1. U.S. Aeronautical Information Management (AIM) Modernization
Update on digital Federal NOTAM System
Good afternoon and thank you for inviting me to speak about the United States experience with NOTAM modernization.
Brett Brunk
Aeronautical Information Management group
December 2008

2. Purpose
To share our experience as the United States modernizes Aeronautical Information Management and delivers a digital Federal NOTAM System (FNS)
Goals
Challenges
Concept of Operation
Progress towards digital Federal NOTAM System
The purpose of my talk today is to share our experiences as the United States moves to develop a consolidated, modernized and high-availability digital Federal NOTAM System. I will share with you our goals, challenges, what we have learned about our customers, our NOTAM modernization strategy and our progress towards Digital NOTAM.

3. Shortfalls addressed High operating costs
Convoluted and stove-piped system architecture – “Accidental Architecture”
Many point-to-point system interfaces
Hardware and software at or beyond End of Service Life (EOSL)
Services do not meet customer needs
Demand for digital information (Digital, Graphical NOTAM)
Plain language
Improve quality of service
Ensure service delivery to customers
Foundation for advanced flight planning and trajectory analysis
Not compliant with ICAO
Goals of Modernized NOTAMs
Reduce operating costs
Provide a single NOTAM point of access
Realize architecture efficiencies by implementing SWIM and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
Provide consistent NOTAM distribution from a single access point
Standardize NOTAM format to automate distribution
Network and hardware redesign to support efficient SOA deployment
Better serve customers
Deliver digital NOTAM information to support automation and NextGen capabilities
Improve human factors by providing “plain language” view
Improve global coordination by becoming ICAO compliant
Streamline information management
Provide originators and customers with “one stop shop” for NOTAMs via human and/or SWIM-compliant system interfaces
Ensure NOTAM service delivery and acknowledgement

4. NOTAM entry pathways today
Text Entry Fax Digital Entry Phone System Interface
NOTAM
Databases
Airport Military Forest Service Security Facilities Procedures
Manual Validation
Publish
Distribution of NOTAM is equally complicated today!

5. New Concept of Operations Federal NOTAM System
DATALINK
Web
AIM
Web Page
Service (AIXM)
Legacy Formats
Web service (AIXM)
Originator
Federal NOTAM System
Originate NOTAMs at the Source
Digital Capture (AIXM via templates)
Validate and Publish by FAA
Integrated permanent and temporary information Computer readable Electronic distribution to customers
Now working on a concept of Operations for digital entry of NOTAM information using 5 airports in the U.S. as models.

6. Expected Benefits
Decrease in incidents where NOTAMs are a contributing factor
Decrease data collection and interpretation costs
Approximately $2M annually for major US carriers
Decrease system operations costs
Approximately $4M annually for US government
Timely, accurate and complete aeronautical information benefits flight operations
Improvements for controllers and pilot situational awareness
An initial benefits anaysis identified 4 key beneifts of NOTAM modernization.
We expect a decrease in accidents where NOTAMS were a contributing factor. Based on historical accident data this is expected to save the US about $2M US dollars annually.
Costs of data collection and interpretation should go down for US airlines with dispatcher staff. Saving is estimated at abour $2M annual.
Third, we expect a decrease in our annual system operating costs of about $4M annually.
Finally, we qualitatively expect that improvements in NOTAM quality and timeliness will increase the efficiency of flight and ATC operations. Pilots and controllers can use the better information to plan and execute flights more efficiency. The cost savings attributed to this benefit remaind to be determined.
So we expect risk adjusted benefits to exceed $8M US dollars annually.

7. Benefits for customers Provide new digital capabilities while maintaining legacy support
Federal NOTAM System
Format
Traditional (Legacy) RWY 4/22 CLSD EXC TAXI
Faster Standardized Terms
Approx. 2015
ICAO QMRLC… A) B) C) D) E) F)
Some filtering
Following ICAO SARPS
Digital (AIXM) <RUNWAY>…</RUNWAY>
Graphical
Data fusion Advanced filtering Computer readable
Benefit
End Date

8. Federal NOTAM System 2008/2009 operational demonstration
2010
2012
2014+
Federal NOTAM System (FNS 1)
FNS 2
Digital Entry
AIXM Event Specifications
SNOW, Runways and Obstacles
Web site concepts
Airport NOTAM summary
NOTAM queries
Concept validation
Technology, Policy, Safety and Outreach
Field studies
Limited deployment demonstrations
Tower Operators and Airports
System and Web Interfaces
Digital NOTAM Entry
US NOTAM System Database of Record
NOTAM Query and NOTAM Summary
Legacy Users
Digital Consumers

9. Demonstrations Airport NOTAM Display NOTAM Web Entry System to System
We plan on showing 3 quick demos.
First a simple NOTAM query page that shows NOTAMs for a specific airport.
Next, a web-based NOTAM entry page. When you create a NOTAM using this web page, it shows up on the NOTAM query page.
Following that, we can show a system to system entry of a NOTAM. Again it shows up on the NOTAM query page.
As a conclusion, we will show a field summary page that uses keyword standardization to create value.
System to System

10. Digital NOTAM Capture Demo
Here is the first look at our digital NOTAM entry template. Our example here is Chicago, on the left side are the various possibilities relating to the airport. If we click runways, which right now is the only area we are working on in our Concept of Operations. The event summary shows you several active NOTAMs and their numbers, along with what your working on now (in construction).
The event editor is the work area that you are using to construct your NOTAM. Ignore the discrepancy of numbers in the editor, work in progress. What you do see is the layout and how the NOTAM is taking shape on the right hand side of this event editor and some of the buttons that will be used to complete any NOTAM.

11. System to System NOTAM Entry
“Lights Out” Entry
Sample Airport Entry
“Lights out” NOTAM Capture (42% of all NOTAMs, 75% of D NOTAMs)
NavAid Capture
Procedures Capture
Airports Capture
Electronic System Interface Capture for large airports (SWIM compliant web services)
Web Capture as backup and other airports
This demonstration shows an example of an external user (a tower-lights monitoring company) being able to request a NOTAM directly from their existing systems. I have heard estimates that the US puts out 2 million NOTAMs a year. Assuming that would mean that we have 800K lights out NOTAMs annually. Combined, there are probably less than a dozen companies that produce 99% of these NOTAM requests. Today, these are FAXs and phone calls.
Large airports have automation system they use to monitor their operations. A system that seems to come up a lot is PASSUR. We are working with PASSUR to provide the capability to allow the airport authority to do direct submission and tracking of airport NOTAMs. In the long run this is how we plan on leveraging our deployments. Once we have worked out the details with Airports division and PASSUR, we can let third-party companies like PASSUR bring the airport operations on-line.
For airports that have limited local automation, we maintain our fall-back web entry solution.

12. Field Summary Demo notams.aim.faa.gov
This is a new concept.
We started with the SNOWTAM concept where there is a single message that showed the status of the airport and its runways. While implementing a SNOWTAM is part of our overall plan for being ICAO-compliant, what can we do with our existing tools.
The concept requires breaking the problem into two, display and entry.
Leveraging the keywords, we can produce a web page that mimics the data consolidation of a field condition report. A single page that shows all of the NOTAMs (information) organized by runway. In the example above 13L is highlighted in red because there is a NOTAM that contains “CLSD” (Closed). If there were a NOTAM that contained a SNOW condition it might be highlighted in pink or yellow (basically, not white).
In a SNOWTAM, snow information is captured as a single message. If we think of creating a Runway SNOWTAM instead of a Field [condition] SNOWTAM, we can use our existing automation to transmit the information and the power of the keywords to organize and sort the information using a display like the one above.
A runway SNOWTAM might look something like : “08/084 JFK RWY 13L SNOW XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX”

13. Summary of Demonstration
NOTAM Entry
Web page and system interface
Airport operators – Runway NOTAMS and SNOW NOTAMs
Tower operators – Tower lights out NOTAMs
2008/2009 demonstration
For test access please
NOTAM Query and Summary pages
Web pages for distribution
Demonstrations available at

14. Thank you Information on AIM modernization Contacts
Nfdc.faa.gov/aimnews
Contacts
Brett Brunk
AIM Architecture and Planning
Barry C Davis
Manager of AIM
I would like to thank you for your time and attention. For more information about United States NOTAM modernization and outreach, please visit our web site. My contact information and Barry Davis’s contact information are attached.
Finally I would ike to acknowledge the work of Kelley Krokos of the American Institutes for Research. Her work on dispatcher and pilot perspectives provides valuable insights that we can use to guide our modernization effort. Kelley’s research is funded by the FAA Human Factors Research Group.