Smart Tracking
Smart Tracking aircraft fly with greater accuracy than those using conventional navigation means. The technology makes air travel safer, cleaner and more dependable. It also has the potential to improve noise outcomes for communities living close to airports.
What is Smart Tracking?
A growing number of modern aircraft are now fitted with navigation systems that use satellite-assisted guidance. These systems allow aircraft to use GPS information to fly with a high degree of accuracy and with only a small variation in the actual routes flown from one aircraft to another.
The technology is fitted in most new aircraft and can be retrofitted into some older aircraft. This technology is known in aviation circles as Required Navigation Performance (RNP) – meaning the aircraft can perform in accordance with a strict set of navigation parameters. Airservices refers to these routes as ‘Smart Tracking’.
In certain circumstance, Smart Tracking flight paths can be designed to curve around obstacles (high terrain or buildings), follow existing noise corridors (highways) or to avoid noise sensitive areas in favour of overflying industrial land or other non-residential areas. This technology has already been successfully implemented at some of the busiest and most geographically challenging airports in the world.