New atmospheric data model for constant altitude accelerated flight performance prediction calculations and flight trajectory optimization algorithms

Abstract

This article presents a new method for storing and computing the atmospheric data used in time-critical flight trajectory performance prediction calculations, such as flight performance prediction calculations in flight management systems and/or flight trajectory optimization, of constant altitude cruise segments. The proposed model is constructed based on the forecast data provided by Meteorological Service Agencies, in a GRIB2 data file format, and the set of waypoints that define the lateral component of the evaluated flight profile(s). The atmospheric data model can be constructed/updated in the background or off-line, when new atmospheric prediction data are available, and subsequently used in the flight performance computations. The results obtained using the proposed model show that, on average, the atmospheric parameter values are computed six times faster than through 4D linear interpolations, while yielding identical results (value differences of the order of 10e−14). When used in flight trajectory performance calculations, the obtained results show that the proposed model conducts to significant computation time improvements. The proposed model can be extended to define the atmospheric data for a set of cruise levels (usually multiple of 1000 ft).

New flight plan optimisation method utilising a set of alternative final point arrival time targets (RTA constraints)

“…This ADM has the advantage that, in a large majority of the cases, the atmospheric parameters used in the flight segment performance calculations only require 1D linear interpolations to compute their values in an RGRID node, at the altitude and time instance of interest. The ADM was shown (49) to be on average six times faster, and as accurate as when computed by linear interpolations from the GDPS GRIB2 data. Atmospheric data at points other than the RGRID nodes, a reduced number of occurrences during the flight performance calculations (e.g.…”

“…First, the RGRID is constructed similarly to the method presented in ref. [49] and in a flight trajectory optimisation study (78) conducted by the authors. An Orthodromic Route (ORT) is constructed between WPT init and WPT final , and then divided into the minimum number of equal segments with an SLL smaller than or equal to a selected value (step size).…”

“…The Atmospheric Data Model (ADM) used in this study was that presented by Dancila and Botez (49) . The model defines the atmospheric data, as a function of time, in RGRID nodes (see sub-section 3.1) and at a set of selected altitudes.…”

“…In online ATM platforms, the atmospheric data are computed from forecast data (16,41) by linear interpolations, as a trade-off between precision and computation time. Dancila and Botez (49) developed a new ADM that defines the timevarying atmospheric data in the nodes of a Routing Grid (RGRID). The model computes the atmospheric parameter values in a grid node on average six times faster and with the same accuracy as when calculated by 4D interpolations from GRIB2 data.…”

Оптимизация Высотно-Скоростного Профиля Крейсерского Полета Воздушного Судна В Реальной Атмосфере

“…При этом рассматриваются отличные от стандартной атмосферы, но типовые распределения температуры, характерные для различных климатических зон. Расчет значений параметров атмосферы в текущей точке полета из прогнозных значений для отдельных точек маршрута рассмотрен в [9], где подчеркнута важность использования данных атмосферы для расчета траектории полета.…”