Context & Background
At the global level, the AIS-AIMSG of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has finalised the development of a completely revised Annex 15 to the ICAO Convention . Complemented by a new PANS-AIM document
, this will enable the global transition towards the provision of digital data sets, which will gradually replace the provision of paper documents.
One of the key elements of the new PANS-AIM document is the definition of an “AIP Data Set”, which comprises a minimal list of features (such as Navaids, Points, Airports, Airspace, Routes, etc.) and their properties that all states worldwide should be able to provide to effectively make the transition towards digital AIS data.
The AIXM 5 Coding Guidelines are documenting the minimal coding rules for the provision of the AIP Data Set in AIXM 5.1(.1) format , to ensure that such data sets can be effectively used by the downstream AIS data chain actors, particularly by Data Provider (DAT) organisations.
Scope & Structure
The present documentation of the AIXM 5 coding guidelines for the ICAO AIP Data Set (ACGAIP) comprises the following elements:
Introduction
The introduction page contains an explanation about the context, scope and structure of the A5CG documentation.
Besides the copyright notice this page contains some contact information in case you want to send information or ask a question regarding the guidelines.
This section contains at the beginning a brief introduction, highlighting the key principles that have been applied for the mapping.
Finally, this section provides the detailed mapping between the ICAO PANS-AIM AIP Data set and AIXM 5.1(.1). Therefore the section is divided into several parts based on the AIP Data Set subjects (subdomain) defined in the PANS-AIM and its Aeronautical Data Catalogue (Appendix 1 of DOC 10066). All data items (properties and sub-properties of the subjects) which are considered relevant for an AIP Data Set are mapped to the corresponding AIXM 5.1(.1) features and attributes.
This section is divided in several subsections based on the AIXM features the PANS-AIM subjects have been mapped to. There you will find the detailed AIXM coding guidelines (how to encode points, navaids, airspace, etc.), corresponding verification rules and coding examples.
For each subsection, you will find also a page containing a kind of "AIXM Coding Checklist", listing all the AIXM attributes for that particular subdomain with the indication if they are mandatory or optional to be coded.
This section contains at the beginning a brief introduction, including inter alia the applied key assumption for the interoperability rules and a description of relevant use cases.
The section provides several parts each of it dealing with a specific topic such as metadata, feature identification and referencing, use of extensions, etc.
This section contains a description about the compiled sample AIXM 5.1(.1) AIP Data Set. This sample data set is based on the fictitious DONLON data provided by ICAO DOC 8126.
The actually data set (i.e. AIXM file) is not stored on Confluence but on a GitHub environment for version control reasons.
A consolidated list of all the specific coding examples presented on individual coding pages (incl their xpath expression) can also be found in this section.
Additionally, you will find several file lists that contain all kind of files used in the scope of these guidelines (e.g. supporting documents) which can be downloaded or viewed directly in Confluence.
The content of this file list may change as new documents may be added or obsolete documents may be removed.
A dedicated page contains a summary of all the references used on the individual guideline pages.
A frequently asked questions page.
- Space Shortcuts
In case you have the sidebar expanded on the left-hand side, besides the table of content you will find also some Space Shortcuts on top.
This are external links (e.g. to AIXM.aero) or internal links (e.g. to other spaces such as the 'AIXM Coding Overview').
Info
As part of the AIXM Coding Overview Space, you will also find the following sections:
UML Classes - Model Overview. These pages serve as a kind of short "management summary" covering the main aspects of an AIXM topic, such as airport/heliport, airspace, route, navaid, etc.
Common Coding Rules. These pages contain the coding rules for AIXM features that are re-used by the main subjects (subdomains) e.g. geometry, services, radio communications, etc.
The diagram below gives a condensed overview of the structure of the whole AIXM Confluence documentation. The the main areas relevant the AIP Data Set coding are highlighted in green.