ADB, a world leader in airfield lighting solutions, launches the new ADB Field Sensor (AFS) to monitor the exact position of aircraft and vehicles at dedicated locations of the airside. This greatly contributes to the situational awareness of controllers and pilots, enhancing ground traffic safety and efficiency at airports. The sensor will serve both small and large airports as a cost-efficient means to ensure partial surveillance and to complement existing radar systems.
Most of the large airports and airfields operating under challenging visibility conditions are equipped with ground radars, multilateration receivers and / or ADS-B to monitor the entire operating domain. However, the physical limitations of these central surveillance systems sometimes contribute to reducing data accuracy over the entire airside. Non compliance with the ICAO requirements of 7m detection accuracy at all safety positions is reported on many occasions. Small and medium airports, which often cannot afford such expensive technology, rely on human sight for a situational overview of the airport. Needless to say that this can cause many problems when the visibility is limited due to fog, dust, fading daylight or buildings in the line of sight.
Therefore, additional local sensors at key locations (including intersections and runway entries) can be a very useful means to complement the situational awareness at airports. ADB is now launching a new field sensor, using proven near range radar technology, allowing small airports to supervise critical holding positions and large airports to fill in the gaps of their existing monitoring system. The installation of such local field sensors interfacing with the central working position of the ground controller provides a complementary view on the safety zone.
The specifications of the AFS have been defined in line with the needs of both future users and system integrators. It consists of a single component which is installed on one side of the paved area only, and is kept very simple, so it is mechanically and electrically robust. The necessary cabling for power supply and signal transmission is minimal, reducing the installation costs. In fact, if the airport has an individual lamp control and monitoring system installed, this local field bus system using power line communication on existing series current circuits can easily serve as an interface to the sensor. Using the existing systems not only reduces the installation costs, but also limits downtime of ATC operations during implementation. To ensure continuous transparency of the sensor status, the sensor performs regular automatic self-tests to confirm its 24/7 availability and warns if it is out of service or needs adjusting.
At airports operating under limited visibility conditions, the air traffic controllers typically ensure a larger spacing between aircraft for safety reasons. This leads to reduced throughput, resulting in less movements per hour and longer waiting lines. However, if the AFS provides the information required to exactly locate all airplanes and vehicles, a more steady flow of ground traffic and partial avoidance of unnecessary stop-and-go of taxing aircraft can be achieved. This allows controllers to manage a higher traffic throughput in low visibility conditions, thus improving airport efficiency.
The AFS local radar sensor is the key element of ADB's innovative Runway Incursion Alerting System (RIAS), alerting pilots with light signals if they enter the runway without clearance. Power supply and communication of sensor signals and commands for dynamic switching of warning lights are done via AGLAS, ADB's Individual Lamp Control and Monitoring System (ILCMS). This full integration of sensors into the airfield lighting system is the most economic system solution for partial surveillance and visual guidance in safety areas.
Future possible applications include speed detection of moving objects and hence allow early visual warnings in case speeding aircraft or vehicles approach an active holding position or restricted area.
"Our new ADB Field Sensor fulfils multiple surveillance tasks on the airside and solves the shortcomings characteristic of existing induction loops and transmitter-receiver microwave barriers," says Thomas Kamm, product manager at ADB. "These existing field sensors require additional investments in infrastructure for power supply, communication cabling and signal processor units in the substations. Furthermore, regular maintenance efforts are needed in case of cable defects in the paved area or for the re-adjustment of sensor range and sensitivity. Up until now, however, there was no real alternative. We are therefore very happy to launch our near range radar sensor, which not only has a very low total cost of ownership, but also features a number of very interesting operational applications. The sensor was already successfully tested in operational field trials at Frankfurt Airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Roma Fiumicino and will be available on the market at the end of 2011."
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