Evaluation of Extended Projected Profiles impact on vertical trajectory prediction

Abstract

The future Air Traffic Management System (ATM) is based on the concept of Trajectory Based Operations (TBO), in which all stakeholders have access to a consistent and synchronised view of flight trajectories. In the TBO framework, the trajectory prediction plays a key role. Inaccuracy of current trajectory predictors caused by the lack of a common understanding of stakeholders’ intents can be reduced by the sharing of information by airspace users. A step towards a shared information network is the Extended Projected Profile (EPP), downlinked from airborne to ground via automatic dependent surveillance contract (ADS-C). In summary, it contains the flight intent from the Flight Management System (FMS) and other information. This paper explores the EPP messages and the possible performance enhancement they introduce in the predictions of the top of descent (TOD) and the descent vertical profile. 1