ECARO
Egnos Civil Aviation Roadmap
The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is Europe’s regional satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) that is used to improve the performance of the global positioning system (GPS).
Such infrastructure is an opportunity for ENAV, the Italian provider of navigation services, to implement new Local Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV) flight procedures and new low level routs with performance based navigation (PBN) standards in the Italian airspace.
Main objectives of this technical proposal named ECARO (Egnos Civil Aviation ROadmap) is the development of flight and approach procedures based on EGNOS navigation signal and appropriate receiving devices and it will give a significant contribution towards EGNOS exploitation in Europe, in particular for rotorcraft operation and RPAS operations. The project has the main objectives of:
- Preparation and publication of RNP APCH procedures for Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance -RNP 0.3 LPV200 in four airports: Bari-Palese, Genova-Sestri, Torino-Caselle, Trieste.
- Preparation and publication of three Low Level Routes (tirrenica, Adriatica, appenninica) for rotorcraft operations.
- Preparation and publication of RNP APCH flight procedures for remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) for the airport of Grottaglie and assessment of threats to EGNOS service coming from electromagnetic fields.
- RPAS operations: developed around Grottaglie airport that is Apulian Center of excellence for RPAS flight trials. The activities of LPV implementation will be extended with a study of the impacts of voluntary and non-voluntary interferences on the EGNOS signal and the vulnerability effects on EGNOS devices.
- Airports: all the activities (obstacle assessment, design, validation, safety and training) needed to enable publication into AIP of the RNP APCH for the selected airports
- Rotorcraft Network: all the activities (obstacle assessment, design, validation, safety and training) needed to enable publication into AIP of the low-level route network and Airgreen retrofit activities.
Benefits related to airport accessibility
In general, RNP approaches supports the reduction of the number of operational disruptions during periods of bad weather conditions or where ILS is unavailable. This may occur at airports without ILS capability or where the ILS is out of service or available only for one runway end. The improvement in terms of the operational minima enabled by RNP approach can allow the aircraft to land at an airport where it would otherwise encounter a disruption. This may occur during periods where a combination of low cloud ceiling or reduced runway visibility and current published minima would result in a failure to see the runway in advance of the missed approach point by the pilot.
In relation to the scenario selected, the operational benefits can be summarized as follows:
Enhanced Safety in terms of reducing the probability of Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accidents, enabling Continuous Descent Final Approach (CDFA);
- Increased Safety for airports where there are no precision approaches, removing also the need for circling approaches;
- Minima reduction;
- Increased airport accessibility with particular terrain constraints;
Benefits related to rotorcraft flights.
The main advantage coming from the development of low level routes networks specifically addresses the enhancement of safety performances concerning helicopters operations:
- Enhanced Safety in conducting helicopters operation along pre-defined routes separated from obstacles and terrain;
- Increase in number of operations, being less dependent on meteorological conditions;
- Use of modern helicopters PBN capabilities, leading to safer flight and to pilot workload reduction;
Benefits related to the development of RPAS segment.
The development of RNP APCH instrument flight procedures for the airport of Grottaglie, associated with the study of the impact of interferences on the EGNOS signal will enable the exploitation of the EGNOS-based navigation services for RPAS operation and the advancement toward the RPAS insertion into European Air Traffic Network. The project outcomes are expected to deliver several impacts in this respect:
- Development of knowledge, skills and know-how about RPAS flight procedures.
- Enhanced safety of the airport so that probability of accidents (Controlled Flight Into Terrain – CFIT) are reduced while new smoother trajectories are enabled,
- Increased capacity to validate innovative civil applications of RPAS,
- Increased capacity for emergency management RPAS flights,
Project manager: Patrizio Vanni, ENAV, patrizio.vanni@enav.it
Total cost: 1.7M€
Start and end date: in start-up phase
For more information: antonio.zilli@dtascarl.it, patrizio.vanni@enav.it
Partner: ENAV, Distretto Tecnologico Aerospaziale, Ums Skeldar, Airgreen, IDS Air Nav.
‘ECARO project has received funding from the European Union and EUSPA’
‘this communication reflects only the author’s view, the EUSPA is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains’
GNSS-based autonomous UAS flight – Demo Day
The conference was held last 24th of june, in this page we find
conference documents
Title: Space as an enalbler of robust drone operations
Speaker: Fiammetta Diani, EUSPA, Head of Market Development
Title: The role of Grottaglie airport for ASI
Speaker: Alberto Tuozzi, ASI, Head of the Telecommunications and Satellite Navigation unit
Title: La prospettiva dell’autorità
Speaker: Carmela Tripaldi, ENAC, Airworthiness Regulation Director, coordinator of the ENAC AAM project
Title: Innovation and R&D projects related to RPAS/Drone
Speaker: Cristiano Cantoni, ENAV, Head of Planning and Research Development
Title: lo sviluppo dello U-Space in Italia – verso il volo autonomo
Speaker: Cristiano Baldoni, D-Flight, CEO
Title: ECARO Project
Speaker: Patrizio Vanni, ENAV, ECARO Project Manager
Title: Preparation and coordination UAS flight tests in Grottaglie airport
Speaker: Antonio Zilli, DTA, responsible for ECARO project
Title: Monitoring GNSS interferences
Speaker: Angelo Amodio, Planetek Italy, responsible for ECARO project
Title: UMS Skeldar operator of the flight test
Speaker: Joschka Höfling, UMS Skeldar, Portfolio Manager, responsible for ECARO project
Title: ECARO Flight test
Speaker: Valentina Onorato, UMS Skeldar, ECARO Flight test engineer
Title: ECARO GNSS DATA ANALYSIS
Speaker: Andrea Mottin, UMS Skeldar, ECARO Flight test engineer
News
