Climate change (CC) and variability have been world widely reported to pose number of risks in aviation industry including accidents, astray, and other operational difficulties. The impact of weather on landing and ta...Climate change (CC) and variability have been world widely reported to pose number of risks in aviation industry including accidents, astray, and other operational difficulties. The impact of weather on landing and take-off performances has been several times experienced at Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (AAKIA);however, the influence of climate change and variability to the aircraft performance needs to be assessed. Thus, this study investigated the influence of climate change and variability on aircrafts take-off and landing performances. Specifically, the study investigated;i) the influence of climate change on Take-off Distance Required (TODR) and Maximum Take-off Mass (MTOM) for different types of aircraft;ii) the influence of climate variability to the aircraft landing performance on light, medium and heavy aircraft and lastly, iii) the study investigated the seasonal and annual variability on aircraft landing performance due to climate variability. The datasets used in this study include the eight years (2014-2021), aircraft operational records (diversion and missed approach events) and Aviation Routine Weather Reports (METAR) records which were utilized as the indicators for landing performance, the long-term (1990-2020) annual maximum temperatures (Tmax) which was used to determine the TODR and MTOM. Statistical tools including mean, percentage changes, correlations, regression, and the chi-square test were used for analysis and hypotheses testing. The results revealed that light and medium aircraft categories were significantly most affected on diversion events as compared to the heavy categories;however, for the missed approach events the impact was vice versa. Moreover, the seasonal and annual variability on diversion and missed approach events were significantly different (at p ≤ 0.001). As for the take-off performance, results show that the TODR and MTOM were significantly increasing and decreasing (at p ≤ 0.001), based on increasing air temperatures. Therefore, the study concludes that the changing climate has significantly affected aircraft by increasing the TODR and decreasing the MTOM, while the climate variability has significantly affected landing performance by influencing the diversion and missed approach events. Thus, the study recommends (i) further research works including the feasibility study on runway extension for the safety of future aircraft operations at the AAKIA and (ii) proper maintenance and improvement of the Instrumental Landing Systems (ILS) as an adaptation measures to the landing aircraft during bad weather events.展开更多
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) have been getting more and more popular in both civil and military arena. Similar to manned aircraft, their propulsion systems or engines emit harmful gases such as nitrogen oxides. Sinc...Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) have been getting more and more popular in both civil and military arena. Similar to manned aircraft, their propulsion systems or engines emit harmful gases such as nitrogen oxides. Since UAVs have different mission profiles and operational parameters than manned aircraft, it is worthy to investigate their NOx emissions. Therefore, in this study, NOx emissions of a turbofan powered UAV for complete flight cycle was calculated and optimized within a range of altitude and speed parameters. NOx emissions were calculated based on ICAO ground test data and corrected to any speed and altitude during flight legs using both Boeing Fuel Flow Method 2 and DLR Fuel Flow Method. Total NOx emissions were calculated for complete flight cycles for different altitude and speed parameters. Numerical results were presented graphically and additionally optimization studies were conducted. Optimization studies include determination and comparison of speed and altitude for minimum NOx emissions by the two fuel flow methods and maximum loiter time achievable by UAV.展开更多
To find a way of loads analysis from operational flight data for advanced aircraft,maneuver identification and standardization jobs are conducted in this paper. For thousands of sorties from one aircraft, after studyi...To find a way of loads analysis from operational flight data for advanced aircraft,maneuver identification and standardization jobs are conducted in this paper. For thousands of sorties from one aircraft, after studying the flight attitude when performing actions, the start and end time of the maneuvers can be determined. According to those time points, various types of maneuvers during the flight are extracted in the form of multi-parameters time histories. By analyzing the numerical range and curve shape of those parameters, a characteristic data library is established to model all types of maneuvers. Based on this library, a computer procedure using pattern-recognition theory is programmed to conduct automatic maneuver identification with high accuracy. In that way, operational loads are classified according to maneuver type. For a group of identified maneuvers of the same type, after the processes of time normalization, trace shifting, as well as averaging and smoothing, the idealization standard time history of each maneuver type is established.Finally, the typical load statuses are determined successfully based on standard maneuvers. The proposed method of maneuver identification and standardization is able to derive operational loads effectively, and might be applied to monitoring loads in Individual Aircraft Tracking Program（IATP）.展开更多
文摘Climate change (CC) and variability have been world widely reported to pose number of risks in aviation industry including accidents, astray, and other operational difficulties. The impact of weather on landing and take-off performances has been several times experienced at Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (AAKIA);however, the influence of climate change and variability to the aircraft performance needs to be assessed. Thus, this study investigated the influence of climate change and variability on aircrafts take-off and landing performances. Specifically, the study investigated;i) the influence of climate change on Take-off Distance Required (TODR) and Maximum Take-off Mass (MTOM) for different types of aircraft;ii) the influence of climate variability to the aircraft landing performance on light, medium and heavy aircraft and lastly, iii) the study investigated the seasonal and annual variability on aircraft landing performance due to climate variability. The datasets used in this study include the eight years (2014-2021), aircraft operational records (diversion and missed approach events) and Aviation Routine Weather Reports (METAR) records which were utilized as the indicators for landing performance, the long-term (1990-2020) annual maximum temperatures (Tmax) which was used to determine the TODR and MTOM. Statistical tools including mean, percentage changes, correlations, regression, and the chi-square test were used for analysis and hypotheses testing. The results revealed that light and medium aircraft categories were significantly most affected on diversion events as compared to the heavy categories;however, for the missed approach events the impact was vice versa. Moreover, the seasonal and annual variability on diversion and missed approach events were significantly different (at p ≤ 0.001). As for the take-off performance, results show that the TODR and MTOM were significantly increasing and decreasing (at p ≤ 0.001), based on increasing air temperatures. Therefore, the study concludes that the changing climate has significantly affected aircraft by increasing the TODR and decreasing the MTOM, while the climate variability has significantly affected landing performance by influencing the diversion and missed approach events. Thus, the study recommends (i) further research works including the feasibility study on runway extension for the safety of future aircraft operations at the AAKIA and (ii) proper maintenance and improvement of the Instrumental Landing Systems (ILS) as an adaptation measures to the landing aircraft during bad weather events.
文摘Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) have been getting more and more popular in both civil and military arena. Similar to manned aircraft, their propulsion systems or engines emit harmful gases such as nitrogen oxides. Since UAVs have different mission profiles and operational parameters than manned aircraft, it is worthy to investigate their NOx emissions. Therefore, in this study, NOx emissions of a turbofan powered UAV for complete flight cycle was calculated and optimized within a range of altitude and speed parameters. NOx emissions were calculated based on ICAO ground test data and corrected to any speed and altitude during flight legs using both Boeing Fuel Flow Method 2 and DLR Fuel Flow Method. Total NOx emissions were calculated for complete flight cycles for different altitude and speed parameters. Numerical results were presented graphically and additionally optimization studies were conducted. Optimization studies include determination and comparison of speed and altitude for minimum NOx emissions by the two fuel flow methods and maximum loiter time achievable by UAV.
文摘To find a way of loads analysis from operational flight data for advanced aircraft,maneuver identification and standardization jobs are conducted in this paper. For thousands of sorties from one aircraft, after studying the flight attitude when performing actions, the start and end time of the maneuvers can be determined. According to those time points, various types of maneuvers during the flight are extracted in the form of multi-parameters time histories. By analyzing the numerical range and curve shape of those parameters, a characteristic data library is established to model all types of maneuvers. Based on this library, a computer procedure using pattern-recognition theory is programmed to conduct automatic maneuver identification with high accuracy. In that way, operational loads are classified according to maneuver type. For a group of identified maneuvers of the same type, after the processes of time normalization, trace shifting, as well as averaging and smoothing, the idealization standard time history of each maneuver type is established.Finally, the typical load statuses are determined successfully based on standard maneuvers. The proposed method of maneuver identification and standardization is able to derive operational loads effectively, and might be applied to monitoring loads in Individual Aircraft Tracking Program（IATP）.
