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oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1451792022-08-30T03:08:53Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023

Balakrishnan, Hamsa Fasoro, Titilayo Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2022-08-29T16:38:27Z 2022-08-29T16:38:27Z 2022-05 2022-06-09T16:14:16.553Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/145179 Continuous descent approaches (CDAs) have demonstrated the ability to reduce aircraft fuel burn and noise, while trajectory-based operations (TBO) have been shown to improve the predictability and throughput of aircraft flows. Prior work has recognized the difficulty of implementing CDAs in high-density terminal areas due to an increase in uncertainty, which can result in a decrease in throughput. This thesis investigates whether increased throughput afforded by trajectory-based operations can be combined with continuous descent approach profiles to achieve high-throughput CDA operations. The proposed method in this thesis first determines a CDA profile via trajectory optimization, and then locates waypoints with required time of arrival (RTA) constraints along this profile, to optimize a combination of throughput and fuel burn. For representative terminal-area descent profiles at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), we find that by specifying intermediate waypoints with RTAs, it is possible to use intermediate waypoints with RTAs to increase the throughput by as much as 70%, while incurring an additional fuel burn penalty of 2% per flight. S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright MIT http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ Trajectory Specification to Support High-Throughput Continuous Descent Approaches Thesis application/pdf Master Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics Publication unknown unknown <Publication xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/1.1/" id="d460a1ee-ff0f-4431-940f-493f19dc0168"> <Type xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/vocab/COAR_Publication_Types">http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843</Type> <Title>Trajectory Specification to Support High-Throughput Continuous Descent Approaches</Title> <PublishedIn> <Publication> </Publication> </PublishedIn> <PublicationDate>2022-05</PublicationDate> <Authors> <Author> <DisplayName>Fasoro, Titilayo</DisplayName> <Affiliation> <OrgUnit> </OrgUnit> </Affiliation> </Author> </Authors> <Editors> </Editors> <Publishers> <Publisher> <DisplayName>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</DisplayName> <OrgUnit /> </Publisher> </Publishers> <License>http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/</License> <Abstract>Continuous descent approaches (CDAs) have demonstrated the ability to reduce aircraft fuel burn and noise, while trajectory-based operations (TBO) have been shown to improve the predictability and throughput of aircraft flows. Prior work has recognized the difficulty of implementing CDAs in high-density terminal areas due to an increase in uncertainty, which can result in a decrease in throughput. This thesis investigates whether increased throughput afforded by trajectory-based operations can be combined with continuous descent approach profiles to achieve high-throughput CDA operations. The proposed method in this thesis first determines a CDA profile via trajectory optimization, and then locates waypoints with required time of arrival (RTA) constraints along this profile, to optimize a combination of throughput and fuel burn. For representative terminal-area descent profiles at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), we find that by specifying intermediate waypoints with RTAs, it is possible to use intermediate waypoints with RTAs to increase the throughput by as much as 70%, while incurring an additional fuel burn penalty of 2% per flight.</Abstract> <Access xmlns="http://purl.org/coar/access_right" > </Access> </Publication>