Mandala, 10:00 Team 24 Disclaimer: This paper partially fulfills a writing requirement for first-year (freshmen) engineering students at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. This paper is a student paper, not a professional paper. This paper is not intended for publication or public circulation. This paper is based on publicly available information, and while this paper might contain the names of actual companies, products, and people, it cannot and does not contain all relevant information/data or analyses related to companies, products, and people named. All conclusions drawn by the authors are the opinions of the authors, first-year (freshmen) students completing this paper to fulfill a university writing requirement. If this paper or the information therein is used for any purpose other than the authors' partial fulfillment of a writing requirement for first-year (freshmen) engineering students at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, the users are doing so at their own—not at the students', at the Swanson School's, or at the University of Pittsburgh's—risk. ADS-B AVIATION TECHNOLOGY Leanne Boody [email protected], Gabe Ferrara [email protected], Ammie Faunce [email protected] Abstract—Dated technology in aviation has left much traditional ground radar methods that were employed to room for improvement in both the safety and efficiency of track Malaysian Flight 370. Automatic Dependent flying. This paper will discuss the new Automatic Surveillance - Broadcast could have saved countless hours Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) technology and millions of dollars searching for the lost flight. and how it utilizes the global positioning system (GPS) Catastrophes like that can hopefully now be avoided technology to address the various challenges that stem from because the enhanced weather pattern intelligence ADS-B increasing plane travel and air traffic and to improve upon technology provides. the general imprecision of radar. It is believed that the application of Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Keywords—ADS-B, Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast technology in commercial airlines will optimize Broadcast, Aeronautical Technology, Aircraft, Airplane, the efficiency of all current national and international flight Air Traffic Control, ATC, Flight Technology, GPS, systems. For pilots, it is paramount to have complete Navigation, Radar spatial awareness in the skies, otherwise congestion, delays, and even plane crashes can occur. This paper will INTRODUCTION: OPTIMIZATION OF discuss the goals of ADS-B technology and how it will affect the spatial awareness of pilots when flying. THE FLIGHT INDUSTRY Currently, Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast has been implemented in some of North America and Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS- Europe and our paper will discuss how it is expected to B) is a revolutionary technology that has the potential to spread further into Asia and the Pacific soon. We will transform air traffic control (ATC). Automatic Dependent analyze how ADS-B technology will lead to increased safety Surveillance - Broadcast is a relatively new information and number of flights, while decreasing costs and negative sharing and tracking system for airplanes that utilizes the environmental impact through its creating of a network of very familiar Global Positioning System (GPS) that can be full surveillance coverage. This paper will explore the perks found in millions of devices around the world. ADS-B will of Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast that soon be replacing the outdated radar technology that air experts boast like how the technology allows for constant traffic control has been using for many decades. The and precise location updates and other important geographic precision and real-time speed are just two of the information to both Air Traffic Control (ATC) and other many ways that Automatic Dependent Surveillance - aircraft. The paper will also go into detail on the hardware Broadcast technology eclipses the previous radar detection involved in Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast system. One benefit of ADS-B is the detailed account of all in and out, and the different options for pilots. surrounding airborne bodies it can generate, which allows Furthermore, we will thoroughly discuss the entirety of the dramatically increased spatial awareness for pilots global positioning system and how each piece comes operating in the skies. With increased accuracy of together. This will help explain exactly how ADS-B works information provided by Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast technology, air traffic control has a more in terms of its use of the global positioning system. This paper will include how the application of precise broadcast of the upper troposphere and can generate Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast technology more direct and optimized flight paths for all aircrafts. could have helped in the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370’s Shorter, optimized flight paths result in a decrease in flight disappearance and how it has impacted Malaysian Airlines time, fuel costs, and CO2 pollution. ADS-B technology is current flights. ADS-B technology within planes allows for arguably the solution to many of these long-term instantaneous satellite location tracking, opposed to sustainability concerns within the aviation industry and 1 University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering First-Year Conference Paper 03.29.2019 Mandala, 10:00 Team 24 projects to save owners, and the aviation industry, much they are traveling the least distance possible, and thus use money. Moreover, with all these advancements, flight less time, fuel, and produce less emissions. safety is never jeopardized. Unfortunately, ADS-B could not have come soon enough. Hardware Specifications The tragedy of the Malaysian Airline Flight 370’s disappearance exploits the problems in radar-based flight Installing Automatic Dependent Surveillance - tracking systems. Time, money, and most importantly lives Broadcast can be as simple as plugging in an “ADS-B box”, could have been saved if Automatic Dependent but that can depend on a lot of factors. There is a lot of Surveillance - Broadcast technology had been developed specialized equipment that is a part of an Automatic and implemented during the time of the incident. Following Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast system. ADS-B Out the incident, many different theories arose speculating that requires a transmitter that fulfills the Technical Standard terrorism or a fire aboard the plane had caused the plane to Order (TSO) [2]. The TSO is the government set of seemingly disappear. However, all could agree that an minimum capabilities of a certain technology [2]. As of incident such as this pointed to a need for better tracking of December 2nd, 2009, the TSO for Automatic Dependent transoceanic aircraft across international borders. Their data Surveillance - Broadcast is “Extended Squitter Automatic transmission systems and transponders ceased to function Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) and Traffic and the need for ADS-B technology suddenly became very Information Service - Broadcast (TIS-B) Equipment apparent. Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast Operating on the Radio Frequency of 1090 Megahertz has the potential to increase safety and save both money (MHz)” [3]. Also allowed as an ADS-B Out unit is what is and time and hopefully with the worldwide implementation known as a Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) which, of ADS-B, Malaysian Airline Flight 370 will the last flight unlike the TSO, also can access weather data from the to disappear. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) ADS-B Out systems at a frequency of 978 MHz [4]. APPLICATIONS AND TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF ADS-B Radar VS ADS-B By federal regulations 14 CFR 91.225 and 14 CFR When understanding the difference between radar and 91.227, Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast, it is vital to technology will be used in some form or another in every know what a squit is. A squit is “a periodic burst or aircraft that hopes to fly in controlled airspace in the U.S. broadcast of aircraft-tracking data that is transmitted by 2020. Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast periodically” [6]. Squits are how aircraft send out comes in two varieties, there is ADS-B In and ADS-B Out. information to air traffic control and other aircraft. The Only ADS-B Out will be required in 2020 by law, however squits are sent out through radio waves. Before Automatic both are helpful and recommended for pilots. Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast technology, squits did Overall, Automatic Dependent Surveillance - not hold much information. Air traffic control would have Broadcast technology utilizes the global positioning system received the squits and then would process the data to to transmit and receive extremely accurate and up to date calculate all they needed to know about the plane’s location data from aircraft to satellite to air traffic control to other and speed and would then send that information back out to aircraft etc. The difference in ADS-B In and ADS-B Out is other aircraft. Since the use of ADS-B technology, planes simple. Sarina Houston, commercial pilot, flight instructor, can now calculate all that information onboard and still be and expert in many things’ aviation explains the difference more accurate. Therefore, planes now need an extended best. An aircraft with