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Volpe Center Highlights - Summer 2005

Mobility

Director's Notes | Dr. Kaveeshwar: First RITA Administrator | Focus | Safety
Mobility | Security | Contributions to TRB | Published and Presented

Deicing procedures associated with snowstorms can cause delays in flight schedules. At Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), a Volpe team demonstrated the efficacy of a deicing decision support tool that helps airline dispatchers or air traffic controllers efficiently manage the deicing of outbound flights in order to reduce schedule disturbances. Two major DTW deicing pads were studied in the course of tool development; part of one pad is shown above.

Developing a Deicing Decision Support Tool (NASA)

The Volpe Center is supporting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the development and application of the Dynamic Runway Occupancy Monitoring System (DROMS). DROMS collects surface surveillance data, weather data, and airline flight data, then computes the runway occupancy times for all arriving and departing aircraft and stores them in a database. The Surveillance and Assessment Division is analyzing the effect of different parameters such as aircraft type, weather, and airport configuration on runway occupancy times of arrivals and departures for Memphis International Airport (MEM) and at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW). As well, Volpe is employing DROMS data in more focused analyses addressing the time required for aircraft deicing and the ability to predict gate arrival times for aircraft 60 miles from the airport. Volpe's work is conducted in conjunction with the FAA Air Traffic Organization Terminal Sector.

As an application of DROMS data to real-time operations, a Volpe team developed the Deicing Decision Support Tool, which was demonstrated at DTW beginning January 2005. The deicing tool will enable DTW airport and Northwest Airlines (NWA) personnel to more efficiently manage aircraft moving through the deicing stations at DTW. NASA and NWA ramp controllers participated in the demonstration. The tool was installed in the NWA ramp tower for use and evaluation by ramp controllers to determine its efficacy and any needed modifications.

As a result of the successful evaluation, Volpe met with representatives from a leading vendor in airport surface surveillance hardware and NWA to discuss the possibility of transferring the technology to the commercial world. To officially mark the transition, a forum is being planned to showcase the deicing tool to representatives from government, industry, and airlines.

The Volpe team, lead by Dr. Michael Geyer, Chief of the Surveillance and Assessment Division, includes Mr. Anastasios Daskalakis, Dr. Jonathan Lee, and Ms. Suzanne Chen, all of the Division.

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