Towards wake vortex safety and capacity increase: the integrated fusion approach and its demands on prediction models and detection sensors

Abstract

Wake vortices and the prevention of wake vortex encounters are both an issue of safety and capacity in today’s air transportation system. Current wake vortex separations are safe but also very conservative and thus have an adverse effect on capacity of airports. This article deals with the concept of fused wake vortex prediction and detection with the objective to deliver wake vortex strength and position with a high level of accuracy and reliability. The collaboration approach aims at fusion of models and sensors available for forecast and detection of hazardous wake turbulence in order to improve the overall system performance using the complementary capabilities of the single components. Different methods of coupling models with measurements are introduced and resulting the aspect of requirements for the prediction model and measurement sensor is presented. The implementation of an error-state system is presented and compared to sole prediction and sole sensor results. The results indicate that the fusion approach delivers benefits like reduced uncertainty of prediction and increased availability of detection and thus has the ability to increase airport and air space capacity while maintaining or even improving current wake vortex safety.