NavCanada article in paper

[W5]

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/n ... f3&k=99690

Article in Edmonton Journal, about the intended introduction of ADS-B in the Edmonton FIR

Nav Canada charts new flight path with GPS
System for tracking aircraft will cover areas of North that radar can't

David Finlayson, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Monday, March 12, 2007

EDMONTON - John Bright watches the Navajo closely as it crawls across the sky on its journey from Fort McMurray to Red Deer.
It's not the traditional shape of a plane he's following on his screen, but a mini information package that tells him the flight number, speed, altitude and whether the small aircraft is climbing or descending.

As it reaches the edge of the area for which Bright is responsible, the "plane" changes colour, indicating that another controller has clicked his mouse to pick it up.

That controller, sitting a few feet away in the subdued light of Nav Canada's Edmonton air traffic control centre, will help shepherd the Navajo through to Red Deer.

"There's a lot of co-ordination between us, we chat back and forth all the time," says Bright, turning his attention to a Beechcraft coming through from Kirby Lake on its way to Calgary.

"It's important, because of the potential for (flight path) crossovers."

While the control centre uses some very sophisticated software -- much of it developed in-house -- it still relies on good old radar to cover the 8.8 million square kilometres of the world's largest domestic flight region, which stretches from Greenland to the Alaska border.

But that's about to change dramatically.

Nav Canada will soon install a new GPS-based system to cover areas in the North not currently reachable by radar. It will eventually become the standard technology across the whole system.

GPS, or Global Positioning System, uses satellites to track locations.

"It's more accurate than radar, and much cheaper," says Rudy Kellar, Nav Canada's Edmonton general manager.

"It fits where the world's going, and we're out of the gate faster than most."

The GPS ground units are the size of a large water cooler and cost $800,000 each, whereas each of those familiar three-storey radar bases with the big ball on top costs $8 million.

Nav Canada has ordered 200 GPS units. Initially six sites around Hudson Bay will be equipped with the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) systems this spring, at a cost of $10 million.

All of Canada's increasingly busy and mostly radarless Arctic airspace will subsequently get the units, followed by southern areas, where they will replace or complement current radar systems.

The system is so accurate it will allow wide-body planes to fly over our northern wilderness within eight kilometres of each other, instead of the current 128 kilometres. That allows more flexible and fuel-efficient routes and altitudes that produce big savings for airlines, Kellar says.

"Its estimated total fuel cost savings will be more than $200 million over 15 years. We're very excited about it."

Nav Canada is also replacing the current high frequency (HF) Arctic transmitter/receiver network with a 15-unit VHF system, so controllers can talk to pilots directly instead of through a series of relays, further improving safety.

As the number of aircraft movements handled by the Edmonton centre increases, so does the number of air traffic controllers needed.

Nav Canada tends to fly under the public radar, and most people don't realize it has 400 employees at the centre -- including more than 200 controllers.

They handle everything from big jets flying over the pole from the U.S. to Asia or Europe, to the growing flock of small planes working the northern oilpatch. Recently a plane passed over en route from Bahrain to Dallas.

Polar Asian traffic over Edmonton

airspace has jumped from four flights a day in 2004 to 25 a day last month. It's expected to hit 35 a day by summer, air traffic control manager Jim Strukalo says. "The challenge is that Russia only has certain entry points, and we have to make sure we keep them separated."

Most outsiders also don't realize the Edmonton centre is responsible for air traffic control at Calgary international airport, where intersecting runways pose a unique challenge for takeoffs and landings.

Each of the 50 or so controllers typically on shift will work a specific three-

dimensional area. One will cover a zone, say, from 100 kilometres north of Edmonton and every plane up to 25,000 feet, while another will handle the same area but only planes above 25,000 feet.

As an arriving plane gets within eight kilometres of the airport, it is handed off to the control tower for landing.

There are 40 budding traffic controllers currently in training, and Nav Canada is always actively recruiting, Kellar says.

"We decided two years ago to decentralize training from Ottawa so we could attract more local people, and it's going very well."

The job takes intense concentration for long periods, so it's not for everybody. But when traffic slows, controllers can take a break and use the quiet room, gym or even take a nap.

The centre also contains a large technical support department, which has generated many of the innovative programs used in Edmonton and other jurisdictions. A 50-person flight information department provides such help as weather and emergency assistance to any pilot across northern B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan.

But as Nav Canada flies off into the world of GPS satellite technology, one of the most ancient communications media is still very much around.

Flight information first reaches the Nav Canada building at what they call the nerve centre, whose staff pass it on to the controllers on ... paper strips.

Although a new electronic system is in place, the paper strips will always be there, Strukalo says.

"The strips are gospel in this world."

dfinlayson@thejournal.canwest.com

- - -

BY THE NUMBERS

- Nav Canada has 530 employees in Edmonton, and 675 across Alberta, with an annual payroll of more than $53 million.

- The Edmonton control centre handled 580,000 aircraft movements last year. The number has been increasing by about six per cent a year.

- Polar Asian traffic over Edmonton airspace has jumped from four flights a day in 2004 to 25 a day in February and will continue to grow.

- Currently, about 60 per cent of carriers using our northern airspace are equipped for the new GPS-based air traffic control system; that's expected to rise to 90 per cent by 2011.

- Radar's birth came when German physicist Heinrich Hertz first experimented with radio waves in 1887 and found they were reflected by some materials.

re: pic; Nav Canada in Edmonton uses radar to keep track of domestic flights over an area of 8.8 million kilometres, the largest domestic flight region in the world. A new GPS-based system will soon be installed that will be more accurate and cheaper than radar.



© The Edmonton Journal 2007

[FamilyGuy]

What happens when GPS accuracy is affected by solar storms?

[Offset]

It would be the same as a radar failure. Just revert to non-radar (or in this case ADS) seperation standards.

[MCA]

can't wait to see that...

[Pygmie]

What happens when GPS accuracy is affected by solar storms?

It's my understanding that's the sort of thing that the WAAS is going to correct.

[JigglyBus]

Quote "Currently, about 60 per cent of carriers using our northern airspace are equipped for the new GPS-based air traffic control system"

....Is that true? 60% of the aircraft using the Northern Airspace are ADS-B equipped?????

[happily.retired]

Are there still concerns about the US controlling most of the GPS satelites? I know that at most we would have reduced accuracy if the Americans decided to restrict GPS access to other countries but that could cause problems in high traffic areas.

[Pygmie]

....Is that true? 60% of the aircraft using the Northern Airspace are ADS-B equipped?????

They are not talking about Low Level northern airspace. That 60% figure is for high level overflights (i.e. all commercial jet traffic), which is what the ADS-B is being put in place for. In fact, in certain areas the low level controllers are not even going to have access to the ADS-B feeds.

[Pygmie]

Are there still concerns about the US controlling most of the GPS satelites? I know that at most we would have reduced accuracy if the Americans decided to restrict GPS access to other countries but that could cause problems in high traffic areas.

All along in this thread we've been saying GPS, but in reality, the ADS-B technology is being put in place to use GNSS. Yes, I realize that GPS is currently the only fully operational GNSS system, but both GLONASS and more importantly Galileo are to be fully operational by 2010.

[capt_yaw]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_ ... -Broadcast

"existing Mode S transponder (or a stand alone 1090 MHz transmitter) supports a message type known as the ES message. It is a periodic message that provides position, velocity, heading, time, and could, in the future, provide intent information"

I think probably more than 60% of aircraft in high level airspace are equipped with a mode S transponder atleast.

One thing i have heard is a major disadvantage when compared to SSR radar is a fairly significant delay in what the controller sees on radar versus real time. But better to have delayed radar, than no radar at all i guess!

[capt_yaw]

http://www.airsport-corp.com/adsb2.htm

this site gave me a laugh.. talk about fear CNN fear mongering

[Pygmie]

One thing i have heard is a major disadvantage when compared to SSR radar is a fairly significant delay in what the controller sees on radar versus real time. But better to have delayed radar, than no radar at all i guess!

Just out of curiosity, where have you heard that? I know the ADS-C reports have a bit of a delay, considering they have to go into space and back, but I wasn't aware of any major delay with ADS-B. . .

[JigglyBus]

I'm sure the number for mode S is close to 100%, but that doesn't mean they are ADS-B equipped.

There is more than just the transponder, there has to be the link to send the position from the FMS through the ES portion of the signal, which I find it hard to believe 60% are already set up as such. Apparently I'm wrong though.... which I'm happy to be in this case. (always good to err on the side of safety/efficiency)

Regarding the lag, there is already lag in the SSR system anyways, I haven't heard that ADS-B would be any worse, and can't imagine scientifically why it would be.

[the_professor]

The GPS ground units are the size of a large water cooler and cost $800,000 each, whereas each of those familiar three-storey radar bases with the big ball on top costs $8 million.

Nav Canada has ordered 200 GPS units.

Pilots and operators will see a huge benefit from this equipment.

Ever wonder where our Nav fees go? That's a $160M investment by the company. To simply recover the cost of purchasing that hardware, which does not include installation, associated software adjustments, etc, etc.

To put this into terms of NC's revenue, it will take:

- 160,000 flights of a B737 between CYVR and CYYC ($996 per flight)

OR

- 127,000 flights of a B737 between CYYZ and CYWG ($1,256 per flight)

OR

- 1.46 million flights of a Jetstream from CYXE - CYPA ($109 per flight)

And that's all just to pay for the ADS-B hardware, nevermind the current costs of running the ANS...

So the next time you hear someone bitching about NC fees (which, ten years after NC's inception are still more than 10% lower than Transport's ATT that used to be charged), keep this in mind.

Fee calculator:
http://www.navcanada.ca/NavCanada.asp?L ... efault.xml

[capt_yaw]

High level airspace starts at 18'000 asl and up (In SDA). RVSM airspace is from fl 290 to fl 410 inclusive. Lots of guys operating below or above RVSM airspace that may or may not have Mode S.. thats where i guessed my 60%

[trey kule]

Professuer:

I know where my Nav Canada fees go. Now explain to me where my personal taxes, GST, FUEL TAXES, Corporate Taxes go......this system is for the public and since some genius civil servant came up with the "user pay" slogan the government has been able to double tax everyone.
Nav Canada, despite all the BS about being private, is in effect a crown corporation.
And if you think fees have really dropped, start adding up the airport authorities' landing fees, ramp fees, departure fees...we pay all these fees, and when you total them up they are significant.

As someone wise said, dont spit in my cornflakes and then expect me to believe its milk.