Data will power the next generation of air traffic management. Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) manage the safe and efficient flow of aircraft in the airspace while ensuring proper aircraft separation. They provide services such as Air Traffic Management (ATM), Aeronautical Information Services (AIS), meteorological services, Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs), and communication, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) infrastructure.
AAM operations will require new data solutions and more localized data to navigate highly complex and constrained operating environments effectively, maintain situational awareness, and avoid hazards without an onboard pilot. AAM aircraft operate under different decision-making, communication, and risk models than traditional aviation, and their dependence on automation means there is no onboard pilot to judge, see, and avoid requirements for navigating, detecting conflicts, avoiding hazards, and communicating with Air Traffic Control (ATC).
Under this new operational shift, enhancing data services is essential for scaling AAM operations, and SkyGrid is well positioned to support ANSPs worldwide in this task.
ATM Automation for AAM
AAM operations will require greater planning accuracy than conventional operations, given the battery energy limitations of eVTOLs. Today, the availability of surveillance data is limited in certain low-altitude airspaces due to these areas being outside the coverage volume of airport surveillance radars or not within the line of sight for ADS-B receivers. To increase the density of low-altitude operations, the availability and quality of surveillance data in these airspaces should be equivalent to that used by ATC to manage higher altitude airspace. Vertiports may also require their own ADS-B coverage.
Weather data will need to be available at vertiports, similar to how METARs and TAFs are currently available at major airports. We’re working with weather sensor suppliers to ensure availability of weather data and tapping into state-of-the-art weather forecast models to provide system users with high-fidelity planning tools. Vertiport resource status will be crucial, as landing sites need to be confirmed before departure and with smooth reallocation processes in place in case a route or landing site is impacted.
Since routine ATC tasks will need to be automated, systems need to meet the highest level of assurance. Data must meet strict standards for accuracy, integrity, timeliness, availability, and security so that safety-critical flight operations can rely on it without requiring human verification or intervention. This is achieved by applying aviation development standards when creating and testing systems responsible for collecting, processing, and distributing data.
Leveraging SkyGrid’s High-Assurance Data Services to Manage AAM
ANSPs will support AAM operations by providing them with new data services to meet the unique demands of these emerging operations. To achieve this, ANSPs can leverage SkyGrid’s system, which offers a comprehensive operating picture and digital twin of the environment. SkyGrid will help ANSPs integrate AAM by expanding their capabilities to include new services tailored to supporting high-volume, low-altitude, uncrewed traffic that operates with limited energy reserves. Download our ANSP one-pager to learn more.
Through the Ground-Based Traffic Surveillance (GBTS) service, SkyGrid will augment the existing surveillance services of ANSPs with new high-integrity, low-latency surveillance data for low-altitude airspace. This data may be shared with AAM aircraft and could enable uncrewed aircraft to remain well clear of other traffic when not receiving separation services from ATC. Weather Data will provide ANSPs with high-fidelity weather reports, advisories, forecasts, and observations at AAM vertiports.
Our C2 and GNSS Performance Data service will monitor the quality and availability of satellite-based services like Command-and-Control (C2) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). ANSPs can use the SkyGrid system to receive alerts when services used by AAM operators are expected to be unavailable or degraded. Resource Status and Capacity Data will provide ANSPs with information on capacity-constrained AAM vertiports, giving ANSPs greater visibility of the status and capacity of AAM takeoff and landing sites in their airspaces.
Interoperability in the AAM Ecosystem
For AAM to be successful, the ecosystem must have an interoperable information exchange; this coordination is necessary for the volume of operations envisioned. As a common point for OEMs and ANSPs, our system is the only one of its kind being developed from a highly assured lens, with both aircraft requirements and AAM operational constraints in mind, and a goal of supporting flights carrying passengers. We’re following existing standards but considering how our system will evolve alongside regulation to address future needs of AAM. This makes us the best positioned to help ANSPs overcome unique AAM airspace integration challenges.
Eventually, we expect our system to enable ANSPs to manage and supervise AAM operations without requiring direct control over each individual aircraft. Under this vision, we will provide ANSPs with the tools needed to manage the AAM airspace using more strategic methods, like specifying the airspace capacity or when operators can use it.
Collaborating to Build the Data Backbone
ANSPs must invest in digital infrastructure advancements necessary to support these new operations, and they should remain involved ecosystem players, lead the modernization of the air traffic system, and help inform regulators in AAM rulemaking. We’re working with ANSPs in our technology development to create a roadmap that tailors our services to their new airspace needs. Research, development, and validation tests conducted by ANSPs can help support the industry’s advanced airspace solutions and inform the development of new standards.