Research On Capacity Evaluation In RNAV Operations

RNAV(Area Navigation) is a new development trend of navigation technology. It shows greatsignificance of the research of assessing the airspace capacity in RNAV operation.This thesis takes the Guangzhou Baiyun Airport terminal airspace as background and adopts twocapacity assessment methods including one based on controller workload and the other based oncomputer simulation. Theory of airspace capacity assessment in area navigation operations is studied,then based on the theory, a set of capacity assessment system with practical applications is developed.Referring to this paper’s structure, firstly, introduces the purpose of this study, describing recentresearches of capacity assessment in and abroad China. Then with a review about the definition ofRNAV, I distinguished the differences and relations among these three concepts: RNAV, RNP andPBN, made a distinction between traditional navigation and RNAV navigation, with the focus onRNAV operation’s impact on terminal operation and the status quo about RNAV operation at homeand abroad. In this part of the thesis, I also gave an overview of four commonly used capacityassessment methods. After that, on the combination of the latest classification under European controlof controller workload with China’s current RNAV operation characteristics, this thesis builds a newcapacity evaluation model based on controller workload, verifies the feasibility of this model usingcollected data of Guangzhou AE sector after the implementation of RNAV. This thesis also builds acapacity evaluation model based on computer simulation and then realizes it on computer. Along thisphase, this thesis also designs an algorithm about conflict detect and relief under RNAV environment.At last, it verifies the effectiveness of the system with Guangzhou terminal airspace, compares andanalyses the results of traditional and RNAV navigation, certifies that RNAV can enhance the capacityof terminal area, then gives a optimum proposal about this terminal area’s operation with thecharacteristics of RNAV.