Air Traffic Control Procedures in a Parallel Track System

In this paper M. Villiers, Ingenieur en Chef de la navigation aerienne, and M. de Barbeyrac, of the Societe d'Etudes des Systemes d'Automation, discuss the application of a satellite monitoring system to A.T.C. procedures. The paper first discusses control of lateral separation under the headings of present navigation accuracy over the North Atlantic and by a satellite monitoring system. It goes on to discuss control of longitudinal separation with and without monitoring, and finally discusses intervention procedures and aids. The writers conclude that it is possible with a mathematical model to establish a general relationship between the performance of aircraft navigation systems and a monitoring system on the one hand, and the lateral and longitudinal separation of aircraft and the mode of A.T.C. action on the other. From this relationship the number of A.T.C. interventions can be computed and it appears that the reduction of separations resulting from a satellite monitoring system will fit such a system to the forecast air traffic beyond 1975. In addition, the requirement for voice communication, specific to A.T.C., would be extremely limited. The paper was presented to the S.S.T. Working Group, sponsored jointly by the French, German and British Institutes of Navigation.