Definition, Testing, and Application of Instrument Landing System Critical Areas

L. Nelson Spohnheimer, David A. Quinet, and Michael Mowry

Abstract:	Instrument Landing System (ILS) Critical Areas are areas near the radiating antenna system that must be protected from moving or temporarily stationary objects that may affect the quality of the radiated guidance signals. These areas and their protection requirements have been defined in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Annex 10 document for many years. However, there is a continuing need for additional definition and validation of critical area sizes and more detailed operations policy for application of ILS critical areas. Some issues necessitating additional assessment of ILS critical areas include new ILS antenna systems, larger aircraft, continual pressure for increased airport capacity resulting in changes in runway and taxiway layout, airline requests for lower visibility operations on existing ILS installations, and increasingly challenging multipath environments. Any proposed changes to critical area definitions and operational policies require modeling, validation by flight inspection, or both. This paper discusses recent (late 2003) ILS critical area activities, studies, and policies in the United States National Airspace System. It presents simulation and flight inspection results of various critical area applications, and highlights the need for an update to the existing criteria and operational policies.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2004 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 26 - 28, 2004 The Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, CA
Pages:	805 - 816
Cite this article:	Spohnheimer, L. Nelson, Quinet, David A., Mowry, Michael, "Definition, Testing, and Application of Instrument Landing System Critical Areas," Proceedings of the 2004 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Diego, CA, January 2004, pp. 805-816.
Full Paper:	ION Members/Non-Members: 1 Download Credit Sign In