The Network Event is the root concept of the Network Events Tool (NET) application.
Note: The NET event term should not be confused with the event term.
A NET event represents a set of activities (international summit, military exercise, ATC re-organisation, aerodrome runway maintenance…) that:
- Is entered by some NET event author in the NOP system
- Impacts or might impact the network
An event denotes an occurred activity (AIM publication, flight update, service failure…) that:
- Is detected by the NOP system
- Might interest some network actors
Definition
A Network Event is an activity (or set of activities) which may:
- cause air traffic demand to increase for a period (e.g. sports games, etc.)
- cause air traffic flows to be shifted for a period (e.g. temporary traffic switch between airports, security measures, etc.)
- lead to a temporary reduction of Network Performance (e.g. capacity, safety, etc.) - with various potential causes:
- implementation of new ATM system,
- move to new ACC Ops room,
- major airspace reorganisation,
- works on runways/taxiways,
- runway closures,
- system or procedures changes,
- airport terminal reduced facilities,
- temporary reduction in ATC staff,
- opening of a new airport
- ...
- significantly influence normal airport operations (e.g. opening of a new runway/airport, runway closure, new flight procedures (e.g. CDO etc.), weather pattern, etc.)
These events are required to be communicated to the Network Manager, in compliance with the EC Regulation 677/2011 (Network Manager) and EC Regulation 255/2010 (ATFM Implementing Rule), in order to facilitate the planning and coordination of these events at network and local level, thus supporting a more efficient NM response to the evolution of traffic demand.
In order to meet the requirements and support processes triggered in each operational phase, the NET event data model has been developed to allow the necessary information to be collected gradually and stored in an structured manner, aiming to progress towards a B2B service. The complexity of effects that any events may have on the performance of the ATM Network needs a complex event data model (de-composition) down to the level that would allow detailed analysis of their expected effect (potential operational impact). The long term goal of such detailed de-composition is to enable automatic exchanges of data between specialised applications designed to increase experts awareness of the event progress through the ATM planning phases and to trigger impact assessments when necessary and most efficient.
This has resulted in a complex but comprehensive data model implemented in NET, which allows decomposition of an event into specific activities, occurring at specific periods in specific locations and producing specific effects on the network performance. Hence a certain level of expertise and attention is required when creating/updating Network Events in NET. The main components of an event in NET are described in more detail below.
Events / Activities / Impacts
An Network Event typically occurs during a given period at a given location or set of locations and may have one of the effects described above, which may in turn affect one or more key performance areas: capacity, flight efficiency, cost-effectiveness, safety. For example, Geneva International Motorshow took place in Geneva between 06 - 16 March 2014. This was expected to result in increased traffic to Geneva airport, causing parking congestion during this event. This simple event consist in just one activity (the motor show itself) taking place at a specific location and over a specific period of time and expected to cause a specific impact on local operations. This potential impact would be assessed prior to the start of the event and mitigation measures identified if necessary. During the event, performance analysis are collected and analysed at specific intervals according to current NM Processes. Performance results are published monthly and annually.
Some Network Events can be more complex and consist in one or more parallel or sequential activities (similar or different) that occur over different periods and at different location sets. Each of these activities may have cause different operational impacts, which may in turn affect one or more key performance areas. Some ATFCM measures may need to be prepared in advance and applied during the event to minimise the operational impact. Performance data collection and analysis will take place as described above. For example, an ACC re-organisation is planned in FRANCE in May 2015, which implies some training activities prior to the re-organisation, some technical tests of the ATC systems, etc. In addition, a related pre-validation exercise is foreseen to take place in Brussels in January 2015, involving a number of controllers from that French ACC. All these activities are consolidated in a single event, which may lead to a temporary reduction of that ACC’s capacity.
Lifecycle and Workflow
The Event Lifecycle corresponds to its operational lifecycle - that is, the evolution of the event from its inception up to the day of its start, the effects it causes in the network, etc.
The Publication Workflow describes the steps involved in creating and updating event data.