Chapter 5
Introduction
In the upcoming years, exciting new technologies will
be developed and implemented to help ease air traffic
congestion, add to system capacity, and enhance safety.
Some of these seamless changes will be invisible to
pilots. Others will entail learning new procedures, aircraft
equipment, and systems that will introduce powerful new
capabilities and dramatically increase the safety of all flight
operations.
Improvement Plans
Next Generation Air Transportation (NextGen) entire United States air transportation system. NextGen
System consists of the following five systems:
Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is a
comprehensive overhaul of the National Airspace System
(NAS) designed to make air travel more convenient and
dependable, while ensuring flights are as safe and secure
as possible. It moves away from ground-based surveillance
and navigation to new and more dynamic satellite-based
systems and procedures, and introduces new technological
innovations in areas such as weather forecast, digital
communications, and networking. [Figure 5-1] When fully
implemented, NextGen will safely allow aircraft to fly more
closely together on more direct routes, reducing delays,
and providing unprecedented benefits for the environment
and the economy through reductions in carbon emissions,
fuel consumption, and noise. [Figure 5-2]
Implementation in stages across the United States is due
between 2012 and 2025. In order to implement NextGen,
the FAA will undertake a wide-range transformation of the
1. Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast
(ADS-B)—automatically broadcasts the aircraft’s
position and other aircraft specific information to
air traffic control (ATC) ground facilities and nearby
aircraft equipped with ADS-B In. Effective January
1, 2020 all aircraft operating in certain controlled
U.S. airspace will be required to operate ADS-B Out
equipment at all times. While Global Navigation
Satellite System (GNSS) is not mandated by rule
as the position sensor, it is currently the only
position source that meets the rule’s performance
requirements. Aircraft broadcasting ADS-B Out data
provide ATC and cooperating ADS-B-In aircraft more
precise on-the- ground or in-the-air positioning
information based on the increased frequency of the
data broadcasts and the accuracy of GNSS. ADS-B
will provide a complete picture of air traffic for ATC
and pilots of ADS-B In-equipped aircraft. The FAA’s
DOT
FAA DOD DHS DOC
State/Local
Government
NASA OSTP
NGATS
Institute
Industry &
Community
Air Navigation Operations and Support
ICAO Flight Operations and Support
Global
Harmonization
Super Density
Operations
Policy & Regulations
Equivalent
Visual Operations
Airport Operations and Support
Flight Planning Flight Data Aeronautical
Information Enterprise Services
Geospatial
Information Communication Performance
Metrics
Environment Layered
Adaptive Security Surveillance Position, Navigation,
and Timing Safety Weather
Net Centric Infrastructure Services Network-Enabled Information Acess
Figure 5-1. Next Generation Air Transportation System (NEXGEN) introduces new technological innovations for weather forecasting,
digital communications, and networking.
Figure 5-2. Satellite-based navigation and tracking allows more aircraft to fly closely together on more direct routes.
Figure 5-3. Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)
systems.
ADS-B ground infrastructure is complete and ATC
now uses ADS-B for aircraft tracking both in the air
and on the ground at many airports.
2. System wide information management (SWIM)—
will provide a single infrastructure and information
management system to deliver high quality, timely
data to many users and applications. By reducing
the number and types of interfaces and systems,
SWIM will reduce data redundancy and better
facilitate multi- user information sharing. SWIM
will also enable new modes of decision-making as
information is more easily accessed. [Figure 5-4]
3. Next generation data communications—current
communications between aircrew and ATC, and
between air traffic controllers, are largely realized
through voice communications. Initially, the
introduction of data communications will provide
an additional means of two-way communication
for ATC clearances, instructions, advisories, flight
crew requests, and reports. With the majority of
aircraft data link equipped, the exchange of routine
controller-pilot messages and clearances via data
link will enable controllers to handle more traffic.
This will improve ATC productivity, enhancing
capacity and safety. [Figure 5-5]
4. Next generation network enabled weather
(NNEW)— seventy percent of NAS delays are
attributed to weather every year. The goal of NNEW
is to cut weather-related delays at least in half. Tens
of thousands of global weather observations and
sensor reports from ground, airborne, and space-
based sources will fuse into a single national weather
information system updated in real time. NNEW
will provide a common weather picture across the
NAS and enable better air transportation decision-
making. [Figure 5-6]
5. NAS voice switch (NVS)—there are currently
seventeen different voice switching systems in the
NAS; some in use for more than twenty years. NVS
will replace these systems with a single air/ground
ARTCCS
TRACONS
TOWERS
Today Enterprise Management
Existing systems communication Secure access points for NAS systems
structure and data sharing
En Route Data
WeatherSurveillance
SWIM SWIM
Core CoreTerminal Radar Data Services ServicesData
Traffic Flow Inter-AgencyManagement
Aeronautical
Information
Figure 5-4. System wide information management (SWIM)—an information management system that helps deliver high quality, timely
data to improve the efficiency of the national airspace.
Trajectory Based Operations
High Performance Airspeed
Clearances WX Reroutes
Time Based Metering
Fix
Optimized
Descents
(TAPs/CDAs)
ARTCCs
User Flight
Network VDL-2
Operations
Control Tower
ARTCSCC
Taxi Instructions TRACONs
Digital ATIS Departure Clearance
Figure 5-5. Next generation data communications provides an additional means of two-way communication for ATC clearances,
instructions, advisories, flight crew requests, and reports.
Figure 5-6. Next generation network enabled weather (NNEW) provides a common weather picture across the NAS.
Figure 5-7. National airspace voice switch (NVS) will replace
existing voice switching systems with single air/ground and ground/
ground voice communication systems.
and ground/ground voice communications system.
[Figure 5-7]
NextGen Existing Improvements
The goal of NextGen is to provide new capabilities that
make air transportation safer and more reliable while
improving the capacity of the NAS and reducing aviation’s
impact on the environment. Below is a list of some of the
capabilities for operational use that have already been
implemented through NextGen.
1. Starting in December 2009, the FAA began
controlling air traffic over the Gulf of Mexico, an
area of active airspace where surveillance was
never before possible, using the satellite-based
technology of ADS-B. For aircraft flying over the
Gulf of Mexico, where no radar coverage is available,
ATC can safely and more efficiently separate air
traffic with the real-time visual representation of air
traffic provided by ADS-B. It also provides pilots with
Final approach/landingFlight planning Push back
Domestic/oceanic cruise
Taxi
Takeoff
Descent
Figure
5-8.
ADS-B
services
provide
real-time
precise
positioning
capability
to
ATC
and
ADS-B
In-equipped
aircraft
throughout
the
NAS,
in
all
phases
of
flight
operations.
GPS satellites
Barrow
Kotzebue
Bethel
Fairbanks Iqaluit
Anchorage
Juneau
Cold Bay Goose Bay
Winnipeg Gander
Auburn
Billings
Olathe
Farmington Nashua
Ronkonkoma
Freemont Salt Lake Aurora
Oberlin
Longmont Leesburg
Palmdale Memphis
Fort Worth Hampton
Albuquerque Houston Jacksonville
Miami
San Jose Del Cabo San Juan
Honolulu
GEO satellite
Puert Vallarta
Mexico City
Merida
Tapachula
Legend GEO satellite
Wide-area reference station (WRS) New WRSs
Wide-area master station (WMS) Ground uplink station
Figure 5-9. Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS).
more safety benefits such as improved situational
awareness (SA), near real-time weather information,
and additional voice communications.
2. ADS-B services have been deployed to all 24
modernized enroute ARTCCs and the largest
terminal radar approach control facilities in the NAS.
In 2020, ADS-B will be mandatory for all aircraft in
almost all NAS controlled airspace. [Figure 5-8]
3. Satellite-based technologies, including the Wide
Area Augmentation System (WAAS), are improving
access to runways at both large and small airports.
[Figure 5-9] Directions and maps have been published
for more than 500 precision-like approaches
enabled by WAAS. Localizer performance with
vertical guidance (LPV) procedures improves
access to airports in lower visibility conditions and
where obstacles are present. These procedures
are particularly valuable for smaller airports used
by general aviation. There are now oer 2,300
LPV procedures available at runways where no
instrument landing system (ILS) is present.
4. The Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) has
been approved for Category I operations and the
first satellite-based system has been approved for
this category of precision approach which enables
instrument-based operations down to 200 feet
above the surface even during reduced visibility.
[Figure 5-10] GBAS was installed at Houston, Texas
and Newark, New Jersey airport in 2009.
5. Multilateration, a ground-based surveillance
technology, is being implemented to help improve
runway access. The FAA installed and is now using
wide area multilateration (WAM) systems to control
air traffic in Juneau, Alaska, and at four airports in
Colorado. This allows air traffic to be safely separated
by five miles whereas before each aircraft had to clear
the airspace around the airport before the next could
enter.
6. New runways at Chicago O’Hare, Washington
Dulles, and Seattle-Tacoma Airports opened in
November of 2008, which are now beginning to
have a reduction in delays.