OEP Plan Reference Sheet LAAS
Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS)
Strategic Management Process Pathway 4 – Ensure a Viable Future
Objective # 4.2 – Deliver a future air transportation system that meets customers' operational needs
The FAA has identified this program as a “Contributor” program for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The most direct alignment to a NextGen goal is Increasing Flexibility in the Terminal Environment.
Background / Need:
LAAS is part of a NextGen study to optimize sequencing and spacing in the terminal area. It supports the FAA performance based navigation concept and FAA strategic plans to transform to satellite navigation. LAAS provides satellite based CAT I/II/III precision approach capability and high accuracy/integrity terminal area operations.
LAAS will eliminate the capacity constraint placed on air traffic operations due to the ILS critical areas. A single LAAS system will be capable of providing precision approach capabilities to multiple runways. ILSs are currently installed at 1,275 runways at 750 airports. If the majority of the 1275 ILS s were replaced with a single LAAS facility at each of the 750 ILS airports, infrastructure costs and operations and maintenance costs would be reduced while providing precision approach service to all runways at those airports, including those not currently served by ILS. LAAS can be installed at airports that do not have precision approaches due to ILS siting constraints. LAAS will allow precision approach guidance to transition from ground based systems to SATNAV.
LAAS will satisfy the need to provide all-weather approach and landing as well as surface navigation capabilities with significant improvements in service flexibility, safety, and user operating costs. LAAS will accomplish this by providing precision approach service to multiple runways using a single facility with reduced ground facility installation and maintenance costs, and reduced siting constraints. High quality navigation services will be provided with a minimum investment in ground facilities compared to existing technology, resulting in savings to the U.S. Government. Aircraft operators will benefit from reduced fuel expenses due to more direct terminal area routing and improved access to airports during extremely low visibility operations.
In high density terminal airspace the air traffic management system of the future will provide continuous descent approaches followed by positive guidance to the gate in extremely low visibility conditions. This capability will require high precision and integrity satellite-based navigation and landing service, 4-dimensional air traffic automation, secure digital data-link and cockpit automation. LAAS provides area navigation services within 60 miles of the airport at accuracy levels higher than other GPS augmentation systems. LAAS already broadcasts static flight path information to the aircraft for terminal area navigation and final approach and landing. LAAS technology will be essential for the implementation as an enabling technology for high precision terminal area navigation services (4-Dimensional dynamic trajectories).
LAAS is currently the only viable future alternative to ILS for Category II/III Operations because a single facility can serve an entire airport versus multiple ILS facilities (one at each runway end). Its technology is essential for implementation as an enabling technology for high precision terminal area navigation services.
Solution(s):
The FAA plans to replace legacy navigation systems with satellite based navigation technology. The strategy to achieve this capability is to initially build a single frequency local area augmentation system (LAAS) to provide Category I service and improve this architecture to provide Category II/III service. LAAS Category I avionics standards were developed and approved and vendors are building avionics against FAA-released Technical Standard Order (TSO) requirements.
The GBAS program office is executing a plan to approve a LAAS Category I system at Memphis airport late 2008. FAA funding has been used to provide an analysis of accuracy, integrity and continuity requirements, the development of related integrity algorithms and the developmentt of a prototype. External funding from Airservices Australia to Honeywell is used to fund the remaining development activities for an FAA compliant LAAS ground facility. The system developed under the AsA-Honeywell contract will be SARPs compliant and will be implemented in Memphis under FAA Non-Fed FAR Part 171.
CAT II/III specific efforts conducted in FY08, FY09 will continue into FY10 and focus on research and analysis of issues associated with accuracy, integrity, continuity, and availability to users. An operational LAAS CAT I system will be available to evaluate and research the potential for CAT Il/III operations using the LAAS CAT I system and airborne augmentation ' system technology. The FY08 through FY10 identified funding requirements are based on the assumption that the FAA will develop and complete the research necessary for LAAS CAT II/III development. The funding requirement will change if the FAA decides to proceed with a CAT II/III acquisition program. The decision is not expected before 2008.
The Department of Defense also plans to implement GBAS -Technology in their Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) program. This civil interoperability is a "Key Performance Parameter" to this DoD system.
Operational Benefits:
LAAS supports the objective for collaboration with customers, owners, and other strategic partners. As a NextGen contributor, LAAS supports the performance target of expanding the use of next Generation Air Transportation Systems (e.g. navigation and surveillance systems) into Australia, Germany, Spain, and Brazil.
LAAS increases airport capacity by enabling aircraft to fly aircraft to fly advanced procedure, including curved, segmented approaches and continuous descent approaches. Advanced procedures provide better airspace use for takeoff and landing, which safely increases traffic flow and lessens environmental impact by allowing precise routing around noise sensitive areas and also adds more flexibility in responding to operational and community concerns.
LAAS will reduce the number of flight disruptions in a terminal area by improving ceiling and visibility minima. This lowering of minima can result in fewer flight cancellations, fewer diversions to alternate airports, and fewer delays due to inclement weather. The LAAS benefit of the elimination of ILS critical areas means decreased arrival and taxi delays to the users. LAAS can permit takeoff operations in low visibility which can reduce departure delays for properly equipped aircraft. LAAS in combination with RNAV and RNP procedures will allow for predictable flight paths in the terminal area which will lead to more flexible routing in the terminal area, reduced fuel cost, and reduced flight times.
LAAS may also reduce a pilot’s workload by requiring fewer communications with ATC.
LAAS provides area navigation services within 60 miles of an airport at accuracy levels higher than other Global Positioning (GPS) augmentation systems.
LAAS is an enabler for other technologies which require the highest accuracy and integrity requirements like ADS-B and surface movements.
LAAS is anticipated to have additional safety benefits other than the provision of precision approach capability. These potential benefits include the ability to provide precise surface navigational guidance, complex approach and departure navigational guidance, positive guidance for wake turbulence in the airport area, and much more.
There are many other safety benefits associated with LAAS that are not easily quantifiable. Most of these are multiplicative in that the benefits will influence many different aspects of operations. In this study, these non-measurable benefits include curved approaches and improved situational awareness of high obstacles in the terminal environment thereby reducing the risk of CFIT. In both cases, LAAS will enable existing technology (primarily integrated FMS and aircraft automated systems) to make large improvements in aircraft control in the terminal environment and pilot situational awareness.
LAAS also eliminates ILS clear zones and removes the risk of hazardous misleading information (HMI), present for ILS localizer operations giving increased accuracy along the entire length of precision approach including roll out.