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A Study on Geometric and Barometric Altitude Data in Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) Messages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2019

Busyairah Syd Ali  and
Nur Asheila Taib
Busyairah Syd Ali*
Affiliation:
(Aerospace Engineering & Aviation, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia)
Nur Asheila Taib
Affiliation:
(Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya, Malaysia)
*
(E-mail: [email protected])
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Abstract

In Air Traffic Control (ATC), aircraft altitude data is used to keep an aircraft within a specified minimum distance vertically from other aircraft, terrain and obstacles to reduce the risk of collision. Two types of altitude data are downlinked by radar; actual flight level (Mode C) and selected altitude (Mode S). Flight level indicates pressure altitude, also known as barometric altitude used by controllers for aircraft vertical separation. ‘Selected altitude’ presents intent only, and hence cannot be used for separation purposes. The emergence of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) has enabled geometric altitude on board and to the controllers via the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system. In addition, ADS-B provides quality indicator parameters for both geometric and barometric altitudes. Availability of this information will enhance Air Traffic Management (ATM) safety. For example, incidents due to Altimetry System Error (ASE) may potentially be avoided with this information. This work investigates the use and availability of these parameters and studies the characteristics of geometric and barometric data and other data that complement the use of these altitude data in the ADS-B messages. Findings show that only 8·7% of the altitude deviation is < 245 feet (which is a requirement of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to operate in Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) airspace). This work provides an alert/guidance for future ground or airborne applications that may utilise geometric/barometric altitude data from ADS-B, to include safety barriers that can be found or analysed from the ADS-B messages itself to ensure ATM safety.

Keywords

GNSSADS-BGeometric altitudeBarometric altitude
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Navigation , Volume 72 , Issue 5 , September 2019 , pp. 1140 - 1158
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Navigation 2019 

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