Dynamic En-route Speed Profile Adjustment Strategy Design for Continuous Descend Operations Based on 4D Trajectory

Aiming to reduce the uncertainty of the trajectory of Continuous Descend Operations (CDO) in high-density airspace, it is necessary to design a constrained speed profile during the CDO procedures, and use 4-Dimensional (4D) trajectory prediction and flight speed adjustment technology to meet the constraints on both space and time. This paper presents a large aircraft real-time flight trajectory management strategy based on 4D trajectory under multi-constraint conditions. To improve the prediction accuracy of the feasible Controlled Time of Arrival (CTA) window, a calculation method based on aircraft performance data and aircraft intention model is proposed. Finally, a dynamic en-route speed adjustment strategy based on the aircraft kinematics model is proposed, and the optimal flight profile and the required time of arrival objectives of the CDO are achieved with the performance-based airspace and CTA procedures. To demonstrate the validation of the algorithms given in the paper, the fast-time simulation based on a type of domestically-made aircraft is operated by the MATLAB platform. The simulation results verified that the real-time trajectory management algorithms and dynamic en-route speed profile adjustment strategy proposed in this paper could provide a precise flight speed control capability oriented to timing arrival for airlines.