Optimising runway throughput through wake vortex detection, prediction and decision support tools

Currently at many airports, runway is the limiting factor for the overall throughput. Among the most important parameters are the fixed wake turbulence separation minima expressed in time for take-off clearance and by distance for arrivals on final approach. This wake turbulence separation limits the arrival and departure flow on many airports in Europe already today. Existing departure and arrival wake turbulence separations are sometimes considered over conservative as they do not take into account meteorological conditions likely to shift, reduce or alleviate their circulations. This paper will present the main aspects of a SESAR project that defines, analyses and develops a verified wake turbulence system according to related operational concept improvements in order to, punctually or permanently, reduce landing and departure wake turbulence separations and, therefore, to increase the runway throughput in such a way that it safely absorbs arrival demand peaks and/or reduces departure delays. This global objective will be achieved by means of developing a wake vortex decision support system able to deliver in real time position and strength of the wake vortices and to predict their behavior and potential impact on safety and capacity, taking in account actual weather information as well as the airport specific climatological conditions, aircraft characteristics (generated wake vortex and wake vortex sensitivity) and airport runways layout. These functionalities will be progressively included in the wake vortex decision support system to be validated and deployed on airports in order to optimize the runway throughput and reduce delays.