The place of a versatile and well-designed aeronautical ground lighting solution cannot be overstated in modern airports. Aeronautical ground lighting is crucial for supporting the safe and efficient movement of aircraft on the ground, during take-offs, landings, and taxiing. It helps avoid collisions, bottlenecks, and keeps aviation schedules on track.
Aeronautical ground lighting companies, such as Copperchase, provide a range of permanent and temporary lighting solutions to meet the needs of airports of all sizes, from regional airfield to international hubs, and a good system must incorporate several critical features. In this article, we’ll look at four essential attributes that an aeronautical ground lighting solution should demonstrate, to optimise safety and efficiency.
1. Adaptable Airfield Layouts
Some advanced aeronautical ground lighting solutions now come with the ability to electronically redraw and adjust your airfield layouts. This versatility is critical in airports that frequently undergo changes due to expansions, new taxiways, and updated schedules. By facilitating quick and cost-effective layout modifications, this feature allows your aeronautical ground lighting system to keep pace with the dynamic and frequently complex requirements of modern airports.
Benefits to you:
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- Cost effectiveness – quickly deploy modifications without the need for extensive physical re-engineering of the space.
- Scalability – reconfigure your lighting system to support new runways, pathways, and parking areas.
- Flexibility – make rapid-fire adjustments in response to changing operational demands and unexpected events, increasing operational fluidity.
2. Modular Construction
Modular construction is another important feature of modern aeronautical ground lighting solutions. A modular design strategy enables the system to be tailored to meet the varying needs of any airfield, while also making it easier to independently service or replace without downtime across the whole system. This simplifies repairs and maximises continuous uptime. Modular systems are also easier to future-proof by incorporating technological advancements or in response to new operational challenges. Additional modules can simply be integrated into the existing system without a full overhaul, streamlining the task of keeping your lighting system up to date and capable of meeting future demands.
3. User-Friendly Touchscreen Technology
Many modern systems come with intuitive interfaces with touchscreen technology, which has revolutionised the way that aeronautical ground lighting systems are managed and operated. Touchscreen interfaces are generally more intuitive and easier-to-use than traditional control panels, reducing training time for operators and lowering the risk of errors. They also make it simpler for operators to make rapid modifications to airfield layouts or lighting configurations through simple touch commands. Touchscreen technology bestows more precise control over your lighting system, giving better visibility and safety, and allowing your ATC professionals to monitor the system performance in real time and make any adjustments promptly.
4. Backup Features
Reliability is the foundation of an effective aeronautical ground lighting system, and many modern solutions rise to this need with a variety of reliability-enhancing failsafe systems, such as hot standby, fibre optics, and dual redundant cabling. What do these safeguards and backup systems do?
- Hot standby systems – these systems give immediate backup in case your primary lighting system fails.
- Fibreoptics – fibre-optic data transmission increases speed and reliability. Fibreoptics are less susceptible to electromagnetic interference and give higher bandwidth, for more consistent and secure communications.
- Dual redundant cabling – if one path fails, your lighting system can continue to operate via an alternative, or ‘redundant’ cabling path, minimising the risk of critical system failure.
What Next?
Get in touch today to find out about our aeronautical ground lighting solutions and how we can help increase safety and efficiency at your airfield. Click here to contact one of our experienced team, or to request a call back.