Cooperative Low-Carbon Trajectory Planning of Multi-Arrival Aircraft for Continuous Descent Operation

To address the technical challenges of implementing Continuous Descent Operations (CDO) in high-traffic-density terminal control areas, we propose a cooperative low-carbon trajectory planning method for multiple arriving aircraft. Firstly, this study analyzes the CDO phases of aircraft in the termin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cun Feng, Chao Wang, Hanlu Chen, Chenyang Xu, Jinpeng Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Aerospace
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/11/12/1024
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Summary:To address the technical challenges of implementing Continuous Descent Operations (CDO) in high-traffic-density terminal control areas, we propose a cooperative low-carbon trajectory planning method for multiple arriving aircraft. Firstly, this study analyzes the CDO phases of aircraft in the terminal area, establishes a multi-phase optimal control model for the vertical profile, and introduces a novel vertical profile optimization method for CDO based on a genetic algorithm. Secondly, to tackle the challenges of CDO in busy terminal areas, a T-shaped arrival route structure is designed to provide alternative paths and to generate a set of four-dimensional (4D) alternative trajectories. A Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) model is constructed for the 4D trajectory planning of multiple aircraft, aiming to maximize the efficiency of arrival traffic flow while considering conflict constraints. The complex constrained MIP problem is transformed into an unconstrained problem using a penalty function method. Finally, experiments were conducted to evaluate the implementation of CDO in busy terminal areas. The results show that, compared to actual operations, the proposed optimization model significantly reduces the total aircraft operating time, fuel consumption, CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, SO<sub>2</sub> emissions, and NO<i><sub>x</sub></i> emissions. Specifically, with the optimization objective of minimizing total cost, the proposed method reduces the total operation time by 22.4%; fuel consumption, CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, SO<sub>2</sub> emissions by 22.9%, and NO<i><sub>x</sub></i> emissions by 23.7%. The method proposed in this paper not only produces efficient aircraft sequencing results, but also provides a feasible low-carbon trajectory for achieving optimal sequencing.
ISSN:2226-4310