On the Estimation of Vector Wind Profiles Using Aircraft-Derived Data and Gaussian Process Regression

This work addresses the problem of vertical wind profile online estimation at a given location. Specifically, the north and east components of the wind are continuously estimated as functions of time and altitude at two waypoints used for landing on the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport. A continuous nowcast of the wind profile is...

Wind Profile Estimation from Aircraft Derived Data Using Kalman Filters and Gaussian Process Regression

Accurate wind information is crucial in air traffic management, for instance, to improve trajectory predictability and precision in controlled time of arrival. Nowadays, air traffic management relies on Numerical Weather Prediction, which usually has a low resolution and low update rate. A potential approach for improving the resolution and...

Continuous Descent Operations using Energy Principles

During today’s aircraft descents, Air Traf?c Control (ATC) commands aircraft to descend to specific altitudes and directions to maintain separation and spacing from other aircraft. When the aircraft is instructed to maintain an intermediate descent altitude, it requires engine thrust to maintain speed, leading to increased fuel burn and noise...

Self-Spacing Algorithms for Continuous Descent Approaches

The thesis describes the algorithms design required to perform in-trail self-spacing during continuous descent approaches. Both distance-based and time-based spacing is treated. The CDA-procedure that is investigated is the Three-Degree Decelerating Approach (TDDA). The results of various off-line and simulator experiments as well as test flight...