Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System

Rapidly increasing air traffic and seasonal fog conditions created flight delays and
cancellations. To safely accommodate almost 24 million passengers a year, Airports
Authority of India (AAI), the air navigation service provider for IGI, needed to provide air
traffic controllers with a reliable, accurate picture of the airport surface traffic in extreme
weather conditions.
A-SMGCS (Advanced Surface Movement Guidance & Control System) is a system
providing routing, guidance and surveillance for the control of aircraft and vehicles in order
to maintain the declared surface movement rate under all weather conditions within the
aerodrome visibility operational level (AVOL) while maintaining the required level of safety.
(ICAO Doc 9830: Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS)
Manual).

A-SMGCS is a modular system consisting of different functionalities to support the safe,

orderly and expeditious movement of aircraft and vehicles on aerodromes under all
circumstances with respect to traffic density and complexity of aerodrome layout, taking into
account the demanded capacity under various visibility conditions, independent of line-of-
sight connection between the controller and aircraft/vehicles.

Basic Functions
As described in the ICAO Manual, A-SMGCS consists of four basic functions:

 Surveillance
 Control
 Planning/Routing
 Guidance

A-SMGCS Levels (ICAO)

In 2004, ICAO defines 4 levels of A-SMGCS implementation based on a complexity and
traffic density approach:

1. A-SMGCS Level 1 (improved Surveillance) makes use of improved surveillance and

procedures, covering the manoeuvring area for ground vehicles and the movement area
for aircraft. The procedures concern identification and the issuance of ATC instructions
and clearances. The controllers are given traffic position and identity information which
is an important step forward from the traditional Surface Movement Radar (SMR) image.
2. A-SMGCS Level 2 (Surveillance + Safety Nets) adds safety nets which protect
runways and designated areas and the associated procedures. Appropriate alerts are
generated for the controllers in case of conflicts between all vehicles on runways and
the incursion of aircraft onto designated restricted areas.
3. A-SMGCS Level 3 (Conflict Detection) involves the detection of all conflicts on the
movement area as well as improved guidance and planning for use by controllers.
4. A-SMGCS Level 4 (Conflict Resolution, Automatic Planning & Guidance) provides
resolutions for all conflicts and automatic planning and automatic guidance for the pilots
as well as the controllers.

Surface Movement Radar

Surface Movement Radar (SMR) is radar equipment specifically designed to detect all
principal features on the surface of an airport, including aircraft and vehicular traffic, and to
present the entire image on a radar indicator console in the control tower. Used to augment
visual observation by tower personnel of aircraft and/or vehicular movements on runways
and taxi-ways.
In the permanent absence of visual observation of all or part of the manoeuvring area or to
supplement (or in poor visibility, replace) visual observation, SMR may be utilised to:

 monitor the movement of aircraft and vehicles on the manoeuvring area;

 provide routing information to pilots and vehicle drivers as necessary; and
 provide advice and assistance for the safe and efficient movement of aircraft and
vehicles on the manoeuvring area.

Multi Sensor Data Processor

A-SMGCS fuses data from multiple surveillance sources, including Sensis MDS, X-band
radar and an ADS-B-based vehicle tracking system, to deliver accurate and reliable data to
the Sensis Multi-Sensor Data Processor (MSDP). The MSDP fuses the surveillance data with
advanced collision detection and alerting functionality to provide controllers with visible and
audible alerts when an incursion may occur.

Conclusion

A-SMGCS, a fully integrated ICAO Level 2 A-SMGCS, fuses fog-penetrating X-band radar
with one-second update rate multilateration and Automatic Dependent Surveillance –
Broadcast (ADS-B). Data is integrated by the system’s Multi-Sensor Data Processor (MSDP)
which leverages the strengths of each individual sensor for the most accurate indication of
target location. Each target is tracked in real time and identified by type, altitude and velocity.
This surveillance data is presented to the controller on an integrated display that features an
interface developed in full consultation with air traffic controllers, enabling safety, efficiency
and capacity improvements on the airport surface and throughout the system. In addition to
the visual display, A-SMGCS also incorporates advanced conflict detection and alerting
functionality to visually and audibly alert air traffic control to possible conflicts and
incursions.