Analysis of the geometric altimetry to support aircraft optimal profiles within future 4D trajectory management

The use of barometric altimetry is to some extent a limiting factor on safety, predictability and efficiency of aircraft operations, and reduces the potential of the trajectory based operations capabilities. However, geometric altimetry could be used to improve all of these aspects. Nowadays aircraft altitude is estimated by applying the International Standard Atmosphere which differs from real altitude. At different temperatures for an assigned barometric altitude, aerodynamic forces are different and this has a direct relationship with time, fuel consumption and range of the flight. The study explores the feasibility of using sensors providing geometric reference altitude, in particular, to supply capabilities for the optimization of vertical profiles and also, their impact on the vertical Air Traffic Management separation assurance processes. One of the aims of the thesis is to assess if geometric altitude fulfils the aeronautical requirements through existing sensors. Also the thesis will elaborate on the advantages of geometric altitude over the barometric altitude in terms of efficiency for vertical navigation. The evidence that geometric altitude is the best choice to improve the efficiency in vertical profile and aircraft capacity by reducing vertical uncertainties will also be shown. In this paper, an atmospheric study is presented, as well as the impact of temperature deviation from International Standard Atmosphere model is analyzed in order to obtain relationship between geometric and barometric altitude. Furthermore, an aircraft model to study aircraft vertical profile is provided to analyse trajectories based on geometric altitudes

Criteria for Positioning Active Multilateration Stations Located Close to Distance Measuring Equipment

The need for the use of another surveillance system when radar cannot be used is the reason for the development of the Multilateration (MLT) Systems. However, there are many systems that operate in the L-Band (960-1215MHz) that could produce interference between systems. At airports, some interference has been detected between transmissions of MLT systems (1030MHz and 1090MHz) and Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) (960-1215MHz)

Analysis of radiofrequency-based methods for position and velocity determination of autonomous robots in lunar surface exploration missions

The use of distributed systems has been disruptive in almost any industrial sector, from manufacturing to processing plants from environmental monitoring to vehicle control, and many more. It is therefore natural to assess the benefits that such an advantageous engineering paradigm could bring to space exploration. In recent years, we have been witness to the emergence of concepts such as fractionated satellite systems, formation flying, megaconstellations, and femtoswarms. Most of these space missions have evolved from the idea of a decentralization of processes that were formerly performed in platforms conceived as monolithic systems. The application of this concept to robotic systems is not new, and a great deal of scientific contributions on multi-robot systems exists, focusing on different aspects such as cooperative robotics, behavioural or reactive control, distributed artificial intelligence, swarm multi-agent systems etc. The intrinsic advantages of distribution (improved reliability and efficiency, higher robustness, etc.) has been boosted by the exponential growing of computational power density and a simultaneous miniaturization of technology, leading to smaller and more powerful robotic platforms, which could make a distributed robotic system, made of small robotic agents, a powerful substitute to classical large robotic platforms. This thesis proposes, in the framework of multi-robot systems, a localization method for robotic agents in planetary surface exploration scenarios based on RF range and Doppler frequency shift analysis. The relevance of spatial localization awareness in agents belonging to a distributed robotic system is defined in the context of the advantages of robotic exploration. Different range determination techniques and, specifically, the advantages of including Doppler Effect in the determination of the relative position within the robotic system deployed are considered and the strengths and weaknesses analysed accordingly. Special attention is devoted to the noise sources present in the lunar environment, related to a practical (i.e. non-ideal) implementation architecture and its influence on the system performance. From this point of view, we develop a theoretical model for localization accuracy estimation, generated from power spectrum characteristics, in accordance with the system architecture proposed, and consolidated with numerical simulations and a parametrical assessment on a set of real references of components playing a key role in the overall performance. The selected system architecture is then implemented in a representative set-up and tested under laboratory conditions. Algorithms used for carrier frequency generation and frequency measurement are developed, applied and tested in the hardware-on-the-loop breadboard. The results show that Doppler frequency component can be measured with the proposed architecture, yielding a high sensitivity in the determination of relative speed even at standard communication frequencies (UHF), and improving significantly at higher bands (S, C, etc.). This enables the possibility of adding relative speed to relative position determination via sensor fusion techniques, improving the response time and accuracy during navigation through the exploration scenario

Validación Inteligente para la Sincronización de Semáforos Basada en Feature Models

El concepto de Smart City o Ciudad Inteligente engloba el conjunto de acciones y servicios, basados en las tecnologías de información y comunicación, que se ofrecen en un núcleo urbano. En este sentido, el uso de técnicas bioinspiradas para la gestión del flujo del tráfico mediante la sincronización de semáforos podría constituir uno de los aspectos más innovadores en los entornos urbanos en el futuro. No obstante, la programación automática de semáforos requiere además de un proceso de validación de las soluciones generadas, dado que afectan a la seguridad de miles de usuarios. En este trabajo se propone una estrategia de validación basada en los Modelos de Características (Feature Models) para generar automáticamente diversos escenarios para la comprobación de la robustez de los programas de semáforos. Como caso de estudio, se realiza la validación de programas de semáforos en el área urbana de la ciudad de Málaga, generados mediante cuatro algoritmos de optimización (PSO, DE, Random Search y SCPG). El resultado es información validada sobre el programa de semáforos que mejor actúa para un mayor porcentaje de situaciones de tráfico diferentes.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad y FEDER: TIN2011-28194, BES-2012-055967 y BES-2009-01876

Métodos para la valorización de la glicerina

El objeto del proyecto es el de encontrar nuevas salidas a la glicerina obtenida como subproducto en la elaboración del biodiésel, ya que debido al aumento de la producción, las industrias tradicionales que consumen la glicerina ya no pueden absorber los excedentes. Se ha realizado un estudio en diferentes vías para obtener un beneficio económico en la valorización de la glicerina, para dar una mayor rentabilidad a la producción del biodiésel. Estas vías son: la adición a combustibles tradicionales, la obtención de productos de alto valor añadido y la producción de hidrógeno por rutas termoquímicas y biotecnológicas

Investigaciones recientes en células solares

En este proyecto se han comentado las diferentes formas de aprovechamiento y utilización de la energía solar. Resumiendo sus tipos y aplicaciones. También se han visto las diferentes vías de investigación que se están llevando a cabo actualmente, analizando en detalle los resultados de varias investigaciones en células solares de película delgada y en células solares de polímeros. Además incluye un resumen y unas conclusiones

1,10a-Dihydro-1-aza-10a-boraphenanthrene and 6a,7-Dihydro-7-aza-6a-boratetraphene: Two New Fluorescent BN-PAHs

Previously unknown 1,10a-dihydro-1-aza-10a-boraphenanthreneand 6a,7-dihydro-7-aza-6a-boratetraphene have been efficiently synthesized.Bromination of these BN-PAHs proceeds with complete regioselectivity, resultingin the formation of different substituted derivatives via cross-coupling reactions.These compounds exhibit rather highfluorescence quantum yields (up to?F=0.80)Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónUniversity of AlcaláInstituto de Salud Carlos II

Sustainable Air Traffic Management System Development Methodology

As it is defined in ATM 2000+ Strategy (Eurocontrol 2001), the mission of the Air Traffic Management (ATM) System is: “For all the phases of a flight, the ATM system should facilitate a safe, efficient, and expedite traffic flow, through the provision of adaptable ATM services that can be dimensioned in relation to the requirements of all the users and areas of the European air space. The ATM services should comply with the demand, be compatible, operate under uniform principles, respect the environment and satisfy the national security requirements.” The objective of this paper is to present a methodology designed to evaluate the status of the ATM system in terms of the relationship between the offered capacity and traffic demand, identifying weakness areas and proposing solutions. The first part of the methodology relates to the characterization and evaluation of the current system, while a second part proposes an approach to analyze the possible development limit. As part of the work, general criteria are established to define the framework in which the analysis and diagnostic methodology presented is placed. They are: the use of Air Traffic Control (ATC) sectors as analysis unit, the presence of network effects, the tactical focus, the relative character of the analysis, objectivity and a high level assessment that allows assumptions on the human and Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) elements, considered as the typical high density air traffic resources. The steps followed by the methodology start with the definition of indicators and metrics, like the nominal criticality or the nominal efficiency of a sector; scenario characterization where the necessary data is collected; network effects analysis to study the relations among the constitutive elements of the ATC system; diagnostic by means of the “System Status Diagram”; analytical study of the ATC system development limit; and finally, formulation of conclusions and proposal for improvement. This methodology was employed by Aena (Spanish Airports Manager and Air Navigation Service Provider) and INECO (Spanish Transport Engineering Company) in the analysis of the Spanish ATM System in the frame of the Spanish airspace capacity sustainability program, although it could be applied elsewhere

Electromagnetic Differential Measuring Method: Application in Microstrip Sensors Developing

Electromagnetic radiation is energy that interacts with matter. The interaction process is of great importance to the sensing applications that characterize material media. Parameters like constant dielectric represent matter characteristics and they are identified using emission, interaction and reception of electromagnetic radiation in adapted environmental conditions. How the electromagnetic wave responds when it interacts with the material media depends on the range of frequency used and the medium parameters. Different disciplines use this interaction and provides non-intrusive applications with clear benefits, remote sensing, earth sciences (geology, atmosphere, hydrosphere), biological or medical disciplines use this interaction and provides non-intrusive applications with clear benefits. Electromagnetic waves are transmitted and analyzed in the receiver to determine the interaction produced. In this work a method based in differential measurement technique is proposed as a novel way of detecting and characterizing electromagnetic matter characteristics using sensors based on a microstrip patch. The experimental results, based on simulations, show that it is possible to obtain benefits from the behavior of the wave-medium interaction using differential measurement on reception of electromagnetic waves at different frequencies or environmental conditions. Differential method introduce advantages in measure processes and promote new sensors development. A new microstrip sensor that uses differential time measures is proposed to show the possibilities of this method.This work is partially supported by the University of Alicante (Spain)