About 15 days each year, air traffic controllers working inside London Heathrow’s 286-foot control tower experience essentially IFR conditions when low clouds surround the tower cab, often while ground visibility is just fine. ATC delays occur during these conditions because controllers cannot verify whether arrivals and departures have cleared the runway. The U.K.’s ATC provider, NATS, says those delays can reduce airport capacity by as much as 20 percent. Enter new technology capable of blending Heathrow’s 4K digital equipment with ADS-B and radar systems thanks to data from 20 ultra HD cameras located just beneath the tower cab.
London’s Heathrow Tower Begins Testing Augmented Reality for ATC
Key Takeaways:
- London Heathrow experiences frequent air traffic delays and reduced capacity (up to 20%) when low clouds obscure controllers' view of runways.
- NATS is trialing new augmented reality (AR) technology at Heathrow, which blends 4K digital equipment, ADS-B, radar data, and feeds from 20 ultra HD cameras.
- This AR system provides enhanced situational awareness, offering customizable tags for aircraft and vehicles even in poor visibility or at night, surpassing human visual capabilities.
- Following successful trials at Heathrow, NATS plans to conduct its first live airport test of the augmented reality facility at Singapore's Changi Airport.
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