Considerations on symbology, data requirements, and operational concept for integral NOTAM visualization on airport moving map displays

Christoph Vernaleken; Carole Urvoy; Uwe Klingauf

doi:10.1117/12.777946

Translator Disclaimer

15 April 2008 Considerations on symbology, data requirements, and operational concept for integral NOTAM visualization on airport moving map displays

Christoph Vernaleken, Carole Urvoy, Uwe Klingauf

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6957, Enhanced and Synthetic Vision 2008; 69570M (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.777946
Event: SPIE Defense and Security Symposium, 2008, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

Surface Movement is one of the most challenging phases of flight. To support the flight crew in this critical flight phase and to prevent serious incidents and accidents, of which Runway Incursions are the by far most safety-critical, the electronic airport moving map display has evolved as the key technology to increase the flight crew's situational awareness on the airport surface over the past decade. However, the airport moving map is limited to quasi-static airport information due to the envisaged 28 day update cycle of the underlying Aerodrome Mapping Database (AMDB), and thus does not include information on safety-relevant short-term and temporary changes such as runway closures or restrictions. Currently, these are conveyed on paper through the Pre-Flight Information Bulletin (PIB), a plain-language compilation of current Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) and other information of urgent character. In this context, the advent of airport moving map technology leads to a disparity in the conspicuousness of information, resulting in the danger that e.g. a runway that is not displayed as closed on the airport moving map might be perceived as open even if contrary NOTAM information exists on paper elsewhere in the cockpit. This calls for an integrated representation of PIB/NOTAM and airport moving map information. Piloted evaluations conducted by the Institute of Flight Systems and Automatic Control have already confirmed the high operational relevance of presenting runway closures on an airport moving map. Based on the results of these trials, this paper expands our previous work by addressing the various pre-requisites of an integral NOTAM visualization, ranging from the development of appropriate symbology to an operational concept enabling the transition from conventional to electronic, machine-readable NOTAM information without shifting responsibility and workload from the dispatcher to the flight deck. Employing Synthetic Vision techniques, a complete symbology set for various cases of runway closures and other applicable runway and airport restrictions is derived, and the requirements on the underlying machine-readable NOTAM data are discussed. Finally, the concept of an electronic Pre-Flight Information Bulletin (ePIB) is used to facilitate the gradual integration of this technology in an airline operational workflow.

Citation Download Citation

Christoph Vernaleken, Carole Urvoy, and Uwe Klingauf "Considerations on symbology, data requirements, and operational concept for integral NOTAM visualization on airport moving map displays", Proc. SPIE 6957, Enhanced and Synthetic Vision 2008, 69570M (15 April 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.777946

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE