Visualize Airfield NOTAMs
Visualize Airfield NOTAMs
Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) are information essential to safe flight operations. NOTAMs indicate abnormal conditions in the National Airspace System and at Aerodromes that can affect, pilots, personnel, and normal flight / ground activity. At airports, they relate to the changes in status that are not known far enough in advance to be publicized by other means. NOTAMs include information about abnormal or unplanned runway, taxiway (movement area) closures, or other airside activities that may pose hazards. These changes can impact safe operations; therefore, NOTAMs play a critical role in helping airports maintain a near-real time operations picture.
The use of acronyms and abbreviations are common in aviation. NOTAMs are no exception. They are textual in nature and have a unique coded language using a special format designed to make them more efficient. The format includes keywords like RWY, TWY, APRON, AD, OBST, NAV, COM, SVC, SID, STAR, etc. Efficiency does not necessarily equate to ensuring Notices to Airmen are easy to understand. They require decoding. Here are two NOTAMs that were issued at the San Antonio International Airport:
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!SAT 01/018 SAT RWY 13L/31R CLSD 2201051300-2204052300
!SAT 01/019 SAT TWY J BTN RWY 13R/31L AND TWY S CLSD 2201051305-2204052300
These NOTAMs refer to the short-term closures of Runway 13L/31R and segments of Taxiway Juliet as part of a construction project.
Most Airfield NOTAMs are location-based, meaning they refer to specific geographic areas either on the ground or in the air at or near an aerodrome. The issuing agency does not include a mapped location with many of these NOTAMs. This requires the audience/user to identify where the NOTAMs are situated and then understand how they may affect the safe movement of aircraft or ground vehicles. Lack of awareness of closures and Hotspots (areas with a history or high risk of collision) can lead to incidents including Runway Incursions when unauthorized vehicles or aircraft stray onto surfaces designated for landing and takeoff. In 2021, the FAA recorded 1,575 incursions at US Airports.
Esri offers tools that enable Users to convey information by presenting location-based analytics using intuitive and interactive data visualizations on a single screen. These tools allow users to see where things like NOTAMs and Hotspots are located, improving situational awareness, helping reduce incursions, and lower the risk of accidents.
Leveraging the ArcGIS platform, Airports can use the NOTAM Status Dashboard to see the location of NOTAMs in real-time.
NOTAM Status Dashboard
This web-based tool helps Airside Operations Managers monitor the status of their airfield in real-time and helps support decision-making. This secure, web-based tool allows them to see and understand trends, help inform people operating in the movement areas about activity, visualize ramp, taxiway, and runway closures, as well as other situations that affect normal operations that may pose potential risks.
Users are also able to create NOTAMs, update the status of them, and rescind them using a web-based Editor App.
Create and Update NOTAMs
This tool is simple to use and is connected to the Dashboard so that edits made here are reflected in real-time. A User (Steward) simply selects the surface feature on the Airfield affected by the NOTAM, and updates information about the status of the features via a Pop-up. It works in a connected and disconnected environment.
If a NOTAM is associated with a tower or other temporary vertical obstruction, the User enters the coordinates where the tower is situated in this format: Y51.2851 X-0.00818. The App centers on the location of the coordinate pair. The User clicks on the map at that location and adds the point as well as other information about the tower including height of the obstruction and the effective date(s).
B)2110090100 C)2201072359 N0181/21
E)CRANES. TWO CONSTRUCTION SITE CRANES OPERATING AT PSN
512851N 0000818W (NINE ELMS, LONDON). UP TO 411FT AGL/418FT AMSL.
FOR INFO CONTACT 07823 527290. ON EXPIRY OF THIS NOTAM DETAILS WILL
BE INCLUDED IN THE UK AIP ENR 5.4 2021-10-0082/AS8
Adding Obstructions to the Map
Designating a person or group to prepare, transcribe, create, quality control, share, cancel, and remove NOTAMs from the Application is critical to its usefulness. Developing specific internal guidance for preparation, quality control, transmittal, cancellation, and follow−up actions on NOTAMs is vital to its success. Procedures to ensure all NOTAMs are reviewed for accuracy, completeness, content, etc. prior to submission must be in place and strictly followed to maintain the relevance of the information.
Using the Visualize and Manage NOTAMs tools and workflow will allow Airport Staff to locate areas quickly and easily in and around the Airfield where abnormal or unplanned conditions exist. The tools also enable Users to update the status of these conditions; thereby improving situational awareness and safety.
In an upcoming blog, I will discuss the tools that make up this Application. Stay tuned.
