Preliminary Error Characterization and Parametric Error Model for the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Contract Extended Projected Profile Message

A critical component of Trajectory-Based Operations (TBO) is the ability for a consistent and accurate 4-dimensional trajectory (4DT) to be shared and synchronized between airborne and ground systems as well as amongst various ground automation systems. The Aeronautical Telecommunication Network—Baseline 2 (ATN-B2) standard defines the Extended Projected Profile (EPP) trajectory that can be sent via Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract (ADS-C) from an aircraft to ground automation. The EPP trajectory message contains a representation of the reference trajectory from an aircraft’s Flight Management System (FMS). In this work, a set of scenarios were run in a high-fidelity aircraft and FMS simulation to perform an initial characterization of EPP trajectory errors under a given set of conditions. The parameters investigated were the route length, route type, wind magnitude error, wind direction error, and with and without a required time-of-arrival (RTA) constraint. In addition, linear regression was used to identify a set of EPP error models for the cross-track, vertical, and time errors.