UAB Elsis signed a contract with the Italian aerospace company Alenia Aermacchi S.p.A. for programming works in the implementation of the SESAR programme (SESAR, WP9.3 – Interoperability of Business Trajectory and Mission Trajectory). Works will be carried out in cooperation with UAB Elsis PRO.
SESAR means Single European Sky ATM Research, where ATM stands for Air Traffic Management. Similarly like in the case of Clean Sky, SESAR is a joint technology initiative (JTI), a part of the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7) aimed at facilitating research and technologic development in 2007-2013. Both programmes have a number of contact points, a part of works being carried out have been synchronized in time, where results obtained in one programme become the input information in another one, and vice versa. There are some common goals which coincide, and only measures for the achievement thereof are different.
The overall goal of SESAR is the creation of the Single European Sky (SES), which would allow:
- increasing airspace capacity and permeability (of flights),
- increasing efficiency of the air traffic management system,
- increasing flight safety,
- reducing air pollution.
These goals are expressed in specific and measurable indicators, which SESAR plans to achieve by 2020:
- to increase air space capacity threefold (17 million flights per year);
- to increase flight safety by a factor of 10;
- to reduce the environmental impact per flight by 10% (fights 8-14 min. shorter, fuel consumption lower by 300-500 kg, 1000 – 1500 kg lower CO2 emission);
- to reduce flight management costs by 50%.
In order to achieve these ambitious goals, the development and deployment of a new generation air traffic management (ATM) system is necessary, which requires new technologies, new legal framework and procedures.
If the CLEAN SKY focuses on new air transport technologies (new generation aircraft, new materials, systems), the research object and ultimate goal of the SESAR is the ensurance of the maximum interaction between aircraft, air traffic control centres and aircraft ground services throughout the entire flight phase, and optimization of these operations in time. A flight phase includes passenger boarding (gate, ramp departure), taxi-out, take-off, terminal area departure, climb, cruise, descent, terminal area arrival, taxi-in and passenger disembarkation (at a gate).
This is the only possible way to ensure the optimal flight path gate-to-gate. In the achievement of this goal, the fourth dimension – time – is introduced (3 spatial coordinates + time). The basis of the entire concept is the so-called 4D Trajectory Management.
Time dimension implies the requirements for all participants in the process to communicate in a single protocol and exchange information in real time. This is not a simple task, especially given the fact that both civil and military aircraft, their communication systems, control measures and techniques must be combined.
The work performed by Elsis companies in the SESAR WP9.3 project consists of 3 individual parts:
- ADS-B messaging system development,
- Air Traffic Network (ATN) protocol implementation,
- MeteoServer application development.
These applications will be installed and tested in a flight management simulator in Alenia Aermacchi’s Simulation Centre in Turin.
The project has been divided into 3 parts (phases), the duration thereof is 1.5 years.
For more information: www.sesarju.eu
