South Florida Gets ADS-B

Air Safety Week, Sept 22, 2008

Pilots flying in aircraft equipped with Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast (ADS-B) avionics in South Florida now receive free traffic and weather information on their cockpit displays, marking the first time that pilots are able see the same traffic information as air traffic controllers.

The display of traffic information (called Traffic Information Service- Broadcast, or TIS-B) and weather information (Flight Information Service- Broadcast, or FIS-B) was made possible by the installation of 11 ground stations in South Florida by ITT. The ground stations transmit satellite signals showing aircraft locations to both pilots and controllers.

ITT said it successfully achieved ADS-B Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in September. The essential services IOC milestone recognizes the availability of broadcast services of air traffic, as well as weather and aeronautical data information from the 11 ADS-B ground stations. Achieving IOC required the engineering, design, development, integration and test of system infrastructure by ITT and substantial independent test activity by the FAA.

The stations are supported by processing from an ADS-B data center, radar data from FAA facilities, as well as a weather and aeronautical data feed from ITT team member WSI.

ADS-B is a key component of the FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) intended to increase safety and efficiency to meet the growing needs of air transportation.

"This milestone has been achieved in accordance with the FAA's very aggressive schedule," said ITT's Mike Wilson. "Achieving IOC represents an important first step for the FAA's NextGen program and is essential to the nation's journey toward a modernized national airspace system."

Flight information now being broadcast free to pilots includes graphical displays of weather tracked by the National Weather Service and essential flight information, including special-use airspace and temporary flight restrictions.

The agency is on track in its plan to deploy ADS-B nationwide, beginning in Florida, with full commissioning of ADS-B broadcast services in Florida is scheduled for November.

ADS-B ground stations providing both TIS-B and FIS-B services are to be deployed along the East and West Coasts, areas of the Midwest and portions of Alaska by 2010. By 2013, ADS-B coverage is to be in place everywhere the FAA now provides radar coverage. There will also be coverage in places where radars can't be deployed, such as the Gulf of Mexico.

In August 2007, ITT was awarded a $207 million initial contract by the FAA to develop and deploy the first phase of the ADS-B ground infrastructure.

The 11 sites in Southern Florida are at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport, Hardee, Okeechobee, Dade-Collier Airport, Key West, St. Cloud, Sebastian Municipal Airport, Hobe Sound, Boca Raton Airport, Homestead Dade Marina and Florida Keys Marathon Airport.

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