Page Table of Content

Introduction

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 figure below shows the main AIXM 5 classes used for the airspace activation concept, including relevant list of values for some properties.

The AirspaceActivation class is used to provide information about the status of the airspace (active/inactive) and eventually the type of activity (i.e. the primary situation or reason on the ground or in the air, which may have an impact on airspace usage) that takes place in the airspace.

The AirspaceActivation is derived from PropertiesWithSchedule, allowing to associate a schedule with the status and the activity properties, when necessary. In addition, it may also be associated with one or more AirspaceLayer, which allows to indicate that the activation concerns only some particular vertical bands.

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.
'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.

Note

The value 'IN_USE' should not be used for AIP Data Set, it is reserved for dynamic activation of Airspace processes (flexible use of airspace).

Activity types

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'

AIXM 5.1.1 issue_033_activity

AIXM does not provide a sufficient list of values. Workaround AIXM 5.1(.1): Use 'OTHER'. Status AIXM 5.2: CCB issue AIXM-226 contains proposal to add more values (including the above ones) to the enumeration list for activity.

AIXM 5.2 Improvements

A change proposal (AIXM-401) for the next AIXM 5.2 version has been approved by the AIXM Change Control Board, adding additional values to the AIXM UML Model that use the up-to-date unmanned aviation terminology.

The coding guidelines provided here are aligned with forward/backward conversion rules contained in the AIXM-401 Change Proposal.

AIXM 5.2 Improvements

A change proposal (AIXM-538) for the next AIXM 5.2 version has been approved by the AIXM Change Control Board, adding additional values for the types of AirspaceActivation.activity.

The coding guidelines provided here are aligned with forward/backward conversion rules contained in the AIXM-538 Change Proposal.

Vertical layer

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.

Schedules

For ATS airspace, Appendix 1 of PANS-AIM (Aeronautical Data Catalogue) defines the "Hours of applicability" for the airspace and in addition the "Hours of Service", which are "the operational hours of the station serving the unit".

However, in an AIP the first item is only published for ATS airspaces of section AD 2.17, whereas the latter is only published for ATS airspace listed in section ENR 2.1.

For special activity airspaces the "Time of activity" is defined as "Time interval when the special activity takes place".

For the general coding guidelines for Timesheet refer to topic Common coding patterns.

Hours of Applicability

For ATS airspaces published in "AD 2.17 Air traffic services airspace" PANS-AIM requires:

6) hours of applicability;

In AIXM, this information will be provided via the Airspace.activation property. The AirspaceActivation class and its properties are used to code the detailed information, including the status and the timeInterval.

Actually, in most AIP this information is not published but rather the hours of operation of the frequency the unit is providing the service for the airspace are published. (see AIP example below).

AIP context

The example below shows that in AD 2.17 the hours of applicability are not published. in AD 2.18 however, the Hours of operation of the frequency the unit is providing the service for the airspace are published.

Hours of Service

This information is required for ATS airspace usually published in "ENR 2.1 FIR, UIR, TMA AND CTA":

3) call sign of aeronautical station serving the unit and language(s) used, specifying the area and conditions, when and where to be used, if applicable;

In AIXM, this information will be provided via the Service.availability', see ATS Unit providing Service.

Time of Activity

This information is required for special activity airspace usually published section in "ENR 5":

including time of activity.

In AIXM, this information will be provided via the Airspace.activation property. The AirspaceActivation class and its properties are used to code the detailed information, including the status and the timeInterval. See also topic Restriction & Activation.

A status has to be coded, in order to support the AIXM Digital NOTAM Event concept .

AIP context

The example below shows the Time of activity of a special activity airspace.

The example below shows the time Time of activity of a danger area with the note that it will be activated by NOTAM. This will be coded with corresponding Timesheet and the status 'AVBL_FOR_ACTIVATION'.

The next figure shows and example where the time of activity of a restricted area is defined by a schedule and additional hours of activity will be announced by NOTAM. In this case corresponding Timesheet will be coded and the status 'ACTIVE'. The additional activation by NOTAM will be coded as AirspaceActivation.annotation.

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 AIP Data Set - Specimen (DONLON).

No.	Description	XPath Expression
ATC-EX-01	AMSWELL Control providing service for AMSWELL FIR, Hours of of service: H24	//aixm:AirspaceTimeSlice[@gml:id='ATC_AMSWELL_ACC']
ASE-EX-03	Special activity airspace, Prohibited Area, Circle, Time of activity: H24	//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), Time of activity: 1 OCT - 31 JUL	//aixm:AirspaceTimeSlice[@gml:id='ASE_EAMOA01_MOA']
ASE-EX-08	Special activity airspace, Danger Area, Time of activity: MON-FRI 0700-1700 (0600-1600)	//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, Time of activity: 0600-SS SUN: 0900-1600	//aixm:AirspaceTimeSlice[@gml:id='ASE_DONBURG_PARACHUTE_JUMPING_AERA']

References

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