Page 47 - ATC Special Bulletin Series - Remote and Digital Towers 2023-01

| REMOTE & DIGITAL TOWERS | ADVERTORIAL | and the Civil Aviation Department (CAD), of a Digital Apron and Tower Management System (DATMS) comprising both digital apron management and digital tower facilities that enables “more effective deployment of manpower resources to support long term growth at HKIA” . The same digital infrastructure supports a new Integrated Airport Centre (IAC) and provides a springboard for the growth of additional services. The IAC has access to a stream of data from numerous sources, including optical sensors, radar surveillance systems, airfield lighting, and flight information data feeds, all facilitating the tracking and management of aircraft movements. Combined with information from ground handling operators, baggage handlers and catering supply services, stand and apron management teams, the centre provides visual and digital views of all operations in real-time. The benefits include more predictable operations, increased safety, more efficient resource management, improved analytics and enhanced capacity. Digital transformation can unlock a host of existing as well as new services in response to market needs. Equipped with surveillance data, air traffic data, flight updates, weather, AODB and airfield lighting, all using the same single platform, how much more powerful is your ability to deliver a new application such as Uncrewed Traffic Management (UTM) for example? Searidge has integrated almost every system into the company’s digital tower platform over the past 15 years, positioning it front and centre of the digital transformation already underway in control towers and on the airfield. INTELLIGENT APPROACH Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI), powered by machine learning technology, into this digital environment brings further opportunities to improve performance, for example by using real-time data and historical data to support decision-making. At London Heathrow, Searidge is working with parent company NATS to deploy its AI capability Aimee to improve airfield operations. Using a Digital Tower Laboratory, Aimee analyses data from ultra-high definition 4K cameras on the airfield to geo-track aircraft and signal to controllers when aircraft have cleared the runway. For a busy airport like Heathrow, the decision-support tool offers capacity gains in tower-in-the- cloud situations, safety enhancements and reduced controller workload, benefits which prompted the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore to partner with Searidge to enhance the smart digital tower installation at Changi Airport. 47 |