TAAM

In the air transport system, time and capacity are scarce resources. This issue is crucial, given constant traffic growth. As such, a need for new and improved procedures and designs is ever present.

Overview

The Fast-time Simulation software platform used by ATNS is Jeppesen’s Total Airspace and Airport Modeller (TAAM®). It is a fast-time gate-to-gate simulation tool that accurately analyses the impact of present and future airspace and airport operations, while maintaining safety and efficiency.

The tool is capable of simulating aircraft operations in detail, on the ground as well as in the air. The tool presents realistic 4D (3D plus time) models of airspace and airports to facilitate decision support, planning and analysis with unlimited ‘what if’ scenario capabilities.

Simulations are processed in fast-time enabling you to obtain results quickly and evaluate a wider range of scenarios. New operational procedures and system concepts can be assessed quickly in terms of benefits, so that the most promising ones can be selected for further evaluation. Furthermore, data outputs resulting from Fast-time Simulations can be used for statistical analyses as outputs include fuel usage, capacity figures etc.

Analysis and benefits

TAAM data can easily be pulled into an ATC playback software tool which can display actual radar tracks flown. In the design phase of projects, bottlenecks can be identified at an early stage, allowing the design to be improved before realisation of the project, thus avoiding high and unnecessary costs. Benefits for using Fast-time Simulation include but are not limited to:

• analyses the impacts of global growth in air traffic;
• an increase in traffic flow and airspace utilisation while maintaining safety;
• analyses capacity for national route structures, airport ground movement and airspaces with current and future traffic levels;
• redesign, resectorisation and reclassification of airspace;
• evaluation of the implications of introducing new en-route and terminal procedures, routes and airspaces; and
• analyses the effectiveness of RNAV and RNP procedures.

The persons responsible for Fast-time Simulation at ATNS are Specialists: Airspace Modelling and Simulation in the Planning, Research and Development Section of ATM.

Luciad

The ATM department provides plans, guidelines and leadership on the establishment of long-term ATM systems to enable the effective and efficient service delivery of ATNS into the future.

A complete ATM visualisation and analysis tool analyses recorded radar data and reads analysis data produced by a simulator. The application offers a customisable and user-friendly tool to graphically visualise analysis results and offers various textual and graphical tools.

Overview

The complete ATM visualisation and analyses tool used by ATNS is Luciad ATCPlayback. This tool enables users to graphically replay and intuitively analyse simulations by importing project files directly from the Fast-time Simulation tool (TAAM) used by ATNS. It also provides the user with the capability of displaying historical recorded radar data.

Users benefit from the interactive and easy-to-use capabilities of Luciad ATCPlayback providing valuable insight into air traffic simulation data in an efficient way. The tool also includes strong reporting capabilities which have proven to be essential during ATC analysis and the decision-making process.

Visualisation includes 2D and 3D views with flexible filtering and styling either directly or using specific user rule bases. A 3D camera path can also be set up and attached to an aircraft for display purposes. Analysis of data can be displayed in densities of trajectories, conflicts, conflict trails, waypoint movements and flight plans.

Analysis and benefits

Benefits of using an ATM visualisation and analysis tool include but are not limited to:

• graphical reporting capability to stakeholders for strategic air and airport traffic capacity planning;
• providing state-of-the-art visualisation for ATC Fast-time Simulations;
• intuitive and highly interactive graphical analysis capability;
• redesign, resectorisation and reclassification of airspace;
• evaluation of the implications of introducing new en-route and terminal procedures, routes and airspaces;
• effectiveness of RNAV and RNP procedures;
• analyses of radar trajectories in relation to sector capacity numbers that can be used as part of the traffic forecasting process within ATNS; and
• waypoint density counts.

The persons responsible for using the complete ATM visualisation and analyses tool at ATNS include Specialists: Airspace Modelling and Simulation, ATM planners and ATM specialists in the Planning, Research and Development Section of ATM.