Surveillance and Code Coordination
This website provides an overview of the Surveillance and Code Coordination Unit’s related activities that are conducted within EUROCONTROL,detailing roles and responsibilities and identifing links to supporting surveillance documents, programmes, products and services.
Surveillance Activities within EUROCONTROL
The Surveillance and Code Coordination Unit operates within the Directorate of Network Management, which is at the heart of EUROCONTROL.
Its goal is to continuously improve ATM network operations within the Single European Sky, contributing to the achievement of European Union-wide performance targets. The Single Sky Committee’s nomination of EUROCONTROL as Network Manager will enable the establishment of common procedures for the design, planning and management of the European ATM Network, ensuring efficient and safe performance of air traffic management.
Activities conducted within the Directorate include Operational Monitoring and Reporting, Network Management Operations, Network Technical Systems, Training and Deployment Coordination.
The Surveillance and Code Coordination Unit, the focal point EUROCONTROLs surveillance activities, is an element of Deployment Coordination.
The objective of the surveillance infrastructure is to provide the required surveillance functionality and performance to enable a safe, efficient and cost-effective Air Traffic Management service. The Surveillance and Code Coordination (SCC) Unit is tasked with helping European Air Navigation Service providers to achieve this objective.
SCC activities cover a wide spectrum – key work areas currently include:
- Aircraft Identification Programme (ACID)
- Cascade (ADS-B and Wide Area Multilateration)
- Regional Monitoring Agency (RMA)
- RF and Surveilance Avionics Functional Performance Analysis
Deploying new CNS technologies that reduce cost and provide the improved capabilities for new concepts is at the core of the SESAR Programme. As one of the founding members of SESAR, EUROCONTROL is contributing to a number of important projects and is committed to their successful delivery. In the field of surveillance, the Agency is supporting the following processes:
- deployment and integration of new high-potential technological enhancements, such as ADS-B, through SESAR Work Packages 15.4.5a (Surveillance ground system enhancements for ADS-B), 15.4.5b (Surveillance ground system enhancements for ADS-B - prototype development) and 9.2.1 (ADS-B 1090 Higher Performance Study),
- Cost and spectrum rationalisation through SESAR Work Package 15.4.1 Surveillance Infrastructure Rationalisation Study,
- The high level objective of project SESAR 4.8.2 is to co-ordinate a programme of work that will enhance the safety of the ATM systems by helping to prevent accidents when the primary control mechanisms have failed. It will address ACAS system developments/improvement tuned to SESAR environment and new separation modes.
ADS-B is one of the key enablers of SESAR, supporting what are known as the new separation modes, i.e. spacing, separation and self-separation. EUROCONTROL will contribute to operational projects addressing the definition of these future applications. Moreover, the Agency is leading the work of specifying and supporting the validation of the surveillance ground system enhancements for the future ADS-B applications, in partnership with industry and ANSPs. It is also contributing to the prototyping of enhancements to the ADS-B ground station, the surveillance data processing and distribution systems, and the relevant interfaces.
EUROCONTROL is also working on a project investigating the future airborne collision avoidance system (ACAS) functionality – building on its considerable experience in ACAS development and operational deployment.
In all these projects, the focus is on the key objective of smooth evolution and the exploitation of the synergies between the short-term work of implementation programmes and the medium and long-term R&D activities.
For further information regarding SESAR you may consult the SESAR Joint Undertaking website.