Simulation of the North Atlantic Air Traffic and Separation Scenarios - Communication Effects

摘要

This report presents a comprehensive study of the air traffic over the North Atlantic (NAT) Ocean. The main purpose of the study is to assess the fuel savings benefit under reduced separation standards and improved communication systems in the NAT Minimum Navigation Performance Specification (MNPS) airspace. The report describes, in detail, the purpose of the study, various separation standard scenarios, simulation assumptions, analyses of the results, and conclusions. Using the separation standards from the 1996 NAT system as the baseline, this study presents analyses of four different separation scenarios with assigned communication environments: Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM), Reduced Vertical and Longitudinal Separation Minima (RVLSM), Reduced Vertical and Horizontal Separation Minima (RVHSM), and Free Flight. A fast-time simulation model is used to investigate the effect of the separation scenarios and communication environment on fuel consumption. The original study was completed in cooperation with the NAT Implementation Management Group (IMG) Cost Effectiveness (NICE) Task Force. The results presented in this report represent an extension of the initial findings of the NICE-USA Task Group.