For special activity airspace, PANS-AIM requires as part of the minimum AIP data set to provide information about the type of restriction or nature of hazard. In case of an ADIZ (Air Defense Information Zone), the risk of interception in the event of penetration shall be indicated.
In addition, information on system and means of activation announcements, together with information pertinent to civil flights and applicable ADIZ procedures shall be provided.
The status might carry the following values:
| Status | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| 'AVBL_FOR_ACTIVATION' | The feature may be activated. | |
| 'ACTIVE' | The airspace is active (but it might not be in use yet). | |
| 'IN_USE' | The airspace is actually used inside the activation period. | Note Do not use 'IN_USE'! The initial proposal was to use ACTIVE for SAA airspace and IN_USE for ATS airspace. That would be in conflict with the coding rules for digital NOTAM and I do not really see a justification for using two different codes. Therefore, this is now modified to use ACTIVE for all types of airspace. |
| 'INACTIVE' | The airspace is not active. | |
| 'INTERMITTENT' | The Airspace is active but with periods of no real usage. | |
| 'OTHER' | Other. |
For the AIP data set, the status should be coded:
- as ACTIVE for the time and levels when the airspace is actually operating;
- as AVBL_FOR_ACTIVATION when the actual activation is "announced by NOTAM", which is a frequently encountered situation for certain D and R areas;
- as INACTIVE for the time and levels when the airspace is know to not be operating.
See also coding rules of topic Schedules for Airspace.
In addition to the list of activity types listed above, the following activities might occur in relation with certain danger areas. They should be encoded prefixed by OTHER:, as indicated below:
| activity | coded value |
|---|---|
| rocket launch | 'OTHER:ROCKET_FIRING' |
| gun firing | 'OTHER:GUN_FIRING' |
| hot air balloon | 'OTHER:HOT_AIR_BALLOON' |
| MET balloon | 'OTHER:MET_BALLOON' |
| free balloon | 'OTHER:FREE_BALLOON' |
| Lights out night vision Goggle training | 'OTHER:LGT_OUT_NVG' |
Open Question:
The restriction may be limited within the airspace to a certain vertical portion of airspace by using the AirspaceLayer class. The vertical limits of the airspace concerned may be defined by a certain upper and lower limit of the AirspaceVolume, which by a digital NOTAM may be limited to the actual AirspaceLayer used, which may be just a portion of its whole vertical extent .
More details about airspace activation in regard to digital NOTAM can be found in the Digital NOTAM Event Specification.
Coding Rules for Restriction & Activation of Airspace
| Identifier | Data Encoding Rule | Justification | Data Verification Rule (UID) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ASE-501 | The AirspaceActivation.activity attribute is mandatory for special activity airspaces and other regulated airspaces. | Minimum data | TBD | PANS-AIM requires the class of airspace as part of the minimum AIP data set only for special activity airspaces other regulated airspaces, not for ATS airspaces. |
Coding Example
The figure below gives a simple example of an airspace activation for BERTRIX AREA.
It is available for activation by a defined schedule. Its actual activation is announced by NOTAM. When activated, the vertical limits may be adjusted to the applicable airspace layer portion.
More coding examples can be found in the Sample AIP Data Set (DONLON).
| No. | Description | XPath Expression |
|---|---|---|
| ASE-EX-03 | Special activity airspace, Prohibited Area, Circle | //aixm:AirspaceTimeSlice[@gml:id='ASE_VAARDNOR_P'] |
| ASE-EX-04 | Special activity airspace, Restricted Area, Arc segment (Arc by centrepoint) | //aixm:AirspaceTimeSlice[@gml:id='ASE_BRAVO_R'] |
| ASE-EX-05 | Special activity airspace, Restricted Area, Rectangle | //aixm:AirspaceTimeSlice[@gml:id='ASE_BURGENVALK_R'] |
| ASE-EX-06 | Special activity airspace, Restricted Area, reference to state boundary (annotation) | //aixm:AirspaceTimeSlice[@gml:id='ASE_WINSWUK_R'] |
| ASE-EX-07 | Special activity airspace, Local type, reference to state boundary (xlink:href) | //aixm:AirspaceTimeSlice[@gml:id='ASE_EAMOA01_MOA'] |
| ASE-EX-08 | Special activity airspace, Danger Area, Active weekday schedules | //aixm:AirspaceTimeSlice[@gml:id='ASE_HORSHAM_D'] |
| ASE-EX-09 | Special activity airspace, Danger Area, within CTR | //aixm:AirspaceTimeSlice[@gml:id='ASE_DONLON_D'] |
| ASE-EX-19 | Aerial sporting activities airspace | //aixm:AirspaceTimeSlice[@gml:id='ASE_DONBURG_PARACHUTE_JUMPING_AERA'] |