What is the E-OCVM?

E-OCVM stands for the European Operational Concept Validation Methodology and is a framework that has been developed in 2004 by Eurocontrol in collaboration with several R&D partners including the ATM & Airports Department of NLR. Generally, the E-OCVM is based on the methodological approach described by the Master European Validation Plan (MAEVA) project in its Validation Guideline Handbook (VGH).

The MAEVA VGH suggests a five-step approach to validation that was originally defined in the Eurocontrol Development of EATCHIP/EATMP Validation Methodologies (DEVAM) project. As refined and expanded, these five steps form the core of the VGH. In order to address each of the steps at the appropriate level and for the appropriate audience, the VGH contains three parts, each describing the steps at different levels of detail. Despite the general acceptance of the VGH within the ATM community, several adaptations of the framework were proposed within European R&D initiatives (especially the Gate-to-Gate and C‑ATM projects) concentrating on the initial approach to validation activities and the related life cycle of the concept or technology to be validated.

Eurocontrol together with the Co-operative Approach to Air Traffic Services (CAATS) project team (responsible for co-ordinating validation approaches within the current European Commission Framework Programme) consolidated all change proposals in the first edition of the E-OCVM, which has become the mandatory methodological framework for concept validation within the European ATM community.

The E-OCVM addresses validation at the highest two levels of the MAEVA stepped approach, and additionally introduces a concept life cycle model as well as a so-called case-based approach. The latter integrates validation exercise results into key cases that directly address stakeholder issues about ATM performance and behaviours. More information can be found at the Eurocontrol Validation Forum website.

Barcelona

The inspiring city of Gaudi: a vibrant, self-centred metropolis right on the Mediterranean Sea. This week the European-US ATM R&D conference was held in the direct neighbourhood of las Ramblas, Barcelona's amusement strip crowded day and night with its endless streams of tourists.

The conference featured many interesting ATM research results. These came from the areas of Innovative Research, Performance Management, Safety, Airport Management, Airspace Management, Human Factors, Environment, Air-Ground Integration, Network Management, and the new category of Finance and Deployment.

In the concluding session it was noted that much of what was presented concerned research on already existing concepts and technologies, which could be a sign of rather market-driven R&D. Nevertheless, about a third of the papers looked at innovative ideas generated on the basis of the needs of SESAR and NextGen, the European-US future air transportation system initiatives calling for major changes in the current ATM system to cope with future demand.

Plenary discussions following the concluding remarks of Eurocontrol and the FAA discussed the reasons for the current focus of ATM research on more market-driven topics and whether a more integrated approach between the US and Europe was possible despite the somewhat different kind of innovation needs in both regions of the world. Certainly, knowledge and awareness of what has been done in recent years on both sides of the Atlantic was considered desirable. The conference helped to promote the issue, however, this was not really reflected in the papers. Therefore, future research activities should also highlight common achievements, also for the sake of harmonising the approaches for solving the imminent problems in air traffic congestion in both systems.

The paper on Resolution Advisory Downlink that was written by Stan Drozdowski and Doris Dehn from Eurocontrol together with Bernd Lorenz and myself won the best paper award in the ATM safety conference track. The best conference paper award was attributed to a paper on an analysis method for new ATM concepts being applied to a multi-sector planner in US airspace. It was written by Kevin Corker, Paul Lee, and Tom Prevot from San Jose State University together with Diana Liang from the FAA.

What is A-SMGCS?

A-SMGCS stands for Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems and is a modular system with the aim to maintain the declared surface movement rate at an airport under all weather conditions within the aerodrome visibility operational level while maintaining the required level of safety.

Eurocontrol defined four different implementation levels (I to IV) for such a system and separated system functionality into the four categories surveillance, control, routing, and guidance. Implementation is expected to follow a stepwise approach addressing each of these categories in more or less the order above.

Currently the European Commission funded projects EMMA and EMMA2 look into the details of possible implementations at three different airports for A-SMGCS levels I/II and III/IV respectively. The airports involved are Prague, Milan-Malpensa, and Toulouse. Additionally, there are surveillance measurement campaigns at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle Airport.

NLR is part of both projects and also carries out additional work for Eurocontrol investigating advanced procedures for the use of A-SMGCS Level I (airport surveillance enhanced by multilateration) during low visibility conditions.

Do you believe in wake vortices?

The first project that caught my attention this year is called CREDOS: Crosswind-reduced Separations for Departure Operations. CREDOS is part of the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission and aims at increasing airport capacity by reducing current separation minima while maintaining safety levels.

ICAO separation standards for landing and take-off were implemented in the 1970s to protect an aircraft from the wake turbulence of a preceding aircraft. In recent years, research has shown that the transport and persistence of wake vortices are highly dependent on meteorological conditions, so that in many cases the standards are over-conservative. By developing a full understanding of wake vortex behaviour in all weather categories separations could be reduced under certain suitable conditions. CREDOS will focus on crosswind conditions during departure operations and will study the feasibility of the approach to reduce departure separations.

The results of measurement campaigns at Frankfurt (EDDF) and St. Louis (KSTL) airport will be used for developing models of wake vortex behaviour. Risk assessment will determine both likelihood and severity of hazards in order to determine safe separations under various crosswind conditions. Building on this work an operational concept for crosswind departures will be developed and validated.

Eurocontrol is the project leader of a consortium of eleven research partners. NLR is part of the project team and will be involved in all research activities. Obviously, validation of the operational concept will be one of the major items for our ATM & Airports team and will result in human-in-the-loop real-time simulations. In these simulations an assessment of the HMI, controller working procedures and the controller workload will be made.