3.5 Technical enablers for remote aerodrome ATS

The solutions which are available for remote aerodrome ATS are not based on a unique system configuration but on a varied set of technical enablers. The appropriate configuration of technical enablers should be carefully assessed and selected according to the operational needs of each implementation and supported and identified by the safety, security, and human factors assessments. Below is a (non-exhaustive) list of possible technical enablers. Many of the below listed enablers are also available for conventional towers; however, in the remote tower context they will be affected to various degrees due to the need for data transmission links. Each technical enabler is further described in Chapter 5. Visual presentation, replacing, or complementing, the OTW view of a conventional tower (further described in Section 5.2) Binocular functionality (e.g. a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera/function, as defined and described in ED-240A Change 1 [19]), fulfilling/emulating the function of a binocular in a conventional tower (Section 5.2) Signalling lamp, remotely controlled (Section 5.3) Aerodrome sound reproduction (Section 5.4) Communication means to provide aeronautical mobile service, aeronautical fixed service and surface movement control service (Section 5.5) Management of navigation aids, aeronautical ground lights and other aerodrome assets (Section 5.7) Meteorological information (Section 5.8) Other ATS systems/functions, as would typically also be available in a conventional tower, but which are not necessarily affected by the remote provision of ATS (Section 5.9) Additional visual ‘hot spot/gap filler’ cameras (Section 5.2.8) The use of infrared or other optical sensors/cameras outside the visible spectrum (Section 5.2.8) Dedicated means to facilitate the detection and identification, as well as enabling automatic following, of aircraft or vehicles in the visual presentation (e.g. by overlaid labels based on data from ATS surveillance systems/sensors e.g. ADS-B, PSR, SSR, A-SMGCS, complemented by flight plan correlation when available, commonly referred to as ‘radar tracking’) (Section 5.2.8) Dedicated means to facilitate the detection and following of moving objects in the visual presentation (e.g. by highlighting/framing such objects based on image processing techniques, commonly referred to as ‘visual tracking’) (Section 5.2.8) System support to help the ATCO/AFISO detect smaller foreign object debris (FOD), highlighting the existence of such small objects in the visual presentation (Section 5.2.8) Other overlaid information in the visual presentation such as framing and/or designation of runways, taxiways, etc., compass directions, meteorological information, aeronautical information (NOTAM, SNOWTAM, etc.), other operational information (e.g. runway conditions like water, snow or mud presence, coefficient of friction, etc.) (Section 5.2.8) Enhanced functionalities of the binocular functionality, e.g. automatic following of moving objects (Section 5.2.7.2)