florian Guillermet, Deputy Executive Director Operations and Programme, SESAR Joint Undertaking.

Partnership, the heart of SESAR’s successThe SESAR Joint Undertaking was set up as a public-private partnership for very good reasons; in particular, it was understood that the various ATM stakeholders had to be fully engaged in developing the future ATM system while having one single accountable entity. In the day-to-day work, this means that our Members are part of the solution; what we do is to com-

mission the work, steer, monitor, and control, but we never do that alone or in isolation even if we ultimately arbitrate. Our structure relies on the principles of efficiency, effectiveness, economy, subsidiarity, and, above all, partnership.

In practice, this means that we can’t micro-manage or get involved in everything and that we rely on the work performed by our partners and on their commitment. My job, as Director in charge of Operations, is to make sure that we get the right level of steering and involvement where it is needed, and, ultimately, that we act in the interest of the programme and according to our mission.

The technical challenges ahead of us are enormous but we have the right partnership to face them successfully.

Obvious challenges include the need of synchronization of the various implementation plans, or the need to properly manage technology transi-tion. But I would like to stress that,

Our structure relies on the principles of efficiency, effectiveness, economy,

subsidiarity, and, above all, partnership

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with SESAR, we are progressively moving from an ATM system with rather independent components to a system of systems where the degree of interdependency, integration, and the level of automation are much higher.

Proof to that are recent valida-tion successes such as the world’s first Initial 4-D flight, extended Arrival Manager, or the SWIM infrastructure live demonstration – as is the updated 2012 edition of the ATM Master Plan. In all cases, thanks to a tight part-nership with key aviation players and the correct level of steering, we have made a major leap forward towards the delivery of SESAR solutions. It is important to note that not only have we achieved common European solutions, but we have also secured interoperability and synchronization with the American FAA (NextGen pro-gramme) and ICAO’s Aviation System Block Upgrades (ASBU).

In effect, the biggest challenge is not what we can derive from our own

EU programme, but how we translate this work globally into common defi-nitions with our interregional partners to ensure the uptake of the standards organizations and ICAO.

There is a general acceptance that there is a business case but the suc-cess of this business case depends on the synchronization of deployment of SESAR technologies. That is the real challenge that we face, and indeed there is positive momentum to achiev-ing this. We are cooperating with the U.S. under an EU-US Memorandum of Cooperation on ATM Research, with a dedicated annex addressing the key interoperability areas in SESAR and NextGen.

One of the main features of the two programs is the move from an air-space-based ATM system to a system focusing on the full lifecycle of flight planning and execution in four dimen-sions. A common definition of the 4-D Trajectory is important so that it can easily be translated into ICAO’s Global

ATM Operational Concept Document Doc 9854.

Agreement on standardised exchange and information formats is a key action, again, for uptake at ICAO level for global interoperability.

Additionally, we are work-ing together on data communica-tion services and technologies to align the ATM service with the 4-D Trajectories, in close collaboration with the US and European standard-ization organizations.

"The increasing complexity must be mastered not only from a design point of view – what we currently do in the development – but also in terms of implementation within Europe and at a much larger global level. This is even more critical in today’s period of economic uncertainty when we need to maintain a long-term vision to attain the level of ambition set for SESAR."

We need to maintain a long-term vision

to attain the level of ambition set for SESAR

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4 – 6 March 2014 Madrid, Spain www.worldatmcongress.org

More information at www.worldatmcongress.org

We can’t get enough of Spain. Can you?

See you again in 2014.

World ATMCongress 2014

Quarter 1 201362

4 – 6 March 2014 Madrid, Spain www.worldatmcongress.org

More information at www.worldatmcongress.org

We can’t get enough of Spain. Can you?

See you again in 2014.

World ATMCongress 2014

Reauthorization Bill (“Reauthorization Bill”) became law1. Among other things, the Reauthorization Bill places an emphasis on the creation and deployment of NextGen. As most readers know, NextGen is fraught with complexities stemming from the introduction of interdependent new technologies, unclear business cases, and the diverse needs of aviation stakeholders. In addition to the technical and execution challenges inherent in a sweeping endeavor like NextGen, some other factors may stymie or otherwise inhibit initia-tives that promise clear benefits for aviation and the public. The most visible one is the increasingly volatile and uncertain federal budget outlook that has cast a lengthening shadow over the long-term NextGen-related efforts of the private and public sectors.

Another pitfall long confounding efforts to improve the aviation system lies in the nation’s environmen-tal laws. In concert with other requirements, these laws have most notably slowed the construction of

on february 14, 2012, The long-awaiTed faa

sTreamlining nexTgen

Cube illustration by all-free-download.com

By Naveen C. Rao and Daniella A. Einik, Jones Day

Quarter 1 201364

new runways in the United States to a glacial pace. As of 2003, the median construction time was ten years for runways already completed and four-teen years for those not yet completed2. Even projects not intended to facilitate larger numbers of flights have been affected. The redesign of New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia airspace, which is meant to improve efficiency and safety without enhancing capac-ity, has similarly been the subject of at least thirteen lawsuits alleging vio-lations of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and the Clean Air Act3. Some components of the airspace redesign, which commenced in 1998, will not be entirely complete until 2016.

The deployment of NextGen tech-nologies has unsurprisingly felt the bur-den of these environmental require-ments. For example, lengthy envi-ronmental reviews have significantly delayed the FAA’s development of new RNP/RNAV flight procedures. In the most elementary terms, RNP/RNAV procedures yield environmental, eco-nomic, and safety benefits by un-teth-ering flight paths from ground-based navigation aids.

NEPA requires federal agencies to conduct coordinated environmen-tal reviews of proposed major federal actions that could significantly impact the environment. These reviews are lengthy processes that involve in-depth public participation. The FAA has taken the position that new perfor-mance-based navigation approaches that utilize new flight paths are fed-eral actions subject to the full NEPA environmental review. The FAA has acknowledged that its position will likely delay implementation of the pro-cedures, but made it clear that it was

not going to compromise its environ-mental stewardship to expedite the process4.

Industry stakeholders have directly felt the impact of this delay. For exam-ple, in 2010, Southwest Airlines began an aggressive project to equip its fleet with RNP/RNAV capabilities. However, in 2011, the airline decided to scale back the project to equip its Boeing 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft with the necessary avionics because, among other things, the introduction of

new FAA published RNP approaches was slower than expected5.

In addition, even after completion of the lengthy NEPA process, there is no certainty that approval of new procedures will not be challenged, which can further delay implementa-tion. For example, after an almost-four year development process that included a full environmental review, the FAA approved the “Greener Skies over Seattle” program in November 20126. The program is a joint effort between the FAA and industry stakeholders to phase in RNP/RNAV approaches into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport over new streamlined flight paths7. The process culminated in a final finding that the project would have no signifi-cant environmental impact8. However, as late as September 2012, residents of surrounding communities were con-tinuing to resist the program and even requested additional public meetings and comment periods9.

Very likely in light of this difficult history, the Congress enacted law in

the Reauthorization Bill to, at least in part, ameliorate the problems asso-ciated with environmental approval of NextGen technologies. Section 213 of the Reauthorization Bill directs the FAA to, among other things, begin planning for more substantial deploy-ment of RNP/RNAV flight procedures. Section 213 specifies different substan-tive requirements for the deployment of RNP/RNAV procedures in 35 OEP and RNP in 35 non-OEP terminal envi-ronments. In order to prevent proce-

dures “developed, certified, published, or implemented” under the aegis of Section 213 from being bogged down in environmental review, Congress ordered that such procedures “shall be presumed to be covered by a categor-ical exclusion” unless the FAA deter-mines “extraordinary circumstances” exist10. As such, these procedures would not require the FAA to pre-pare NEPA environmental assessments because they are presumed to “not individually or cumulatively have a sig-nificant effect on the human environ-ment, with the exception of extraordi-nary circumstances...”11 Extraordinary circumstances may include adverse effects on cultural resources, impacts on air or water quality, increase in congestion of surface transportation, and other factors12. Section 213 goes even further: it extends a similar pre-sumption of “no significant affect on the quality of the human environment” to any navigation performance or per-formance-based navigation procedure

The FAA has acknowledged its position will likely delay implementation of the procedures, but made

it clear that it was not going to compromise its environmental stewardship to expedite the process



that the FAA determines would result in “measurable reductions in fuel con-sumption, carbon dioxide emissions, and noise, on a per flight basis, as com-pared to aircraft operations that follow existing instrument flight rules proce-dures in the same airspace.” It further obliges the FAA to issue and file cate-gorical exclusions for such procedures.13

Taken together, these provisions of Section 213 not only allow for the expe-dited creation and use of RNP/RNAV procedures but may also raise the bar for environmental lawsuits seeking to challenge the creation of these proce-dures. Prior to the enactment of Section 213, the FAA had to make a finding that a flight procedure did not “have a significant effect on the human envi-ronment” as a basis for filing a categori-cal exclusion.14 An opponent to the cre-ation or use of such a flight procedure could sue alleging the FAA’s findings were “arbitrary and capricious”.15 In support of such arguments, they would cite to the FAA’s administrative record created in the course of developing or approving the flight procedure.

For the RNP/RNAV procedures developed specifically pursuant to Section 213, the FAA no longer needs to make such findings, as Congress has deemed the procedures presump-tively categorically excluded. This pre-sumption may make it harder for oppo-nents to argue that the FAA actions were “arbitrary and capricious”.16 On the other hand, for other NextGen flight procedures, a categorical exclusion only applies if the FAA makes a determina-tion that a specific procedure reduces fuel consumption, noise, and carbon dioxide emissions. Opponents may be able to challenge such determinations to undermine a presumptive categori-cal exclusion. However, generally as a result of Section 213, there will likely be fewer FAA decisions overall to chal-lenge.

Even though Section 213 is a rel-atively new law, the FAA has already begun implementation of its require-ments. On September 21, 2012, the FAA asked the RTCA NextGen Advisory Committee (“NAC”) to explore how to

References[1.] FAA Modernization and Reform Act of

2012, Pub. L. No. 112-95, 126 Stat. 11 (2012) (hereinafter “Reauthorization Bill”).

[2.] GAO, Aviation Infrastructure: Challenges Related to Building Runways and Actions to Address Them, GAO-03-164 (2003).

[3.] GAO, FAA Airspace Redesign: An Analysis of the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Project 2, GAO-08-786 (2008).

[4.] NextGen: Area Navigation (RNAV)/Required Navigation Performance (RNP) Before the H. S. Comm. on Aviation , 11th Cong. (2009) (statement of Rick Day, Senior Vice President for Operations, Air Traffic Organization).


implement Section 213(c)(2)’s categori-cal exclusion requirement.17 The NAC is preparing a preliminary report, which should be completed by February 2013 and a final report is expected by May 2013.18 Based on a summary of NAC’s October 4, 2012 meeting, NAC is likely to seek broad participation from avi-ation community stakeholders to aid in its review.19 On November 30, 2012, the FAA Air Traffic Organization pub-lished two PBN Implementation Plans for the 35 OEP Airports and the 35 Non-OEP Airports respectively.20 These charts provide a timeline for current and planned RNP/RNAV procedures at the respective airports.21 Finally, on December 6, 2012, the FAA Office of Environment and Energy published a “Guidance for the Implementation of the Categorical Exclusion in Section 213(c)(1) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012”.22

As described above, the FAA is in the early stages of implement-ing Section 213’s requirements, but if appropriately funded and imple-mented, the provisions of Section 213 have the realistic and concrete ability to improve and streamline the RNP/RNAV procedures development pro-cess. Stakeholders may lend mean-ingful support to the FAA’s efforts to invoke the unique authority of Section 213 by providing insightful feedback to the NAC and similar activities.

[5.] 2011 Southwest Airlines One Report 22, 82 (2011), available at http://www.south-westonereport.com/2011/pdfs/2011South-westAirlinesOneReport.pdf.

[6.] FAA, Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) & Record of Decision (ROD) for the Implementation of RNAV/RNP Procedures at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Greener Skies Over Seattle) 2 (Nov. 1, 2012).

[7.] Id. [8.] Id. at 1–2.[9.] Alexa Vaughn, New flight-path worries

South Seattle residents, Seattle Times (Sept. 23, 2012).

[10.] Reauthorization Bill at § 213(c)(1)[11.] FAA Order 1050.1E at 3-1. See also: 40

C.F.R. § 1508.4 [12.] FAA Order 1050.1E at 3-4. [13.] Reauthorization Bill at § 213(c)(2); see also

H.R. Rep. No. 112-381 at 177 (2012) (Conf. Rep.) (Section 213(c)(2) is meant to “require the FAA to provide a categorical exclusion for RNP/RNAV procedures that would lead to a reduction in aircraft fuel consumption, emissions and noise on an average per flight basis.”) .

[14.] FAA Order 1050.1E at 3-1.[15.] 5 U.S.C. § 706[16.] Opponents could argue that the FAA acted

in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner by deciding no “extraordinary circumstances” exist to overcome the statutory presump-tion of categorical exclusion.

[17.] See RTCA, NextGen Advisory Committee Taskings, available at http://www.rtca.org/CMS_DOC/NAC%20Taskings%20statu-sOct2012.pdf.

[18.] Id. [19.] RTCA, Meeting Summary October 4, 2012

NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC), avail-able at http://www.rtca.org/CMS_DOC/Summary%20October%204th%20NAC%20Meeting%20draftwth%20attch.pdf.

[20.] See http://wwv.r.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/procedures/reports/.

[21.] See http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/procedures/reports/media/OEP_Airports.pdf and http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/procedures/reports/media/Non-OEP_Airports.pdf.

[22.] Memorandum from Julie Marks, Manager, Environmental Policy and Operations to FAA Lines of Business Managers with NEPA Responsibilities (Dec. 6, 2012), avail-able at https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/apl/environ_pol-icy_guidance/guidance/media/Guidance_for_ Implementat ion_ of_Categorica l_Exclusion_in_Section213c1.pdf.

Quarter 1 201366

Directory of Member Organizationsmember companies

Academic/Research InstitutionsAims Community College

Greeley, COAdvanced ATC

Valdosta, GAAviation Research & Technology Park, Inc.

Egg Harbor City, NJDowling College School of Aviation

Shirley, NYEmbry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Daytona Beach, FLFAA Academy

Oklahoma City, OKHampton University, Dept. of Aviation

Hampton, VAMiami Dade College-EIG Watson School of Aviation

Homestead, FLMIT Lincoln Laboratory

Lexington, MAMITRE Corporation/CAASD

McLean, VAUniversity of North DakotaCenter for Aerospace Sciences

Grand Forks, NDUniversity of Oklahoma

Norman, OKVaughn College of Aeronautics & Technology

Flushing, NY

Air Navigation Service ProvidersAEROTHAI-Aeronautical Radio of Thailand

Bangkok, ThailandAir Navigation Services of the Czech Republic

Praha, Czech RepublicAirservices Australia

Canberra, AustraliaAirways New Zealand

Wellington, New ZealandAustro Control GmbH

Vienna, AustriaHungaroControl Zrt.

Budapest, HungaryNAV CANADA

Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaROMATSA-Romanian ATS Administration

Bucharest, Romania

Aviation AssociationsAAAE-American Association of Airport Executives

Alexandria, VAAir Lines for America

Washington, DCAir Line Owners & Pilots Association (AOPA)

Frederick, MD

FAA Managers Association Washington, DC

National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA)

Washington, DCNational Safe Skies Alliance

Alcoa, TNProfessional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS)

Washington, DCProfessional Women Controllers (PWC)

Oklahoma City, OK

Civil GovernmentAgencies & FacilitiesCivil Aviation Department

Hong Kong, ChinaDOT/RITA/VOLPE NationalTransportation Systems Center

Cambridge, MAEUROCONTROL

Brussels, BelgiumFAA-ATO

Federal Aviation AdministrationAir Traffic Organization

Washington, DCFAA-ATO Diversity Office

Washington, DCFAA efast Program

Washington, DCFAA Logistics Center

Oklahoma City, OKNASA

Washington, DCNCAR-National Center for Atmospheric Research Applications

Boulder, COWilliam J. Hughes Technical Center

Atlantic City, NJ

Military OrganizationsAmt fuer Flugsicherung der Bundeswehr

Frankfurt, GermanyHQ ACC/A3A

Langley AFB, VAUSAF HQ Air Mobility Command/A3

Scott AFB, ILUSAF Flight Standards Agency-USAFFSA

Oklahoma City, OKUS Army Aeronautical Services Agency-USAASA

Ft. Belvoir, VAUS Army Air Traffic Services Command-USAATSCOM

Ft. Rucker, ALUS Navy SSC LANT-Space & NavalWarfare Systems Center

North Charleston, SC

Industry – Product &Service ProvidersA3 Technology, Inc.

Egg Harbor City, NJAccelerated Development and Support Corp

Arlington, VAAccenture

Reston, VAACS International LLC

Overland Park, KSAdacel Systems, Inc.

Orlando, FLAdvanced Aerospace Solutions, LLC

Raleigh, NCAdvanced C4 Solutions, Inc.

Tampa, FLAdvanced Sciences and Technologies LLC

Berlin, NJAerospace Engineering & ResearchAssociates, Inc.

Owings, MDAirtel ATN

Dublin, IrelandAlion Science & Technology

Alexandria, VAAll Weather, Inc.

Sacramento, CAAntiok Holdings, Inc.

LaPlata, MD

URS-Apptis Chantilly, VA

AARCON Corporation Waltham, MA

ARINC Annapolis, MD

ASRC Research & Technology Solutions

Greenbelt, MDATAC Corporation

Sunnyvale, CAATECH-Negocios Em Technologias

São Paulo, BrazilAvaya Government Solutions Inc.

Fairfax, VAAviation Management Associates, Inc.

Alexandria, VAAvmet Applications Inc.

Reston, VAAydin Displays Inc.

Birdsboro, PAB3 Solutions, LLC

Alexandria, VABarco

Duluth, GABCF Solutions, PMA Division

Arlington, VABCI-Basic Commerce & Industries, Inc.

Moorestown, NJ

The Boeing Company Chantilly, VA

BlueWater Federal Solutions, Inc. Chantilly, VA

Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. McLean, VA

Brandon Technology Consulting, Inc. Hendersonville, TN

C Speed, LLC Liverpool, NY

CGH Technologies, Inc. Washington, DC

ClancyJG International Lancaster, CA

CI2 Aviation, Inc. Dunwoody, GA

CNA Corporation Alexandria, VA

Cobec Consulting, Inc. Washington, DC

Computer Sciences Corporation – CSC

Rockville, MDCOMSOFT

Karlsruhe, GermanyComtech LLC

Reston, VAConcept Solutions LLC

Reston, VACovell Solutions Corporation

Vienna, VACPS Professional Services

Fairfax, VACrown Consulting, Inc.

Washington, DCCSSI, Inc.

Washington, DCDeloitte

McLean, VADIGITALiBiz, Inc.

Gaithersburg, MDDougherty & Associates, Inc. (DAI)

Alexandria, VADovel Technologies

McLean, VADynamic Science, Inc. (DSI)

Phoenix, AZEIS-Enterprise Information Services, Inc.

Vienna, VAEizo Nanao Technologies Inc.

Cypress, CAEMCOR Enclosures

Rochester, MNEngility Corporation

Billerica, MA


Dedicated to delivering quality service for 34 years

7285 W. 132nd, Suite 340

Overland Park, KS 66213

p: 913.782.7082

f: 913.897.9300

Whether you’re looking for air traffic control, weather observing and reporting, training, ground handling, airfield management, or equipment-related mainte-nance services, Midwest ATC has the global experience and expertise to help you reach your destination.

For 34 years, Midwest ATC has been a proven low-risk, efficient and cost-effective service provider of air traffic control services with tested operational procedures to ensure the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of traffic.

With it’s solid reputation, Midwest ATC is dedicated to providing clients with the highest level of service and commitment to safety at a reasonable price.

Highly qualified air traffic controllers, airfield managers and other aviation experts go far beyond the call of duty to deliver a degree of service unsurpassed in the industry. Using Midwest ATC’s flexible and professional approach along with our commitment to excellence will enable you to achieve the success you seek.

ATC • Training • Weather • Consulting

Ground Handling • Airport Operations • Airfield Management

Reach New Heightswith Midwest Air Traffic Control

Advertiser IndexB3 Solutions, LLC .................................................................................................33

Centuria Corporation ......................................................................................... 42

C Speed, LLC ......................................................................................................... 14

Infina, Ltd. ............................................................................................................. 45

Midwest Air Traffic Control Service, Inc. ..............................................Cover 3

NATCA ......................................................................................................................6

NAV CANADA.........................................................................................................4

NEXA Capital Partners, LLC ................................................................................2

Raytheon Company ..................................................................................Cover 4

Telegenix, Inc. .............................................................................................Cover 2

The Boeing Company ........................................................................................ 34

ECS-EnRoute Computer Solutions Egg Harbor Twp, NJ

Evans Consoles Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Exelis McLean, VA

Flatirons Solutions Manassas, VA

FREQUENTIS Vienna, Austria

Gallium Visual Systems Inc. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

General Digital Corporation South Windsor, CT

General Dynamics Scottsdale, AZ Needham, MA

Grant Thornton LLP Alexandria, VA

Harris Corporation Melbourne, FL

Hi-Tec Systems, Inc. Egg Harbor Township, NJ

HP Bethesda, MD

Human Solutions, Inc. Washington, DC

IBM Bethesda, MD

ICF International Fairfax, VA

INECO Madrid, Spain

Intelligent Automation, Inc. Rockville, MD

Inventive Electronics Destin, FL

ISI-Innovative Solutions International

Reston, VAI.S. Technologies LLC dba – CSD LLC

Moore, OKJeppesen – A Boeing Company

Englewood, COJMA Solutions

Washington, DCJoint Venture Associates (JVS), LLC

Washington, DCJTA

Forest Glen, MD

Kearney & Company Alexandria, VA

L-3 Stratis Reston, VA

Landrum & Brown, Inc. Cincinnati, OH

Lockheed Martin Rockville, MD

Logistics Management Institute (LMI) McLean, VA

LS Technologies, LLC Fairfax, VA

Management & Engineering Technologies International (METI)

El Paso, TXMDA Corporation

Richmond, BC Canada

Metron Aviation, Inc. Dulles, VA

MCR LLC McLean, VA

Midwest ATC Service, Inc. Overland Park, KS

Mosaic ATM, Inc. Leesburg, VA

NATS Hampshire, UK

NCI Information Systems, Inc. Reston, VA

NEC Corporation Tokyo, Japan

New Bedford Panoramex Upland, CA

Noblis Falls Church, VA

North Star Group LLC Washington, DC

Northrop Grumman Corporation Fairfax, VA

Orion Systems, Inc. Huntingdon Valley, PA

OST, Inc. Washington, DC

Plantronics, Inc. Santa Cruz, CA

Plastic-View ATC, Inc.

Simi Valley, CAPricewaterhouseCoopers

McLean, VAProfessionals Inc.

Liverpool, NYQinetiQ North America

Reston, VA

Raytheon Company Marlboro, MA

Regulus Group LLC Woodstock, VA

Ricondo & Associates Chicago,IL

Rigil Corporation Washington, DC

Robinson Aviation, Inc. (RVA) Oklahoma City, OK

Rockwell Collins Cedar Rapids, IA

Rohde & Schwarz Columbia, MD

Sabre Flight Explorer Bethesda, MD

SAIC Washington, DC

Searidge Technologies Inc. Hull, Quebec, Canada

SELEX Systems Integration Inc. Overland Park, KS

Saab Sensis Corporation East Syracuse, NY

Serco, Inc. Reston, VA

Sierra Nevada Corporation Sparks, NV

Southern Avionics Company Beaumont, TX

SRA International, Inc. Arlington VA

STR – SpeechTech Ltd. Victoria, BC, Canada

Subsystem Technologies, Inc. Rosslyn, VA

Sunhillo Corporation West Berlin, NJ

SYMVIONICS, Inc. Arcadia, CA

Systems Atlanta, Inc. Lebanon, GA

TASC Inc. Chantilly, VA

Technical And Project Engineering –LLC (TAPE)

Kingstowne, VATELEGENIX, Inc.

Cherry Hill, NJTelephonics Corporation

Farmingdale, NYTetra Tech AMT

Washington, DCThales ATM, Inc.

Shawnee, KSTKO’s-Technical Knockouts

East Syracuse, NYUFA, Inc.

Woburn, MAURS Corporation

Tampa, FLVaisala

Louisville, COVeracity Engineering

Washington, DC(WCG)-Washington Consulting Group, Inc.

Bethesda, MDWhitney, Bradley & Brown Inc

Reston, VAWIDE USA Corporation

Tustin, CAWyle

McLean, VAYoung Enterprise Systems, Inc.

Reston, VA

Dedicated to progress in the science of Air Traffic Control

member companies


Quarter 1 201368

Dedicated to delivering quality service for 34 years

7285 W. 132nd, Suite 340

Overland Park, KS 66213

p: 913.782.7082

f: 913.897.9300

Whether you’re looking for air traffic control, weather observing and reporting, training, ground handling, airfield management, or equipment-related mainte-nance services, Midwest ATC has the global experience and expertise to help you reach your destination.

For 34 years, Midwest ATC has been a proven low-risk, efficient and cost-effective service provider of air traffic control services with tested operational procedures to ensure the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of traffic.

With it’s solid reputation, Midwest ATC is dedicated to providing clients with the highest level of service and commitment to safety at a reasonable price.

Highly qualified air traffic controllers, airfield managers and other aviation experts go far beyond the call of duty to deliver a degree of service unsurpassed in the industry. Using Midwest ATC’s flexible and professional approach along with our commitment to excellence will enable you to achieve the success you seek.

ATC • Training • Weather • Consulting

Ground Handling • Airport Operations • Airfield Management

Reach New Heightswith Midwest Air Traffic Control

AIR TRAFFICMANAGEMENT

SAFER SKIESFROM TAKEOFF

TO TOUCHDOWN.For more than 60 years, Raytheon has delivered the most

innovative Air Traffi c Management (ATM) solutions. We invented or perfected many of the technologies that

form the backbone of today’s global ATM infrastructure, and continue to pioneer training and innovation that provide safe transportation for more passengers than

any company in the world. Raytheon solutions will make it possible for initiatives like NextGen to modernize the

airspace and enhance customer safety.

© 2013 Raytheon Company. All rights reserved. “Customer Success Is Our Mission” is a registered trademark of Raytheon Company.

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