ATC
An Air Traffic Control Centre at the leading edge of innovation!
The Icelandic Air Traffic Control Centre is among the world's most advanced. The latest addition to its complement of automation systems - the Flight Data Processing System (FDPS) - was commissioned in April of 2002. This complex system had been under development since 1989, the last three years prior to commissioning being dedicated to its adaptation to the local environment and other systems with which it must interact. This period was also used for staff training, the writing of operating/user manuals and a rigorous analysis of the safety and quality of the system.
The airspace managed by Reykjavik ACC spans approximately 5.4 million square kilometres, extending from west coast of Greenland to the Greenwich meridian - from the North Pole to just north of Scotland. The centre is staffed by air traffic controllers and flight data specialists who, in addition to international flights, also control domestic traffic. Excluded from their area of responsibility are the four main domestic airports, local traffic at which is managed by their own control towers. Lower level airspace in the vicinity of Keflavik (out to 60 nautical miles) is also excluded, being managed from Keflavik.
One reason for the large size of the Icelandic area of responsibility, the Reykjavik Control Area, is the delegation to the centre of airspace overlying Greenland at jet altitudes. This airspace delegationn was effected in 1976 by an inter-governmental agreement with Denmark. Cost recovery is however managed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) under an international agrement referred to as the Joint-Financing Agreement. The cost thus recovered by the Iceland civil Aviation Administration in 2000 amounted to approximately 20 million U.S. dollars or almost 2 billion Icelandic kronur.
Traffic Trends
Over the last 50 years, air traffic in the area under Icelandic jurisdiction has increased from 5,500 flights in 1950 to 92,680 in 2000. Recession, coupled with the events of Sept. 11th, 2001, contributed to a reduction in the numbers for the last years. The total number of crossings in 2003 was 78.642 (which, assuming 250 passengers per aircraft, would tranlate to more than 19,6 million people). Experts predict that over the next 15 years world air traffic will double in volume.
Staff
Reykjavik Centre is staffed by over 100 capable specialists in the fields of air traffic control, flight data management, engineering, software development and other disciplines. Since 1995 an average of 6 trainees have been processed per year, selected from an average of 100 applicants satisfying the basic criteria. Selection proceeds through several steps, the first being a general aptitude test which is passed, on average, by 30% to 50% of the applicants. This is followed by a more specific test of skills relevant to the profession of air traffic control, emphasis being placed on organizational skills and performance under pressure. It is from those who excel at this test that the trainees are selected.
As initio training takes five months and is conducted abroad at institutions selected by the CAA. This is followed by one year of theoretical and practical study conducted under the supervision of the CAA's own traning staff, leading to the issuing of the first certification as an air traffic controller (or "rating"). Further specialization will normally follow. In 2001 some 67 air traffic controllers and flight data specialists received training at the CAA's tranining facility, 41 of these receiving recurrent proficiency training and 26 certification in additional ratings.
Reykjavik Cenre serves a great number of clients, in 2001 aircraft from 481 different operators transited the airspace. Although Icelandair's operations to and from Iceland easily make that airline the largest single customer, overall the bulk of the traffic is trans-Atlantic, i.e. does not land in Iceland. This graph shows the number of operations of the 20 largest customers of Reykjavik Centre in 2001.
Major Automation Systems:
Radar Sources
The centre is served by 6 radar sites, 5 located in Icleand and one in the Faroe Islands. Future plans envisage the possibility of obtaining radar data from Greenland and Scotland.
The Radar Data Processing and Presentation System (RDPPS)
The RDPPS was designed and implemented by joint effort of the ICAA and the University of Iceland. The system has been built incrementally, the initial step (1986) being the development of an interface between the radar system then in use and other automation systems. The second phase involved the development of a radar display system to act as a supplement (and reserve) for the existing system. In the third phase (1994) the new system completely replaced the older one.
The system is highly fault-resistant, being based on a combination of distributed architecture and dual main processors. The system copes with any single failure without any degradation in performance or functionality. Development of the system continues, in 1997 it was handed over to corporation (Tern Inc.) jointly owned by the ICAA and the University.
RDPPS receives digital data from the 6 radar sites to which the centre is connected. These are analysed and correlated with previously received data to build "tracks" which, in addition to aircrafts position, altitude and identity, also predict their future position and its speed. The resulting traffic picture is displayed overlayed on a map background and is updated at three second intervals. RDPPS also supports various ancillary functions, allowing the distance between aircraft to be read off the screen, their time at future positions to be predicted etc. Currently under development is a feature that will automatically alert the controller should the minimum separation criteria appear to be threatened.
The Flight Data Processing System (FDPS)
FDPS was designed to CAA specifications by the Canadian company CAE Electronics but has, since 1998, been developed further by CAA staff. The system uses flight plans (information provided by airlines prior to aircraft departure) and position reports to constantly calculate each aircraft's position. Any inputs are checked for credibility to prevent contamination by bad data. This information is then used to ensure that sufficient separation exists, and will continue to exist, with other aircraft. Additionally, the system interfaces with analogous systems in other countries to simply the exchange of information on flights as they progress across the ocean. The information is presented to the controller as needed, some being automatically processed without any display being generated.
Electronic flight strips in the FDPS system.
The primary information display is that of "electronic strips", a series of records, one for each aircraft, used by controllers to establish a mental image of spatial relationships. Whereas previously such strips, being made of paper, had to be manually kept up to date, this is now effected automatically by the system.
The component tasked with ensuring spearation, the "conflict probe", alerts controllers to shortfalls in separation at any future point in time, thus giving them ample time to plan how such problems will be resolved. Information transfer within the centre is almost completely managed by the system, as is tansfer to and from those adjacent facilities that have the necessary capability. Ultimately, it is envisaged that all 6 adjacent control centres (two in Canada, two in Norway and two in the United Kingdom) will be so equipped, telephone conversations will then only be necessary to resolve special cases, the default means of information transfer being an automatic exchange between computer systems.
It is worth noting that the FDPS, built around concepts developed by ICAA staff, has since been sold by CAE to New Zealand and Portugal and is now understood to form part of a new system being developed for the FAA for use both in the Atlantic and the Pacific.
The Situation Display System (SDS)
The SDS emulates a radar display, showing the relative position of aircraft using information received from the FDPS. This allows the controller to easily determine the relative position of aircraft and thus enhances both safety and efficiency.
The Integrated Control Communication System (ICCS)
The ICCS manages all the centre's communications, both ground/ground (telephone) and air/ground (VHF radio). Radio transceivers at remote locations in various parts of Iceland, the Faroes and Greenland are connected via leased lines. The system offers great flexibility in configuring operating positions for the different traffic levels by allowing the merging and splitting of individual areas of responsibility. One-touch dialling is available for all adjacent ATS units. A "voting" mechanism automatically selects the optimal transmitter to use in air/ground communications by determining where the aircraft's transmission was strongest.
Future Developments
Over the next few years, the aforementioned systems will be developed further. They will be more closely integrated, ultimately being melded into a single, homogenous operating environment. At present the emphasis is on developing techniques for computer links with aircraft in flight, these will eventually supersede traditional voice communications. At the same time, this technology provides the framwork for an application referred to as "Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS)" which, through frequent updates of aircraft position and intent, provides many of the benfits associated with radar far outside the airspace which can benefit from that technology.