Wake vortex hazards in en-route airspace and suspected hazard area identification using high fidelity simulation models

This paper presents a discussion about risks and hazards of potential wake vortex encounters in the en-route airspace. High-fidelity simulations under realistic conditions have been analysed showing that the current en-route separation standards may be overconservative in some cases –thus enabling a potential reduction that may lead to additional airspace capacity–, whereas may not protect enough in some specific situations, thus requiring additional protection for flights. The simulation framework developed in the R-WAKE project, a SESAR 2020 Exploratory Research project, has been used to identify and characterise the suspected hazard areas (SHA) that flights should avoid under certain conditions if they are crossing a piece of airspace after another flight. A large number of simulations were performed to generate the SHAs, resulting from the combination of different: a) separation distances; b) aircraft types (including realistic masses and cruise speeds); c) altitudes and atmospheric conditions; and d) relative encounter geometries (horizontal and vertical). This study can support the development of new separation standards aimed at increasing airspace capacity and safety.