Management: What Must be Improved?
At the present time, the use of Global Positioning System or GPS, is becoming significant in various applications. Through the use of satellite systems, this technology is able to pinpoint the location of a certain object or person (Wickens, Mavor, Parasuraman, & McGee 90). The accuracy was proven to be high, making it suitable for communication and surveillance. Moreover, it can also be used for navigation. When using a set of satellites, GPS can determine a certain way to reach the other locations, as long as the satellites are within the range of the distance of the designated places (Wickens, Mavor, Parasuraman, & McGee 90). These satellites will then orbit from their respective locations in space, and then completes the revolution for about 12 hours (International Civil Aviation Organization 1-6-1). Thus, making GPS a huge improvement in the field of aviation. Currently, it is used in different aviation systems around the world. Its ability to pinpoint locations, object, and people, as well as in communicating with other people, are considered as highly accurate among the different CNS systems. In air control management, there is a need to consider the routes, time, capacity, and fuel efficiency of the aircrafts and their pilots (Wickens, Mavor, Parasaraman, & McGee 91). Using the skills of the operators, as well as the possible enhancements of the technology, air traffic will become more efficient in the upcoming years. This is because GPS is currently limited to small-scale CNS system; meaning, it is unable to handle all aviation processes alone.
GPS must be addressed because of these current limitations. The International Civil Aviation Organization states that the current GPS navigation technology is unable to monitor multiple aircrafts at a certain time, due to the lacking of multi-sensor system (1-6-3). As such, aviation systems, which are adapting the GPS technology still need to use other CNS systems to handle the other operations. Moreover, there is the need to determine its setbacks, particularly in the “availability, reliability, and integrity” (Wickens, Mavor, Parasuraman, & McGee 93). This is because GPS satellites work in groups in order to fulfill its roles. If any one of the satellites malfunctioned, then there will be a huge impact in the area coverage. Thus, there is a need to provide additional replacements, in case such problems occur in the future (Wickens, Mavor, Parasuraman, & McGee 93). Also, the GPS system is also subjected to obstructions and to the presence of interfering signals, which can potentially affect its operation. Despite the high accuracy, the problem lies on whether the signals are strong enough not to be interfered or altered by external frequencies (Wickens, Mavor, Parasuraman, & McGee 93). These are just some of the main problems that need to be addressed regarding GPS. If future aviation systems intend to depend on this technology, then it needs to be enhanced significantly, to the point that it can perform operations independently from other CNS systems.
The purpose of this research is to identify the weaknesses of the GPS technology, in relation to aircraft traffic management. There is no need to discuss about its accuracy, because it was already established in the recent years. The main concern of this research is to expose its drawbacks, especially in “availability, reliability, and integrity” (Wickens, Mavor, Parasuraman, & McGee 93). This is in order for the future research to develop ways to overcome these weaknesses, and to improve the functions of the GPS. Since determining the setbacks of the technology, the research will also imply the potential of GPS, especially on how will it be an independent and suitable technology for aviation systems.
Works Cited
International Civil Aviation Organization. Global Air Navigation Plan for CNS/ATM Systems. 2002. Print.
Wickens, Christopher, Mavor, Anne, Parasuraman, Raja, and McGee, James. The Future of Air Traffic Control: Human Operators and Automation. National Academy Press. Print.
