Introduction

Owned by Manfred Beckmann
Last updated: 2023 Dec 14 by POROSNICU Eduard

Context & Background

The revised Annex 15, 16th Edition to the ICAO Convention, complemented by a new PANS-AIM document (ICAO DOC 10066), has entered into force on 8th November 2018.

This marks the final AIS 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 in the coming years.

The purpose of this project is to provide common coding rules and guidelines for the provision of the AIP Data Set in AIXM 5.1(.1) format, with the aim to ensure that such data sets can be effectively used by the downstream AIS data chain actors, particularly by Data Provider (DAT) organisations and flight planning service providers.

Scope & Structure

The present documentation of the AIXM 5 coding guidelines for the ICAO AIP Data Set comprises the following elements:

  • Introduction

The introduction page contains an explanation about the context, scope and structure of the 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 provides the detailed mapping between the ICAO PANS-AIM AIP Data set requirements and AIXM 5.1(.1). It starts with a brief introduction, highlighting the key principles that have been applied for the mapping. Then, it is divided into several parts based on the AIP Data Set subjects (sub-domain) 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. It contains detailed AIXM coding guidelines (how to encode points, navaids, airspace, etc.) and coding examples.

For each subsection an "AIXM Coding Checklist" is provided, listing all the AIXM attributes for that particular sub-domain with the indication if they are mandatory or optional.

The coding guidelines also incorporate or refer to pages from other two spaces:

    • UML Model Overview. These pages explain the main aspects of the AIXM UML model for each 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 (sub-domains) e.g. geometry, schedules, surface characteristics, etc.

This section contains the list of data set verification rules, which are derived from the ICAO provisions for the AIP data set and also from additional end user requirements, where applicable. 

This section provides data packing, data format and other such rules that are meant to ensure the seamless use of the digital data sets coming from different States. It contains a brief introduction, which explains the key assumption made in the definition of the interoperability rules and a description of relevant use cases. The section has dedicated parts for each specific topic such as metadata, feature identification and referencing, use of extensions, etc.

This section contains a high-level introduction of the "Donlon" AIP Data Set Specimen, which is based on the fictitious AIP Specimen data contained in the ICAO AIS Manual (DOC 8126)

. The actually data set (i.e. AIXM file) is not stored on a GitHub environment for version control reasons.

A consolidated list of all the specific coding examples presented on individual coding pages (including their xpath expression) can also be found in this section.

A dedicated page contains a summary of all the references used on the individual guideline pages.

A Frequently Asked Questions page.