But in addition to communications in oceanic airspace, satellite networks can also provide oceanic ADS-B surveillance. Instead of oceanic surveillance being far less good than radar surveillance over land, satellite-based ADS-B surveillance should provide position accuracy far better than radar. Iridium this year announced that its next satellite constellation—IridiumNEXT—will include ADS-B receivers that can pick up ADS-B transmissions from equipped aircraft and relay the data to the ANSP centers responsible for the flights in question. The first of these satellites will be launched in 2015, with the full constellation in place by 2018. They are being built for Iridium by Thales Alenia.

Global space-based ADS-B will not only massively improve surveillance in oceanic airspace. It will also bring full coverage to polar routes and to remote and mountainous regions of the globe where installation of a network of ground stations would be costly and difficult (as would be their maintenance). Consequently, space-based ADS-B appears to be a major breakthrough for next-generation air traffic management. Former FAA ATO chief Russ Chew, now with NEXA Capital Partners, told Airspace magazine that “Space-based ADS-B is a real game changer for air traffic control. ATC over remote areas is going to be revolutionized, because the ability to provide radar-like surveillance in these areas has never existed before.”

Late last month the FAA has announced a market survey to identify potential providers of satellite-based ADS-B. An article in Flight Global noted that in addition to Iridium, an Alaska company called ADS-B Technologies hopes to provide ADS-B equipment on a constellation of Globalstar satellites.

Source: Reason Foundation

Australia’s air traffic control surveillance future is tied to ADS-B – a satellite based air navigation system that enables aircraft to be accurately tracked by air traffic controllers, and other pilots, without the need for conventional radar.

Due to come into affect on 12 December 2013, the mandate, introduced by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority in 2009, requires operators of aircraft flying at and above FL290 to have ADS-B equipment installed and operating correctly.

Given the timeframes associated with equipment installation, Airservices is encouraging all operators have ADS-B in advance of the mandate.

“We are now seeing over 70 per cent of all international flights flying in our flight information region getting the ADS-B service,” said Airservices senior engineering specialist and ADS-B program manager, Greg Dunstone. “A small number of airlines and business jet operators appear to have not yet made the move to have ADS-B installed. We would emphasise the need for them to get a move on as we do not anticipate that CASA will grant exemptions.”

Benefits of ADS-B equippage include reduced separation standards for aircraft, which translates to fewer delays, reduced use of stepped climbs and descents and more clearances granted to fly requested routes or levels.

Non-ABS-B equipped aircraft will be restricted to operate below FL290, resulting in less operational flexibility and the potential for delays due to the procedural separation standards will be applied outside radar airspace.

Source: Airservices Australia

More than 25,000 helicopter flights carry a half million passengers annually between Aberdeen Airport and the oil and gas operations in the North Sea through airspace that is inaccessible to shore-based radars. Low-level radar coverage only extends 80 miles off-shore, forcing controllers to rely on pilot’s positional radio updates every 10 minutes. Deploying traditional radar was not an effective or economical solution due to performance limitations at low flight levels and overall costs. To close this gap in surveillance, NATS chose Saab Sensis WAM to cover 25,000 square miles of the North Sea, using multilateration sensors placed on 16 oil platforms, including a floating platform with positional changes of up to 100 meters. In December 2010, the system became the first operational, certified WAM deployment for air traffic control of off-shore helicopter traffic.

“The North Sea WAM system is a significant achievement in the advancement of flight safety by enabling traditional radar-like traffic services and precise flight location in the event of a search and rescue operation in a challenging area that was previously without comprehensive radar coverage,” said Paul Reid, managing director, NATS Services. “The NATS and Saab Sensis teams designed an innovative ATM solution tailored for a complex offshore environment. We are honoured to receive this prestigious award from ATCA recognizing the importance of off-shore helicopter flight safety.”

Saab Sensis multilateration uses multiple low-maintenance, non-rotating sensors to triangulate aircraft locations based on transponder signals to provide air traffic controllers with precise aircraft position and identification information regardless of weather conditions. With a higher update rate and greater positional accuracy than traditional radar, Saab Sensis multilateration provides effective surveillance for increased safety, capacity and efficiency of airspace. By employing advanced processing techniques, a Saab Sensis multilateration system uses the minimal number of sensors for a less complex, lower lifecycle cost solution. Additionally, each multilateration sensor deployed by Saab Sensis supports Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B), providing an infrastructure that is ready for today’s surveillance needs and tomorrow’s avionics.

“The ATCA Award further validates the use of WAM as an effective solution for the enhancement of flight safety in a challenging off-shore environment,” said Ken Kaminski, vice president and general manager of Saab Sensis. “Saab Sensis is proud that NATS has been recognized by ATCA for their visionary approach to off-shore flight safety.”

In addition to enhancing safety, the WAM system is being used to make helicopter traffic routes more efficient. Helicopters used very strict Helicopter Main Routes (HMR), based on a VHF Omni-directional Range (VOR) north of Aberdeen Airport in 3-degree intervals alternating between incoming and outgoing traffic. While this approach avoids conflicts, it is not always the most efficient flight path to a given destination. With WAM, pilots must still adhere to HMRs, but controllers can now release them to fly more direct routes, saving an estimated 74000kgs of fuel per year.

Source: Saab Sensis Corporation

The system know as INTAS, or Integrated Tower Automation Suite, will be installed in 4 new control towers currently under construction at Adelaide, Broome, Melbourne and Rockhampton.  The cutting edge system is being supplied under a contract awarded to Sensis Corporation and strategic partner NAV CANADA.

INTAS is scalable and adaptable sytem designed to support sites ranging from major international airports to general aviation facilities.  All suites will interface with The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System (TAAATS) – Australia’s Terminal, En Route and Oceanic control system.

Presently the Ekofisk airspace, with over 160,000 annual helicopter passengers served by Stavanger Airport, uses Avinor’s Modified – Automatic Dependent Surveillance (a propriety system that employs GPS and a geostationary satellite communications link) and partial radar coverage to provide Flight Information Service and Alerting Service. With the Sensis ADS-B deployment, the airspace will be upgraded to support Air Traffic Control Service with a minimum separation of five nautical miles. The ADS-B system will consist of a number of ground stations established at both offshore and onshore installations. The ADS-B technology complements the surface multilateration surveillance system Sensis is delivering to Bergen Airport.

“Enhancing the safety of helicopter traffic in these busy areas is of highest importance to Avinor,” said Knut Skaar, Chief Executive Avinor ANS. “Sensis delivered the economically most advantageous tender for the delivery of said systems, and based upon the company’s technical solution and proven track record in deploying oil and gas platform surveillance systems, we believe that the Sensis’ solution also will contribute to Avinor’s continuous efforts in order to improve safety.”

Sensis pioneered the development and implementation of ADS-B, fielding the first operational ADS-B transceivers for both the Mode S Extended Squitter (1090 ES) and Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) datalinks. All Sensis ADS-B transceivers are also capable of transponder multilateration, enabling independent verification of ADS-B data and serving as an auxiliary system. Sensis ADS-B provides ASTERIX CAT21 output, fully meeting all ED-129 requirements.

“Sensis is the industry’s proven leader in delivering next generation surveillance systems in one of the world’s the toughest environments – offshore oil and gas platforms,” said Ken Kaminski, vice president and general manager of Sensis Air Traffic Systems. “The ADS-B system will provide Avinor air traffic controllers with highly accurate location and identification of helicopter flights at all times to improve safety and provide precise location information in the event of search and rescue operations.”

Sensis established the use of ADS-B for tracking of flights in an offshore oil and gas platform environment through the NASA Helicopter In-flight Tracking System program in 2001. In 2010, the company’s Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) system for NATS in the North Sea became the industry’s first certified, operational WAM system for offshore surveillance of helicopter traffic.

Source: Sensis