Project · Protected Environments

Airport Airspace Intelligence

Build a reviewable airspace picture around the airport, not just a stream of detections.

Evidence levelE0Concept

Vertical airspace profile slice

Interactive view

Data status: Illustrative

A side view of a generalised airfield with five layers. Switch layers on and off. Aircraft and low-altitude UAS keep their own lanes and their own glyphs, whichever layers you choose.

AircraftLow-altitude UAS

Aircraft and UAS stay in separate lanes and are never merged.

Heights are symbolic and the objects are invented. There is no real airfield, route or altitude.

Why this exists

Certified systems, cooperative aircraft data and the new low-altitude activity around an airport are not related to one another in one view. Each answers its own question, and the person reviewing has to assemble the picture in their head, without knowing which part is which.

What it takes in

Each input adds something and leaves something unproven.

Cooperative aircraft stateWhat aircraft report about themselves, kept as its own layer and never mixed with independent observation.
Independent observationsPassive, radio-frequency and optical traces of low-altitude activity around a generalised airfield.
ContextWildlife patterns and local weather, brought in as separate layers from the projects that produce them.

Source presence: Data table
Item	Value
Source A	Contributes
Source B	Context only
Source C	Not yet available

Source presence RD03Data status: IllustrativeEvidence level: E0 · ConceptQuestion answered: Which sources contribute to this state?Three source markers connect to one state and carry a text status each. A source being present does not mean it is trusted; the label says what it contributes.Limitation: Sources are generic and their positions are not geographic.

How it works

Three steps, in the order the state is formed.

Keeps cooperative aircraft state apart from independent observations.
Overlays wildlife and weather context as layers of their own, each with its source health.
Replays events so that the picture of a moment can be reviewed afterwards.

Vertical layering: a side-view slice, not one flat map.
Aircraft and low-altitude UAS are always separate.
No claim to replace certified air traffic control or certified surveillance.
Continuity across layers: an object keeps its identity as it moves between them.

Where it sits in the architecture

Airport airspace intelligence is an application of the core platform. It reads the unified state, separates it into layers by altitude and source, and presents a picture that can be reviewed and replayed. It is an addition beside certified systems and takes no part in their function.

Read the architecture

Data flow: Data table
Stage	Value
1	Sources
2	Model
3	Policy
4	Interface
5	Consumer
6	Audit

Data flow CH13Data status: IllustrativeEvidence level: E0 · ConceptQuestion answered: How does data flow through the architecture?A pipeline of six stages, from sources to audit, shows how data moves through the model, the policy and the interface to the consumer, with a record kept at the end.Limitation: A conceptual flow. It does not describe a deployed system.

Evidence and assurance

What has been shown, to which level, and what has not.

Evidence ladder

E0 · Concept reached
E1 not reached
E2 not reached
E3 not reached
E4 not reached
E5 not reached

Project assurance panel

Mission and context: Give an airport a reviewable picture of mixed airspace in which aircraft, UAS, wildlife and weather stay separate and connected.
Primary contribution: A vertical profile of the airspace in switchable layers, replay of events and a visible state of each source.
Decision value: Lets a reviewer see what is known at each height and from which source, and keep cooperative and independent information apart.
Evidence status: Evidence level: E0 · Concept Concept and research direction only. No specification, prototype, test result or deployment is claimed.
Next validation step: Write down the layers and the rule that keeps aircraft and UAS apart, then specify a first review of a synthetic airfield before any claim is made.
Behaviour when degraded: When a source goes stale, its layer says so and the objects that depended on it are marked as less certain. The other layers do not borrow its authority.
Role in integration: Would take the unified state from the core platform, the fusion engine and the wildlife and weather projects, and expose layers through the data API. It does not feed certified systems.
Human review: A person reviews the picture and every event that is replayed. Nothing here is an instruction to air traffic control.
Public-safe limitation: No airport, route, runway, altitude or procedure is described. The slice on this page is symbolic.
Open unknowns: How layers should be arranged for real airfields, how source health should be shown beside them and how events should be reviewed with operators are not yet known.

When inputs degrade

When a source goes stale, its layer says so and the objects that depended on it are marked as less certain. The other layers do not borrow its authority.

Normal
Degraded
Unavailable

System health over time: Data table
Time (relative)	Component 1	Component 2	Component 3
1	Normal	Normal	Normal
2	Normal	Normal	Normal
3	Normal	Normal	Normal
4	Normal	Normal	Unavailable
5	Normal	Normal	Unavailable
6	Normal	Degraded	Normal
7	Normal	Degraded	Normal
8	Degraded	Normal	Normal
9	Degraded	Normal	Degraded
10	Normal	Normal	Normal
11	Normal	Normal	Normal
12	Normal	Normal	Normal

System health over time CH07Data status: Synthetic dataEvidence level: E0 · ConceptQuestion answered: How has system health changed?Three bands, one for each of three example components, show normal, degraded and unavailable periods as different fills and patterns, so state never depends on colour alone.Limitation: Periods are invented and say nothing about any real component.

Where it applies

An airfield with mixed traffic and low-altitude activity
Why it matters here
The picture that certified systems give does not include what flies below or around them.
What it contributes
A layered picture in which each kind of object keeps its own lane.
What it does not replace
Certified surveillance, or air traffic control.
A review of an airside event
Why it matters here
What was known at each height, and from which source, is what a review asks for.
What it contributes
A replay in which layers can be switched on and off.
What it does not replace
An official investigation.

Role in the data flow

Would take the unified state from the core platform, the fusion engine and the wildlife and weather projects, and expose layers through the data API. It does not feed certified systems.

Validation path

Write down the layers and the rule that keeps aircraft and UAS apart, then specify a first review of a synthetic airfield before any claim is made.

Validation by stage: Data table
Item	Defined	Prototype	Integrated	Field
Module A	Done	In progress	Not started	Not started
Module B	Done	Not started	Not started	Not started
Module C	In progress	Not started	Not started	Not started

Validation by stage CH15Data status: IllustrativeEvidence level: E0 · ConceptQuestion answered: What is the validation status per stage?A grid of three example modules against four validation stages marks each cell as done, in progress or not started. Most cells are still open, as expected at this point.Limitation: Modules and statuses are placeholders and do not report real validation.

Limitations

This is a concept. There is no specification, prototype or measured result behind it.
The slice is symbolic. It has no real airfield, path or altitude and invented objects.
The project does not replace certified air traffic control or certified surveillance and makes no claim to do so.
Wildlife and weather layers depend on other projects whose own evidence is at the same early stage.