The Airports Authority of India (AAI) under the Ministry of
Civil Aviation is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure in India. It provides Air traffic management (ATM) services over Indian airspace and adjoining oceanic areas. It also manages a total of 125 Airports, including 11 International Airports, 8 Customs Airports, 81 Domestic Airports and 25 civil enclaves at Military Airfields. AAI also has ground installations at all airports and 25 other locations to ensure safety of aircraft operations. AAI covers all major air-routes over Indian landmass via 29 Radar installations at 11 locations along with 89 VOR/DVOR installations co-located with Distance Measuring Equipment (DME). 52 runways are provided with Instrument landing system (ILS) installations with Night Landing Facilities at most of these airports and Automatic Message Switching System at 15 Airports.
AAI has four training establishments viz. The Civil Aviation Training College (CATC) at Allahabad , National Institute of Aviation Management and Research (NIAMAR) at Delhi and Fire Training Centres (FTC) at Delhi & Kolkata. An Aerodrome Visual Simulator (AVS) has been provided at CATC and non-radar procedural ATC simulator equipment is being supplied to CATC Allahabad and Hyderabad Airport.
Functions
Design, Development, Operation and Maintenance of international and domestic airports and civil enclaves. Control and Management of the Indian airspace extending beyond the territorial limits of the country, as accepted by ICAO. Construction, Modification and Management of passenger terminals. Development and Management of cargo terminals at international and domestic airports. Provision of passenger facilities and information system at the passenger terminals at airports. Expansion and strengthening of operation area, viz. Runways, Aprons, Taxiway etc. Provision of visual aids. Provision of Communication and Navigation aids, viz. ILS, DVOR, DME, Radar, etc.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground- based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airspace. The primary purpose of ATC worldwide is to prevent collisions, organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and provide information and other support for pilots. [1] In some countries, ATC plays a security or defensive role, or is operated by the military. To prevent collisions, ATC enforces traffic separation rules, which ensure each aircraft maintains a minimum amount of empty space around it at all times. Many aircraft also have collision avoidance systems, which provide additional safety by warning pilots when other aircraft get too close.
FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF ATC
Air Traffic Services Air traffic Control Services Flight Information Services Alerting Services Aeronautical Information Services Search and Rescue Airspace Management Surveillance over VIP areas Billing NOC
WORKING OF ATC UNITS
OBJECTIVES:
Prevent collision between aircraft.
Prevent collision between aircraft on the maneuvering area and obstructions on that area.
Expedite and maintain an orderly flow of air traffic.
Provide advice and information useful for the safe and efficient conduct of flights.
Notify appropriate organisations regarding aircraft in need of search and rescue aid, and assist such organisations as required.
VARIOUS ATS UNITS
SMC (SURFACE MOVEMENT CONTROL): Controls movement of Aircraft (Startup & Taxi clearance), vehicles and persons on ground. ADC (AERODROME CONTROL TOWER): Controls movement of Aircraft (Landing & Take off) and vehicles on Runway. APP/TAR (APPROACH CONTROL): Controls Aircraft during climb and descend of arriving/departing aircraft within 60 miles of an airport. ACC/RSR (ROUTE SURVEILLENCE RADAR): Controls Aircraft during climb and descend and level flight of arriving/departing/over-flying aircraft beyond 60 miles of an airport. FIC FLIGHT INFORMATION CENTER: Maintains flight plans of all active and inactive flights; helps in search and rescue of flights in distress ARO ATS REPORTING OFFICE: Scrutinizes and accept flight plans; Provides/receives all operational briefing to/from the pilots. Also coordinates with Airline operators/ Military liaison units. WSO (WATCH SUPERVISORY OFFICER): Operational as well as administrative in-charge on round the clock basis. TRAINING CELL: Provides training for independent control in real as well as in simulated environments (using SIMULATOR) for working in different ATS units. RNFC (ROUTE NAVIGATION FACILITY CHARGES): Raises bills for navigation/landing/Passenger Service Fee. SEARCH AND RESCUE UNIT: Maintains a record of all documents / Charts / Important Telephone numbers for the purpose of Search & Rescue. AIS (AERONAUTICAL INFORMATION SERVICES): Collection, collation, compilation and dissemination of information that is of operational importance for ATC units.
NAVIGATION AIDS The process or activity of accurately ascertaining one's position and planning and following a route is known as navigation. The equipments and systems which together help in navigation are known as Navigation Aids (also known as aid to navigation, ATON, or navaid). Navigational Aids consist of the following: 1. INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM An instrument landing system (ILS) is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), such as low ceilings or reduced visibility due to fog, rain, or blowing snow. Radio-navigation aids must provide a certain accuracy (set by international standards of CAST/ICAO); to ensure this is the case, flight inspection organizations periodically check critical parameters with properly equipped aircraft to calibrate and certify ILS precision. An aircraft approaching a runway is guided by the ILS receivers in the aircraft by performing modulation depth comparisons. Many aircraft can route signals into the autopilot to fly the approach automatically. An ILS consists of two independent sub-systems. The localizer provides lateral guidance; the glide slope provides vertical guidance. (i) LOCALIZER A localizer is an antenna array normally located beyond the departure end of the runway and generally consists of several pairs of directional antennas. Two signals are transmitted on one of 40 ILS channels. One is modulated at 90 Hz, the other at 150 Hz. These are transmitted from co-located antennas. Each antenna transmits a narrow beam, one slightly to the left of the runway centerline, the other slightly to the right. The localizer receiver on the aircraft measures the difference in the depth of modulation (DDM) of the 90 Hz and 150 Hz signals. The depth of modulation for each of the modulating frequencies is 20 percent. The difference between the two signals varies depending on the deviation of the approaching aircraft from the centerline. If there is a predominance of either 90 Hz or 150 Hz modulation, the aircraft is off the centerline. In the cockpit, the needle on the instrument part of the ILS (the omni-bearing indicator (nav indicator), horizontal situation indicator (HSI), or course deviation indicator (CDI)) shows that the aircraft needs to fly left or right to correct the error to fly toward the center of the runway. If the DDM is zero, the aircraft is on the LOC centerline coinciding with the physical runway centerline. The pilot controls the aircraft so that the indicator remains centered on the display (i.e., it provides lateral guidance). (ii) Glide slope (GS) or glide path (GP) A glide-slope station is an antenna array sited to one side of the runway touchdown zone. The GS signal is transmitted on a carrier frequency using a technique similar to that for the localizer. The center of the glide-slope signal is arranged to define a glide path of approximately 3 above horizontal (ground level). The beam is 1.4 deep (0.7 below the glide-path center and 0.7 above). The pilot controls the aircraft so that the glide-slope indicator remains centered on the display to ensure the aircraft is following the glide path to remain above obstructions and reach the runway at the proper touchdown point (i.e., it provides vertical guidance).
Carrier frequency pairings for localizer and glide slope LOC and GS carrier frequencies are paired so that the navigation radio automatically tunes the GS frequency which corresponds to the selected LOC frequency. [2]
LOC carrier frequencies range between 108.10 MHz and 111.95 MHz (with the 100 kHz first decimal digit always odd, so 108.10, 108.15, 108.30, etc., are LOC frequencies and are not used for any other purpose). Limitations Due to the complexity of ILS localizer and glide-slope systems, there are some limitations. Localizer systems are sensitive to obstructions in the signal broadcast area like large buildings or hangars. Glide slope systems are also limited by the terrain in front of the glide slope antennas. If terrain is sloping or uneven, reflections can create an uneven glidepath causing unwanted needle deflections. Additionally, since the ILS signals are pointed in one direction by the positioning of the arrays, glide slope supports only straight-line approaches with a constant angle of descent. Installation of an ILS can be costly because of siting criteria and the complexity of the antenna system. ILS critical areas and ILS sensitive areas are established to avoid hazardous reflections that would affect the radiated signal. The location of these critical areas can prevent aircraft from using certain taxiways [3] leading to delays in takeoffs, increased hold times, and increased separation between aircraft.
Identification In addition to the previously mentioned navigational signals, the localizer provides for ILS facility identification by periodically transmitting a 1,020 Hz Morse code identification signal. This lets users know the facility is operating normally and that they are tuned to the correct ILS. The glide-slope station transmits no identification signal, so ILS equipment relies on the localizer for identification Monitoring It is essential that any failure of the ILS to provide safe guidance be detected immediately by the pilot. To achieve this, monitors continually assess the vital characteristics of the transmissions. If any significant deviation beyond strict limits is detected, either the ILS is automatically switched off or the navigation and identification components are removed from the carrier. [6] Either of these actions will activate an indication ('failure flag') on the instruments of an aircraft using the ILS. (iii) MARKER BEACONS On some installations, marker beacons operating at a carrier frequency of 75 MHz are provided. When the transmission from a marker beacon is received it activates an indicator on the pilot's instrument panel and the tone of the beacon is audible to the pilot. The distance from the runway at which this indication should be received is published in the documentation for that approach, together with the height at which the aircraft should be if correctly established on the ILS. This provides a check on the correct function of the glide slope. In modern ILS installations, a DME is installed, co- located with the ILS, to augment or replace marker beacons. A DME continuously displays the aircraft's distance to the runway.
Outer marker ( 3.9 NM from touchdown ) ( colour: blue ) Middle Marker ( 0.94 NM or 1750 m from touchdown ) ( colour: amber ) Inner Marker ( 0.54 NM or 1000 m from touchdown ) ( colour: white) (iv) DME Distance measuring equipment (DME) provides pilots with a slant range measurement of distance to the runway in nautical miles. DMEs are augmenting or replacing markers in many installations. The DME provides more accurate and continuous monitoring of correct progress on the ILS glide slope to the pilot, and does not require an installation outside the airport boundary. When used in conjunction with an ILS, the DME is often sited midway between the reciprocal runway thresholds with the internal delay modified so that one unit can provide distance information to either runway threshold. For approaches where a DME is specified in lieu of marker beacons, DME Required is noted on the Instrument Approach Procedure and the aircraft must have at least one operating DME unit to begin the approach. The DME system is composed of a UHF transmitter/receiver (interrogator) in the aircraft and a UHF receiver/transmitter (transponder) on the ground Aircraft use DME to determine their distance from a land-based transponder by sending and receiving pulse pairs two pulses of fixed duration and separation. The ground stations are typically co- located with VORs. A typical DME ground transponder system for en- route or terminal navigation will have a 1 kW peak pulse output on the assigned UHF channel. A low-power DME can also be co-located with an ILS glide slope antenna installation where it provides an accurate distance to touchdown function, similar to that otherwise provided by ILS Marker Beacons. DME facilities identify themselves with a 1350 Hz Morse code three letter identity. If collocated with a VOR or ILS, it will have the same identity code as the parent facility. Additionally, the DME will identify itself between those of the parent facility. The DME identity is 1350 Hz to differentiate itself from the 1020 Hz tone of the VOR or the ILS localizer.
A radio signal takes approximately 12.36 microseconds to travel 1 nautical mile (1,852 m) to the target and backalso referred to as a radar-mile. The time difference between interrogation and reply, minus the 50 microsecond ground transponder delay, is measured by the interrogator's timing circuitry and converted to a distance measurement (slant range), in nautical miles, then displayed on the cockpit DME display. The distance formula, distance = rate * time, is used by the DME receiver to calculate its distance from the DME ground station. The rate in the calculation is the velocity of the radio pulse, which is the speed of light (roughly 300,000,000 m/s or 186,000 mi/s). The time in the calculation is (total time 50s)/2.
It is placed with GP in I.G.I. airport and it is used to calculate distance from touch down point. The range of DME placed in I.G.I. airport is 200 nautical miles
2. VOR- VHF Omnidirectional Radio Range VOR is an abbreviation for "VHF Omnidirectional Radio Range", which implies that it operates in the VHF band. Adopted by ICAO as early as 1960, VOR has been the main short-range navigational aid for several years. Short range infers that ranges up to 200 NM. It enables aircrafts to determine their position and stay on course by receiving radio signals transmitted by a network of fixed ground radio beacons, with a receiver unit. It uses radio frequencies in the very high frequency(VHF) band from 108 to 117.95 MHz. Developed in the US beginning in 1937 and deployed by 1946, VOR is the standard air navigational system in the world, used by both commercial and general aviation. As opposed to the NDB, which transmits a non- directional signal, the signal transmitted by the VOR contains directional information. They are of 2 types: DVOR and CVOR (a) Conventional VOR
A conventional VOR (CVOR) has three Amplitude Modulated (AM) signals encoded on a VHF carrier: 1) a 30 Hz variable (VAR), which is modulated by the antenna, not the transmitter; 2) a 9960 Hz subcarrier, which is in turn frequency modulated (FM) with a 30 Hz reference (REF) signal; 3) and a voice / identifier channel, which includes 1020 Hz "Morse code" identifiers and aural voice signals.
(b) Doppler VOR
VOR Applications Homing & tracking to a VOR. Tracking from a VOR. Position fixes. If two VORs are in range then the bearing from each can be ascertained, roughly plotted on the chart [after converting to true bearings] and the aircraft position will be close to the intersection point of the LOPs. Alternatively a VOR bearing and a NDB bearing can be used or a VOR bearing and a line feature on the chart, the latter technique being the most frequently used. Running fix / distance from VOR. (DVOR provides an angle ranging from 0-60 degrees) 3. Non Directional Beacon A non-directional (radio) beacon (NDB) is a radio transmitter at a known location, used as an aviation or marine navigational aid. As the name implies, the signal transmitted does not include inherent directional information, in contrast to other navigational aids such as low frequency radio range, VHF omnidirectional range (VOR). NDB signals follow the curvature of the Earth, so they can be received at much greater distances at lower altitudes, a major advantage over VOR. However, NDB signals are also affected more by atmospheric conditions, mountainous terrain, coastal refraction and electrical storms, particularly at long range. Range higher than Beacon around 1000 nautical miles. NDBs typically operate in the frequency range from 190 kHz to 535 kHz (although they are allocated frequencies from 190 to 1750 kHz) and transmit a carrier modulated by either 400 or 1020 Hz. NDBs can also be colocated with DME in a similar installation for the ILS as the outer marker, only in this case, they function as the inner marker. NDB owners are mostly governmental agencies and airport authorities. NDBs are most commonly used as markers or "locators" for an instrument landing system (ILS) approach or standard approach .NDB navigation consists of two parts the automatic direction finder (or ADF) equipment on the aircraft that detects an NDB's signal, The ADF can also locate transmitters in the standard AM medium wave broadcast band the NDB transmitter Relative Bearing The angle between NDB and nose of the aircraft in clockwise direction is called relative bearing. ADF equipment determines the direction to the NDB station relative to the aircraft. This may be displayed on a relative bearing indicator (RBI).
NDB Errors: Thunderstorms emit electrical energy in the NDB band and will deflect the ADF needle towards the storm. Electrical interference. Attitude effects. The indicated bearing will not be accurate whilst the aircraft is banked. Terrain and coastal effects. In mountainous areas NDB signals may be reflected by the terrain which can cause the bearing indications to fluctuate. Ground waves are refracted when passing across coast lines at low angles and this will affect the indicated bearing for an aircraft tracking to seaward and following the shore line.
Main Applications Enroute: helps in finding the correct route Holding: if the runway is not free currently then the aircraft can be instructed to hold to a particular distance and keep circling with the distance as the radius Homing: it points to the position to reach to(destination).
VHF - VERY HIGH FREQUENCY
VHF FREQUENCY RANGE - (117.975 - 136.975) MHz USERS - ATCO (Air Traffic Controllers), Airlines/Defense Pilots.
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU-designated range [1] of radio frequency electromagnetic waves from 30 MHz to 300 MHz, with corresponding wavelengths of one to ten meters. Common uses for VHF are FM radio broadcasting, television broadcasting, land mobile stations (emergency, business, private use and military), long range data communication up to several tens of kilometres with radio modems, amateur radio, and marine communications. Air traffic control communications and air navigation systems (e.g. VOR, DME & ILS) work up to a distance of 200 nautical miles VHF propagation characteristics are ideal for short-distance terrestrial communication, with a range generally somewhat farther than line-of-sight from the transmitter. Unlike high frequencies (HF), the ionosphere does not usually reflect VHF waves (called skywave propagation) so transmissions are restricted to the local radio horizon less than 100 miles. VHF is also less affected by atmospheric noise and interference from electrical equipment than lower frequencies. While it is blocked by land features such as hills and mountains, it is less affected by buildings and can be received indoors, although multipath television reception due to reflection from buildings can be a problem in urban areas. ANTENNAS VHF is the first band at which wavelengths are small enough to make efficient transmitting antennas for handheld devices, so the VHF and UHF wavelengths are used for handheld transceivers and walkie talkies. Fixed station antennas are usually based on the dipole, while portable radios usually use whips or rubber ducky antennas. The Yagi antenna is the most widely used as a high gain or "beam" antenna. VHF Range assigned to AAI: 108 MHz 156 MHz
The VHF unit of Airports Authority of India provides for the following functions- o Maintain all VHF channels o Providing radio communication between ATCO and Aircraft. o Additional standalone system is provided through J - Controller and Transceivers at different ATC positions. o Serviceability of Mains and Standby equipments. o All preventive and corrective maintenance schedules are performed. o The air-to-ground communications are also recorded. Analysis of recorded communication is done by DGCA, AAI, ATC personnel for the purpose of investigation in case of accident/incidence. o VHF is also used to give weather information to ATC and pilots. VHF transmission uses Amplitude modulation because this type of modulation has a greater coverage range and requires less bandwidth as compared to Frequency or Phase modulation.
SADARJUNG AIRPORT
Safdarjung Airport is a Visual Flight Region ( VFR ) EQUIPMENTS STUDIED AT SAFDARUNG AIRPORT: 1. VHF - Frequency: 122.3 MHz Tx : ECIL 5350, T6T Rx : OTE DR100, T6R Jcont : ECIL , AK100 Txr : iCOM 1CA110 VHF antenna : Folded dipole antenna ( bidirectional ) 2. DVR - Digital Voice Recorder( 8 channel ) ( Marathon, Ricochet, RETIA ) 3. XBIS (X-Ray Baggage Investigation System ) : carry out both organic and inorganic scanning. 4. ETD ( Explosive Trace Detector ) 5. DFMD ( Door Frame Metal Detector ) 6. HHMD ( Hand Held Metal Detector ) 7. NDB 202 kHz 8. HF - 6706 kHz Tx : ZENITAL ( 5kW ) 11467 kHz Txr : 2010 CODAN 9. Walkie Talkie : ( Company : Motorola, Kenwood ) It works in the UHF range. It has 12 channels and a range of about 2 kms. It facilitates coordination Delhi police, airport police and AAI officials.
Automation System Automation is the use of machines, control systems and information technologies to optimize productivity in the production of goods and delivery of services. The correct incentive for applying automation is to increase productivity, and/or quality beyond that possible with current human labour levels so as to realize economies of scale, and/or realize predictable quality levels. OBJECTIVES:
PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: The primary objectives of automation system are as follows: 1) Efficiency enhancement of ATC officers: Automation system enhances the efficiency of the air traffic controllers. 2) Accuracy of overall ATC: Automation system also takes care of the accuracy of the air traffic controllers as well as that of the pilot. 3) Safety of passengers and aircraft: Efficiency and accuracy of air traffic controllers directly/indirectly leads to safety of the passengers as well as the aircraft.
Functions of the System:
Primary mission: is to enhance to the safety of air travel through the timely acquisition and presentation of flight related data for use by air traffic controller and support staff.
Secondary mission: is to support training of air traffic controllers and support staff. The system also supports the evaluation of revised operational environments and the testing/evaluation of new system functionality.
BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
1. Lapses in human performance underlie most safety breakdowns and damage-inducing events in modern, technology-based production systems, of which air transportation is a perfect example.
2. From the perspective of Human Factors, three reasons explain the apparent stagnation of safety levels. The first reason can be found in what has been called an escalation of commitment: since the Second World War, safety in civil aviation has been pursued through the introduction of new technology, supported by the training necessary to employ it in operational settings and the relevant regulations regarding both. In every instance where accident investigations identified "new" safety breakdowns and/or hazards, more technology, more training and more regulations were introduced. When "newer" safety breakdowns/hazards were further identified, more technology, further training and regulations were introduced. And so continued the escalation of commitment of international civil aviation with respect to technology, training and regulation.
3. Secondly, technological solutions have on occasion been designed without full consideration of how they would properly interface with existing operational environments. In this regard, the absence of a systemic approach to the integrated implementation of technological and Human Factors solutions has been conspicuous. Technology and Human Factors have followed independent avenues, and little dialogue has existed among technology designers and Human Factors practitioners. The industry has thus witnessed the emergence of fine technology which failed to deliver its promised potential because of serious flaws in its interface either with the human operator, with the demands of operational context, or with both.
4. This approach, known as "technology-centred automation", is being gradually phased-out in favor of a "human-centred automation", where technology is considered but a tool to assist humans in their monitoring and performing tasks.
AUTOMATION SYSTEM OVERVIEW
The Automation System is comprised of the following functional subsystems.
a) Radar Data Processing System (RDPS) receives and processes radar data information from various radar sites.
b) Flight Data Processing System (FDPS) processes information associated with flight plan data based on information received from internal or external sources and makes it accessible by the various Air Traffic Control (ATC) working positions including the Flight Data Display (FDD).
c) Communications Gateway Processor / Aeronautical Information System (CGP/AIS) subsystem which provides the interface to the Controller Pilot Data Link Communications as well as AFTN.
d) Data Recording Facility (DRF) provides capability to record and replay ATC data from all subsystems on the local area network (LAN) including operator actions at each controller working position.
e) Data Management System (DMS) provides capability to perform adaptation changes and downloads of new software releases.
f) Supervisor Working Position Consists of a Situation Data Display (SDD) and Control and Monitoring Display / Flight Data Display / Aeronautical Information Display (CMD/FDD/AID). It provides a centralized point of control for all the system management related actions and maintenance operations. SDD displays track and flight data received from Radar Data Processing System (RDPS). CMD provides an integrated capability for control and monitoring of the automation components and radar interfaces.
g) Controller Working Position Consists of an SDD and either an FDD/AID or an FDD/AID/DLD and an FDD/DLD. Together these positions are used to control aircraft that enter its assigned area of jurisdiction and monitors aircraft flight plan progress.
h) Voice Processing Facility (VPF) This is an optional component. The VPF digitizes analog audio from the Voice Communication Control System (VCCS). This audio is typically ATC radio or telephone communications sent through a main distribution frame (MDF) to the VPF and then recorded by the DRF.
Critical subsystem components such as RDPS, FDPS, and DRF, are redundant to ensure continuous operation in the event of a component failure or maintenance action. All the subsystems are interconnected via dual 100BaseT Ethernet LAN. A third LAN provides Direct Radar Access (DRA)
TOPOLOGY
Physically : Star Topology Logically : Bus topology
Software Overview
Functions are controlled and executed by computer software application programs that reside in the Automation System computers. The Sun Solaris Operating System (OS) runs the application programs and acts as an interface between the controller and application. The OS manages computer resources in a non- interfering manner, executing stored applications and controlling information transfers between processors and external devices and interfaces via the LAN. The application software is organized by function into Computer Software Configuration Items (CSCls). The application software references site-specific adaptation data.
TYPES OF EQUIPMENTS IN THE UNIT
Subsystem Type Subsystem Description Main H/W Configuration
RDPS Radar data processing system SUN FIRE-210
FDPS Flight data processing system SUN FIRE-210
DRF Data recording facility SUN FIRE-210
ATG Air traffic generator (ATC simulator system) SUN FIRE-210
SDD Situation display workstation SUN BLADE-2500
FDD Flight data display workstation SUN BLADE-1500
CMD Control and Monitoring display workstation
SUN BLADE-1500 AIS Aeronautical information system SUN BLADE-1500
DRA Direct radar access SUN FIRE-210
DMS Database Management system SUN BLADE-1500
Dual LAN Network Connecting all the subsystems CAT-5 e