Proceedings of ESAV'08 - September 3 - 5 - Capri, Italy

Towards ADS-B implementation in Europe

Dr. Christos Rekkas and Melvyn Rees
Surveillance Division - EUROCONTROL
Rue de la Fusée 96, B-1130 Brussels, Belgium
phone: + (32) 2 729 3157, fax: + (32) 2 729 9086, email: christos.rekkas@eurocontrol.int

Abstract - The paper outlines the status and plans for the
implementation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast
(ADS-B) in Europe. It presents the progress achieved in areas
such as standardisation, validation (including the so-called
CRISTAL trials in partnership with Air Navigation Service
Providers, the pioneer airline scheme, the monitoring of ADS-B
performance), certification, implementation planning and
operations. Europe progresses fast towards ADS-B
implementation. ADS-B operations will first happen at local sites
from 2009 and will be followed by a more widespread
implementation from around 2015 onwards, based on a
European Commission Implementing Rule. The results from
ADS-B performance analysis so far are very positive.
Index Terms – Surveillance, ADS-B
I. INTRODUCTION
ADS-B is a surveillance technique that relies on aircraft
broadcasting their identity, position and other aircraft
information. This signal can be captured for surveillance
purposes on the ground (ADS-B-out) or on board other
aircraft/vehicles (ADS-B-in). The latter will enable air traffic
situational awareness (ATSAW), spacing and separation
applications. ADS-B is one of the key pillars of SESAR and
is expected to provide benefits in terms of safety, capacity,
efficiency and environment. Beyond Europe, ADS-B is being
implemented in various areas worldwide (Canada, Australia,
USA, Asia).
The EUROCONTROL CASCADE Programme co-
ordinates the implementation of the first set of ADS-B
applications in Europe, taking into account the requirement of
global interoperability. The Programme covers both ground
and airborne surveillance applications.
In order to meet the surveillance requirements of different
environments, “ADS-B-out” can be used as a sole means of
surveillance or in combination with radar or multilateration
(MLAT).
II. STANDARDISATION AND CERTIFICATION
The ADS-B standardisation work is driven by the
Requirements Focus Group (RFG), with principal membership
from EUROCONTROL, FAA, EUROCAE, RTCA and
additional participation from Australia, Canada and Japan.
The standardisation work of the RFG and the co-ordination
with ICAO enables global interoperability and ensures that
equipped aircraft can use their installations worldwide.
The first major milestone has been achieved with the
publication of the standard for “Enhanced Air Traffic Services
in Non-Radar Areas using ADS-B Surveillance” (ADS-B-
NRA) in December 2006 [1].
The standards for use of ADS-B as a complement to radar
(ADS-B RAD), as well as for the first airborne surveillance
applications (Airborne Traffic Situational Awareness for In
Trail Procedure-ITP and Visual Separation on Approach-
VSA) will follow later in 2008. The RFG Package 1
application definition work is expected to be completed by end
2009 with the publication of the standards for the rest of the
initial ADS-B applications (“ADS-B-out” and “ADS-B-in” on
the Airport Surface, ATSAW during flight operations,
Sequencing and Merging).
The current scope of the EASA airworthiness approval is
the certification of “ADS-B out” avionics in support of the
ADS-B-NRA implementation.
The baseline for ADS-B-NRA airworthiness approval is
established through the EASA AMC 20-24 (“Acceptable
Means of Compliance”) material, published in April 2008 [2].
On a worldwide scale, the EASA ADS-B-NRA
Airworthiness approval is expected to also apply to Australia
(entire continent, on-going) and Canada (Hudson-Bay and
Greenland, start date 22 November 2008). Other
implementations are expected to follow. In addition, ADS-B-
NRA certification is expected to also support early “ADS-B
in” implementations (e.g. ATSAW ITP).
The AIRBUS A320, A330, A340 and A380 configurations
are already certified for ADS-B NRA. The same applies for
Dassault Falcon 2000. The certification of Boeing B737-600
and 900, B747-400, B757, B767 and B777 configurations is
also well in progress and expected to be completed by
September 2008. ATR certification is also ongoing.
Certification for the other “ADS-B out” applications in
Europe will follow the publication of the relevant standards
and will be in line with the European rule making process.
The certification method for “ADS-B in” applications is
under discussion.
III. VALIDATION
The validation work of CASCADE (including CRISTAL
trials, pioneer airline project, Airborne Monitoring project
etc.) addresses the ADS-B applications, using mainly
simulations and trials. It includes the testing and verification
 Proceedings of ESAV'08 - September 3 - 5 - Capri, Italy

of the enabling infrastructure for these applications (i.e., the • Langen (DFS), Germany
ground systems, airborne systems and data link) as well as the • Athens (HCAA), Greece
validation of operations. • Schiphol (LVNL), Netherlands
The validation process is coupled with the standardisation • Warlingham (NATS), UK.
and certification work, taking input from the RFG, A database with the results of the accuracy analysis for all
EUROCAE/RTCA, ICAO documents etc. and feeding back aircraft participating in the Pioneer Airline project is
validation results. maintained.
The CASCADE validation work seek also to make best use Figure 1 presents the declared ADS-B equipage trend based
of the EUROCONTROL investments e.g. the ADS-B on the latest monitoring data. In this Figure, the ADS-B
Validation Testbed (AVT), which is the reference platform for declared capability is presented as a percentage of the total
the ADS-B validation work in Europe. number of the Mode S equipped flights and is around 80 %,
A key driver of the ADS-B progress in Europe is the measured around Charles de Gaulle airport.
CRISTAL initiative of EUROCONTROL. CRISTAL has one
clear objective: to perform trials in partnership with Mode S ELS/EHS/ES Equipage Trend
stakeholders at local sites of Europe (“pocket areas”) where (measured at Charles De Gaulle)
the surveillance service can be improved. These pocket areas 100,00%

will be the basis for a subsequent wider implementation. 12 80,00%

Air navigation Service providers (ANSPs) and industry are

% of Mode S Flights
actively participating. The sharing of results and information 60,00%
ELS Capability
EHS Capability
exchange maximises benefits. 40,00% ES Capability

The CRISTAL approach has initially focused mainly on

ANSPs plus industry partnerships and was using opportunity
20,00%

traffic. This was then complemented by the ADS-B Pioneer 0,00%

06 6 06 6 6 07 7 7 7 7 07 08 8
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support to airlines to reach EASA airworthiness approval of Time of measurement

their installations for ADS-B NRA from 2008 onwards, based
on [2]. The Pioneer Airline project has evolved in two Phases
and currently involves 17 airlines and around 500 aircraft.
The partnerships with the stakeholders accelerate the
progress from validation to implementation and generate wide
stakeholder involvement.
Recently a project was launched to address the particular
needs of the General Aviation community regarding ADS-B
(CRISTAL GA).
The ADS-B Airborne Monitoring Project was launched in
order to assess the ADS-B performance. It provides
information on the current 1090 Extended Squitter aircraft
equipage, including data content and quality. It is split in
three activities running in parallel:
• Monitoring the ADS-B 1090 ES declared equipage
using the transponder declared capability in Mode S
reports (ASTERIX cat 48).
• Monitoring the ADS-B 1090 ES actual equipage
using ADS-B reports (ASTERIX cat 21).
• Monitoring the ADS-B 1090 ES data quality, for
aircraft participating in the Pioneer Airline project,
using ADS-B 1090 ES and radar data. The analysis
is based on the comparison with the corresponding
requirements specified in the standards for ADS-B
(such as [1]).
Figure 1 – Declared ADS-B equipage
From the analysis so far, it was shown that:
• The ADS-B declared capability over the Mode S
equipped aircraft is 10 % lower than that over Mode
S equipped flights.
• The actual ADS-B equipage at the moment is equal
to around 65 % of the Mode S equipped aircraft.
In the context of the Pioneer Airline project and the
Airborne Monitoring project, 200 million reports from around
500 aircraft have, so far, been analysed. These aircraft are
operated by 17 operators (Op l…17) and comprise 11 different
ICAO types (AcT 1…11). The ADS-B equipage of these
aircraft consists of:
• 3 different makes of Mode S transponders
• 4 different makes of GNSS MMR (Multi-Mode
Receivers)/GPS receivers.
The performance of the analysed aircraft in terms of ADS-B
horizontal position error (95%), horizontal position latency
(95% and 99.9%) and Figure of Merit (Navigation Uncertainty
NUC for position) is shown in the Figures 2 to 5 below.
The corresponding requirements of the standard for ADS-B
NRA [1] and the EASA certification material [2] in support of
5nm separation are also indicated with red dotted lines in the
Figures:

At the moment, the aircraft are monitored by the following

ADS-B 1090 Extended Squitter ground stations:
• EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre (EEC),
Bretigny, France
• Toulouse (DSNA), France
 Proceedings of ESAV'08 - September 3 - 5 - Capri, Italy
Figure 2: ADS-B horizontal position error (95%) of pioneer
aircraft for various configurations
Figure 3: ADS-B horizontal position latency (95%) of pioneer
aircraft for various configurations
Figure 4: ADS-B horizontal position latency (99.9%) of
pioneer aircraft for various configurations
Figure 5: FOM/NUCp distribution of pioneer aircraft
The results of the analysis from the pioneers w.r.t. the
requirements of [1] and [2] show that:
• 100% of the Pioneer aircraft meet the horizontal
position accuracy requirement (i.e better than 926m,
95%).
• 98.7% of the Pioneer aircraft meet the latency
requirement (<1.5sec, 95%). The few aircraft that
slightly exceed the requirement are under
investigation (e.g. regarding impact of the
measurement method).
• 100% of the Pioneer aircraft meet the latency
requirement (<3sec, 99.9%)
• 98.92% of the ADS-B reports meet the position
integrity requirement (>=4).
The few anomalies which were also identified from the
analysis (e.g. occasional squittering of FOM=0 or FOM
oscillation etc.) are being investigated with the relevant
airlines, airframers and avionics industries.
IV. IMPLEMENTATION
The European implementation policy includes two steps:
First, voluntary implementation in “pocket areas” using
existing (certified) equipment and, in a second step,
implementation based on a European Commission Rule, called
Surveillance Performance and Interoperability Implementing
Rule (SPI-IR). This Rule is currently being drafted by
EUROCONTROL and is expected to be published in 2009.
The first implementation sites are known: Portugal (Azores
by 2009 with MLAT), the Netherlands (N. Sea by 2009 with
MLAT) and Sweden (Kiruna by 2009). Moreover, Italy
(Pescara, Alghero), Greece (Rhodes) and Turkey (Trabzon)
have also announced plans for implementation in the period
2009-2011.
France, Malta and Cyprus will take a go/no go
implementation decision by 2008-2009. Finally, DFS,
Germany has included ADS-B (with MLAT) in its
Surveillance Strategy (target date for implementation is 2015).
 Proceedings of ESAV'08 - September 3 - 5 - Capri, Italy

Regarding the second step, i.e. implementation based on the

Surveillance Implementing Rule (mandate), the regulatory
approach has already been decided [3]. Out of three options,
the aviation community chose an Implementing Rule that
covers SSR, Mode S Elementary Surveillance and ADS-B. In
doing that, it opted to “future proof” airborne installations, i.e.
a transponder supporting all surveillance techniques currently
used or planned to be used. Whilst for initial ADS-B
implementations a few defined “permissible deviations” from
the target requirements are acceptable, the rulemaking will
require full compliance with all of the ADS-B-NRA and
(emerging) ADS-B-RAD requirements. In terms of the future
ADS-B avionics requirements, the IR is expected to imply a
transponder upgrade and a direct GNSS receiver-transponder
connectivity (if not already deployed).
In parallel, “ADS-B in” will be introduced from 2011
onwards initially on a voluntary basis, driven by the benefits
to be acquired by the implementing airlines. The first
application is expected to be the ATSAW-In Trail Procedure
(ITP) in oceanic airspace.

V. REFERENCES
1. Safety Performance and Interoperability
Requirements for ADS-B in Non Radar Airspace
(ADS-B NRA), EUROCAE ED-126 / RTCA DO-303,
2006
2. Acceptable Means of Compliance for ADS-B NRA
(AMC 20-24), EASA, 2008
3. Surveillance Performance and interoperability
Implementing Rule (SPI-IR) Regulatory Approach,
EUROCONTROL, 2007