Applications Architecture to Support FAA Wake Turbulence Mitigation Systems Developoment and Deployment

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Applications Architecture to Support FAA Wake Turbulence Mitigation Systems Developoment and Deployment

V. K. Andleigh / D. A. Clark

The Wake Turbulence Program within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is considering a number of new procedures for safely reducing wake vortex spacing requirements between aircraft. One category of procedures investigates wind-dependent procedures, i.e., procedures that can be applied when wind conditions are expected to transport the wake from a lead aircraft away from the path of a trailing aircraft. MIT Lincoln Laboratory developed a Wind Forecast Algorithm (WFA) to determine when conditions allow these wind-dependent procedures to be available to traffic managers. The baseline WFA is used within the Wake Turbulence Mitigation for Departures (WTMD) system, which establishes spacing procedures for departures on closely spaced parallel runways. A number of new procedures are also under consideration, each of which will require a modification and/or expansion of the baseline WFA. With time, the volume and number of disparate data sources used in the development process has steadily increased to the point where the existing development environment had become cumbersome and inadequate.