ANSP NAV Portugal has started to use space-based ADS-B data in its Air Traffic Control System.
After the commissioning of the ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) system a complete visibility of air traffic based using surveillance information is being used in Nav Portugal’s Santa Maria’s FIR (Flight Information Region) for the first time.
The system works by ADS-B real-time data being transmitted by every ADS-B-equipped aircraft and detected by Iridium’s global constellation of 66 satellites. This data is then forwarded by Aireon to NAV Portugal’s Oceanic Control Center (OCC) for processing in Santa Maria’s FIR through its integration on this OCC’s Air Traffic Control System.
The Santa Maria FIR covers a total area of more than 5.1 million square kilometers and includes the Santa Maria OCC and the control towers of the airports from the Azores archipelago. It is a busy FIR mainly for overflight traffic between Europe, North Africa, and the North, Central and South Americas.
The Space-Based ADS-B information flow, together with with NAV Portugal’s Ground-Based ADS-B, SSR radar and WAM (Wide Area Multilateration) systems, already available on the Azores and Madeira archipelagos will contribute to the increasing safety of navigating through the Santa Maria’s FIR, said NAV Portugal.
By adding Space-Based ADS-B surveillance information to the Santa Maria FIR’s Air Traffic Management system, over 75% of the ICAO Northern Atlantic region’s airspace is now controlled using real-time air traffic surveillance means, enhancing safety and offering more efficient Air Traffic Navigation services to airspace users.
Gonçalo Vale, board member of NAV Portugal said, “We are pleased to introduce such a relevant improvement in the surveillance systems supporting the Air Navigation Services in the Santa Maria FIR. The processing capabilities and technological solutions of our ATM system (SATL) used at the Oceanic Control Center in the Santa Maria island have been evolving over time, to respond to the long term air traffic increase.
“After the introduction of ADS-C, later complemented by ground station sensors, the operational use of the ADS-B information received by satellites covering the entire Santa Maria FIR area now begins.”