- Real-time traffic in the cockpit at an effective range of more than 100 miles.
- Traffic avoidance with both lateral and vertical guidance, based on transmitted position and velocity data for greater precision.
- Surveillance in remote or inhospitable areas that do not currently have coverage with radar.
- Reduced separation and greater predictability in departure and arrival times, allowing Air Traffic Controllers to plan further in advance.
- Can be implemented rapidly for a relatively low cost and will reduce the cost of the infrastructure needed to operate air space in the United States.
- Further enhances aviation safety through features such as automatic traffic call-outs or warnings of imminent runway incursion.
- Can be scaled and adapted for use in general aviation and in ground vehicles. This will provide affordable, effective surveillance of all air and ground traffic, even on airport taxiways and runways.
A Deeper Look
With ADS-B, both pilots and controllers will see radar-like displays with highly accurate traffic data from satellites. The displays will update in real-time and don’t degrade with distance or terrain.
Giving all of this information to the pilot will be a great benefit. The improved situational awareness will mean that pilots will be able to fly closer to each other at safe distances from one another with less assistance from Air Traffic Control.
Air Traffic Controllers will have a much better picture of the traffic they are managing, allowing them to space aircraft tighter. This, in turn, will allow for more aircraft capacity in the air and will decrease the use of holding patterns. It will also allow the use of Continuous Descent Arrival (CDA) procedures aimed to reduce fuel burn and emissions. ADS-B, combined with the increased position precision of GPS Rnav procedures will save operators time and money as it will shorten their time in the air.
ADS-B has also been designed to be much less expensive than any other infrastructure currently being used. The low cost of deployment and maintenance will allow the National Airspace System to increase capacity and safety while staying on a budget. It also allows for full United States coverage as ground stations can be located in remote locations such as the Alaskan Outback or on offshore oil rigs in the Gulf.
The gains in safety, capacity, and efficiency resulting from a satellite-based system will enable the FAA to meet predicted air traffic growth in the future. And because ADS-B is a flexible and expandable platform, it can change and grow as needed.
ADS-B will provide data links to receive flight information services such as graphical weather depiction and textual flight advisories. In the past, these services have been unavailable or too expensive for widespread use.
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