What did KDC do in 2018? The results at a glance.
In 2018…
we worked on 5 different research themes. A total of 7 studies were conducted within these themes. 4 of these studies were short-term and 3 multi-year.… Five studies were conducted by students from the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and three studies were started by students from TU Delft.
The diagram below shows the themes within which the studies took place.
What results did we achieve?
The KDC Research Agenda has 8 research areas. The projects that were worked on in 2018 concern 5 of these 8 areas. The results per area are listed below.
1. Safe Airspace and Airport Navigation
2. Airline Operational Efficiency
3. Airport Capacity
4. Airport Meteo
5. AMAN / iCAS cluster
1. Safe Airspace and Airport Navigation
Runway Status Lights (RWSL)
In 2018, KDC prepared a business case investigating the costs and benefits of a new safety system for Schiphol: Runway Status Lights (RWSL) and Final Approach Runway Occupancy signal (FAROS). The study concluded that RWSL has a high safety yield, in contrast to FAROS. The results have been reported to the Runway Safety Team (part of the Integral Safety Management System Schiphol, ISMS). It will be decided in 2019 whether the RWSL system will be implemented at Schiphol.
2. Airline Operational Efficiency
Capacity and Runway Predictions
In 2015, To70 delivered a first version of a Capacity and Runway prediction tool (AFOS). In the following period, the tool was improved both in terms of prediction accuracy and in terms of user-friendliness.
The latest improvements were made to the tool in 2018. For example, runways can now be classified as “not available”. In addition, the user interface has been expanded with extra data, such as the expected number of delay minutes.
The 2018 version of AFOS is being used by KLM OCC as an experimental system. From 2019 the system will also be evaluated at LVNL. It is expected that LVNL will have an operational AFOS system built and maintained. This operational system will be made available to all Schiphol stakeholders.
3. Airport Capacity
BC Optimizing preferred use of Schiphol runways through flexible ILS maintenance
The purpose of this business case is to investigate the feasibility of permanent monitoring of the ILS signal via fixed sensors. Due to this permanent monitoring, the measurements at the ILS can be planned more flexibly. It is also investigated whether the permanent monitoring is of sufficient quality to increase the period between measurements and what suitable locations are.
This research was started in 2018 and has a two year development period. NLR developed a theoretical model and a computer simulation model in 2018. This provides insight into the suitable measurement locations of the sensors in relation to the track. In 2019 this theoretical model will be built up and validated in an NLR measurement facility.
4. Airport Meteo
De-icing planner
In 2018 a new improvement was made to the de-icing planner. This is an extension of the de-icing prediction model. Two important new aspects have been added:
1) The amount of fuel present in the wing is included in the model. This variable influences the rate of cooling of the wing, and thus influences the amount of ice on the wing.
2) The proximity of buildings, piers on the temperature of the wing is included in the model. This is important for creating a realistic de-icing expectation for aircraft parked at a gate. The de-icing planner will be further validated in the winter 2019/2020.
5. AMAN / iCAS cluster
Vision on the role of technology demonstrators
In 2018, KDC had a vision on the role of technology demonstrations developed, with a corresponding roadmap for implementation. The purpose of this topic is to accelerate development by doing fewer paper studies and developing more prototype systems that users can respond to (requirements capture). The KDC will define a follow-up to the study in 2019. This follow-up will consist of a concrete application of the vision and roadmap that were developed in 2018.
XMAN trial
In 2018 LVNL started developing a trial to apply cross-border arrival management (XMAN) with a planning horizon of 180 NM. This trial is complex in nature, because several air traffic control organizations are involved in handling the last 180 NM of a flight to Schiphol. With regard to traffic coming from the south, these are DSNA (the French traffic control), MUAC (EUROCONTROL Maastricht), and skeyes (the Belgian traffic control).
In preparation for decision-making in the FABEC context (which includes the XMAN project), the KDC has developed a CONOPS and part of the test plan (the definition of the performance indicators to be measured). This information is used to convince European partners (in particular the en-route centers) of the feasibility of the trial and the benefits of the concept.
KDC Center of Excellence
In 2017, KDC started a structural collaboration with the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA) and TU Delft (Faculty of Aerospace Engineering). A coordinator has been appointed for both the HvA and TU Delft, who supervises the students and acts as a point of contact for the parties who use the results.
Results of the collaboration with the Hogeschool van Amsterdam
In 2018, five studies were carried out by students of the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA) on behalf of the KDC. These studies are part of the Capacity Management research line, which is being developed by the HvA. The following thesis reports have been delivered:
Impact of Local A-CDM on Operational Efficiency at Mainport Schiphol
Author: Roel Wouters
Airline Strategies Impact on Gate Occupancy
Author: Martijn Ringelberg
Impact Analysis on the Airside Infrastructure at Schiphol
Author: Gijs Peters
Analysis of Vertical Flight Trajectory Efficiency
Author: Marc Eijkens
Impact of Special Events on Airspace
Author: Bas Broekstra
Results of the collaboration with TU Delft
In 2018, three students started a graduation assignment within the framework of the Center of Excellence. The three graduation projects started will be completed in 2019. It concerns the following subjects:
Workload reduction possibilities for Amsterdam Sector 3 (South) using a tool for traffic sequencing
Graduate student: Eline Bakker
Schiphol noise analysis for fixed arrival routings
Graduate student: Davey Hooymeijer
Time Based Separation implementation at Schiphol: analysis of implementation models (user interface level)
Graduate student: Mats Dirkzwager