Airport Infrastructure Management with Geographic Information Systems: State of the Art

Abstract

The widespread application of geographic information systems (GISs) at airports is detailed through surveys of U.S. airports. A recent survey conducted through the Airport GIS Committee of the American Association of Airport Executives indicated that more than 60 percent of airports use GISs or plan to use GISs within the next 3 years. The application of GISs for infrastructure management, environmental analysis, and airport operations is becoming commonplace at larger U.S. airports. Integration of infrastructure management in general and pavement management in particular with airportwide GISs provides far greater management capabilities than traditional infrastructure management systems. The development of integrated airport GISs and the availability of affordable, differentially corrected Global Positioning System receivers have resulted in a paradigm shift in methods of infrastructure management. As the new millennium approaches, the state of the art in infrastructure and pavement management is turning away from the traditional forms toward map-based systems that have sophisticated analytical tools. In the case of pavement management, the use of map-based analysis will overcome many of the shortcomings of the traditional MicroPAVER inspection process. The capabilities of the current state of the art in pavement management are detailed.