Using enhanced avionics and dynamic route structures, the SESAR-supported DYN-MARS project is engineering more fuel-efficient and less noisy approach procedures.

Aviation is committed to reducing its carbon emissions and noise impact in line with the EU’s environmental ambitions. While aircraft have become significantly quieter and more fuel-efficient over the past decades, the continued growth in air traffic means that both emissions and noise remain important areas of focus. Ongoing innovation and collaboration across the sector are essential to ensure progress, while maintaining high levels of safety and operational performance.

Helping to strike such a balance is the DYN-MARS project.

The SESAR-supported project looks to leverage new avionics and new route structures as a means of improving the energy management of aircraft.

“We aim to develop and test innovative solutions for the cockpit and the ground that will make dynamic aircraft configuration and routes a reality – ultimately giving the pilot the flexibility to fly an aircraft in a more sustainable and quieter manner,” says DYN-MARS project coordinator Fethi Abdelmoula.

Enhanced communication between the cockpit and the ground

For DYN-MARS, a key to delivering quieter, fuel-efficient flights is the implementation of more flexible descents. “Even though every aircraft has different engines and different performance capabilities, they are all given the same instructions from air traffic control (ATC),” explains Abdelmoula.

As Abdelmoula points out, this is a missed opportunity. “Enabling aircraft to fly optimised, dynamic trajectories while supporting ATC procedures that consider individual aircraft performance would open the door to reducing both emissions and noise,” he says.

However, achieving such flexibility first requires an effective exchange of information and communication between the cockpit and the ground.

To enable such an exchange, DYN-MARS is developing two innovative solutions, one for the ground systems, the other for the cockpit.

As to the former, the project is working on dynamic route structures that provide the flexibility controllers need to manage variations in traffic demand and performance whilst retaining systemised closed-loop procedures. This provides predictability and allows the flight management system (FMS) to calculate the most fuel-efficient descent profile.

For the cockpit, DYN-MARS is developing enhanced avionics with new energy management support functions in the FMS and more efficient descent profiles. It is also working on a continuous descent approach (CDA) function that can be achieved while keeping engine thrust as low as possible and avoiding the use of speed brakes or early landing gear extension.

When and where to deploy the landing gear

Speaking of landing gear, DYN-MARS is specifically working on a new functionality for timing the deployment of the aircraft’s landing gear more efficiently.

During a typical descent, a pilot manually assesses the location to deploy the landing gear and engages such high lift devices as flaps and slats. However, doing so significantly contributes to aircraft noise and, by creating more drag, increases fuel burn and thus carbon emissions.

In other words, the earlier the landing gear is deployed, the less sustainable the flight.

“We are developing an avionics-based solution that will inform the pilot when and where to use the flaps and deploy the landing gear so as to reduce unnecessary noise while also ensuring a safe and smoother landing,” explains Olivier Soussiel, chief architect FMS at Thales, one of the project’s coordinating partners.

Putting it all together

What will a DYN-MARS enabled approach look like?

To start, before an aircraft goes into the approach phase, it will receive an assigned route from ATC. The pilot will then activate the assigned route, loading its waypoint sequence and calculating the initial vertical profile. Nothing new there.

But put the DYN-MARS solution into the loop, and things become more dynamic.

As the aircraft gets closer to the approach, ATC will provide updated information on the route, such as the remaining flight distance and precise lateral path. The FMS can then use this information to recalculate the most efficient vertical profile and estimated fly-over times along the waypoints, as well as the anticipated location of speed reduction. It then sends this information back to ATC, with the communication loop continuing until the aircraft is established at 1,000 feet (approximately 300 metres) above ground.

“By providing information about expected shortcuts along the arrival route, the aircraft can position itself on the most energy-efficient vertical profile, enabling an idle-thrust descent for the majority of the approach,” remarks Martin Gerber, a researcher at project partner Swiss SkyLab and an airline pilot at Swiss Air. “Additionally, by sharing the on-board calculated default deceleration points for the final approach, air traffic controllers can better tailor their tactical speed instructions.”

With a more stable and energy-efficient vertical profile, pilots can also better time the extension of high-lift devices and landing gear. Supported by dynamic FMS-predictions, this will further enhance overall descent efficiency.

The net result is a more sustainable and quieter descent – one that has the potential to reduce CO₂ emissions by as much as 10% and noise pollution by at least 1dB(A) during descent and approach per flight.

“By creating adaptive and collaborative systems that improve the management of air traffic in real-time, DYN-MARS will have a direct impact on efficiency, safety, and environmental sustainability while also laying the groundwork for future innovations that will make aviation quieter and more sustainable for decades to come,” concludes Abdelmoula.

You can learn more about the DYN-MARS project here.