Vulnerability analysis for airport networks based on fuzzy soft sets: From the structural and functional perspective

Abstract Recently, much attention has been paid to the reliability and vulnerability of critical infrastructure. In air traffic systems, the vulnerability analysis for airport networks can be used to guide air traffic administrations in their prioritization of the maintenance and repair of airports, as well as to avoid unnecessary disturbances in the planning of flight schedules. In this paper, the evaluation methods of airport importance and network efficiency arc established. Firstly, the evaluation indices of airport importance are proposed from both the topological and functional perspectives. The topological characteristics come from the structure of airport network and the functional features stem from the traffic flow distribution taking place inside the network. Secondly, an integrated evaluation method based on fuzzy soft set theory is proposed to identify the key airports, which can fuse together importance indices over different time intervals. Thirdly, an airport network efficiency method is established for the purpose of assessing the accuracy of the evaluation method. Finally, empirical studies using real traffic data of US and China＇s airport networks show that the evaluation method proposed in this papcr is the most accuratc. Thc vulucrability of US and China＇s airport networks is compared. The similarities and differences between airport geography distribution and airport importance distribution are discussed here and the dynamics of airport importance is studied as well.

Homogeneity Analysis of Multiairport System Based on Airport Attributed Network Representation Learning

The homogeneity analysis of multi-airport system can provide important decision-making support for the route layout and cooperative operation.Existing research seldom analyzes the homogeneity of multi-airport system from the perspective of route network analysis,and the attribute information of airport nodes in the airport route network is not appropriately integrated into the airport network.In order to solve this problem,a multi-airport system homogeneity analysis method based on airport attribute network representation learning is proposed.Firstly,the route network of a multi-airport system with attribute information is constructed.If there are flights between airports,an edge is added between airports,and regional attribute information is added for each airport node.Secondly,the airport attributes and the airport network vector are represented respectively.The airport attributes and the airport network vector are embedded into the unified airport representation vector space by the network representation learning method,and then the airport vector integrating the airport attributes and the airport network characteristics is obtained.By calculating the similarity of the airport vectors,it is convenient to calculate the degree of homogeneity between airports and the homogeneity of the multi-airport system.The experimental results on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei multi-airport system show that,compared with other existing algorithms,the homogeneity analysis method based on attributed network representation learning can get more consistent results with the current situation of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei multi-airport system.

Dynamics of air transport networks：A review from a complex systems perspective

Air transport systems are highly dynamic at temporal scales from minutes to years.This dynamic behavior not only characterizes the evolution of the system but also affect the system＇s functioning.Understanding the evolutionary mechanisms is thus fundamental in order to better design optimal air transport networks that benefits companies,passengers and the environment.In this review,we briefly present and discuss the state-of-the-art on time-evolving air transport networks.We distinguish the structural analysis of sequences of network snapshots,ideal for long-term network evolution（e.g.annual evolution）,and temporal paths,preferred for short-term dynamics（e.g.hourly evolution）.We emphasize that most previous research focused on the first modeling approach（i.e.long-term） whereas only a few studies look at high-resolution temporal paths.We conclude the review highlighting that much research remains to be done,both to apply already available methods and to develop new measures for temporal paths on air transport networks.In particular,we identify that the study of delays,network resilience and optimization of resources（aircraft and crew） are critical topics.

Robustness analysis metrics for worldwide airport network：A comprehensive study

Robustness of transportation networks is one of the major challenges of the 21 st century.This paper investigates the resilience of global air transportation from a complex network point of view,with focus on attacking strategies in the airport network,i.e.,to remove airports from the system and see what could affect the air traffic system from a passenger＇s perspective.Specifically,we identify commonalities and differences between several robustness measures and attacking strategies,proposing a novel notion of functional robustness：unaffected passengers with rerouting.We apply twelve attacking strategies to the worldwide airport network with three weights,and evaluate three robustness measures.We find that degree and Bonacich based attacks harm passenger weighted network most.Our evaluation is geared toward a unified view on air transportation network attack and serves as a foundation on how to develop effective mitigation strategies.

Empirical analysis of airport network and critical airports

Air transport network, or airport network, is a complex network involving numerous airports. Effective management of the air transport system requires an in-depth understanding of the roles of airports in the network. Whereas knowledge on air transport network properties has been improved greatly, methods to find critical airports in the network are still lacking. In this paper, we present methods to investigate network properties and to identify critical airports in the network. A novel network model is proposed with airports as nodes and the correlations between traffic flow of airports as edges. Spectral clustering algorithm is developed to classify air- ports. Spatial distribution characteristics and intraclass correlation of different categories of air- ports are carefully analyzed. The analyses based on the fluctuation trend of distance-correlation and power spectrum of time series are performed to examine the self-organized criticality of the net- work. The results indicate that there is one category of airports which dominates the self-organized critical state of the network. Six airports in this category are found to be the most important ones in the Chinese air transport network. The flights delay occurred in these six airports can propagate to the other airports, having huge impact on the operation characteristics of the entire network. The methods proposed here taking traffic dynamics into account are capable of identifying critical air- ports in the whole air transport network.