Faculty of air transport engineering the department of «air navigation systems»

1.2. Point merge system.

1. 
   A short-term application with the potential for future improvements.
   

Point Merge was designed to enable extensive use of lateral guidance by the flight management system (FMS), even under high traffic load, and also features a built-in continuous descent (CDA). It was derived from an earlier study on airborne spacing “sequencing and merging” conducted at the EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre.
Point Merge is supported by existing technology, i.e. the use of a dedicated RNAV route structure, and formally corresponds to a P-RNAV application usable in high, medium or low-density terminal airspace. It is therefore expected to be deployable from the 2012 timeframe and fits in SESAR early operational improvements. It also fits in:
The early steps of the Airspace Strategy and Navigation Strategy for the ECAC area;
The operational service defined in this document is also expected to form a sound foundation to support future developments towards the SESAR target concept. It thus fits in the SESAR roadmap as a building block for future operational improvements (IP2 and IP3 – “Implementation Packages 2 and 3”. Among these are:
Advanced continuous descent approaches (towards 3D);
Improvement of spacing accuracy with adapted ground tools;
Use of pre-defined RNAV routes (ultimately allocation thereof) with advanced ground support/decision tools;
Airborne Separation Assistance Systems – sequencing and merging (ASAS S&M);
Trajectory-based operations (towards 4D trajectory management, including adherence to an agreed or constrained time of arrival).

2. 
   Air traffic control tasks.
   

In terminal airspace, aircraft approaching one or more aerodrome(s) from surrounding sectors typically follow a number of STARs providing the transition from the En-Route structure, and are progressively merged into a single flow for each active landing runway.
In this context, the goal to enable a safe, expeditious and orderly flow of air traffic translates into three main arrival tasks for the controllers:
Separate arrivals from other arrivals;
Separate arrivals from departures;
Integrate arrivals safely and efficiently into a landing sequence to each runway. Air traffic control (ATC) tasks also include:
Separate arrivals and departures from terrain/obstacles (subject to the operational context, according to the ICAO regulation governing responsibility for terrain clearance), and
Prevent unauthorized entry into segregated areas.
In E-TMA, ATC tasks include the following specific arrival tasks:
Separate arrivals from over flights;
Integrate arrivals safely and efficiently into intermediate sequence(s).

2.