Scientific news targeted to general public published by UC3M. La Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) ha participado en un proyecto europeo de investigación, denominado TBO-Met, en el que se ha desarrollado un algoritmo que maximiza la previsibilidad de los vuelos y reduce el riesgo de toparse con fenómenos tormentosos (potencialmente peligrosos). Gracias a ello, se puede mejorar la seguridad, aumentar la capacidad del tráfico aéreo y reducir los retrasos. Incluso con la ayuda de los últimos avances en tecnología de pronóstico meteorológico, el tiempo puede ser difícil de predecir. Esto supone un problema para la gestión de los vuelos, que requiere de un pronóstico eficaz para poder garantizar un tráfico fluido. La investigación realizada por los científicos del proyecto TBO-Met (Meteorological Uncertainty Management for Trajectory Based Operations) ha dado lugar a un algoritmo que se aplica a la trayectoria de la aeronave – lo que se conoce como el plan de vuelo – y que permite prever mejorar el tráfico aéreo al tener en cuenta las incertidumbres del pronóstico del tiempo. Este avance permite incrementar la capacidad del sistema, es decir,  el número de aviones que pueden volar en un fragmento de espacio y tiempo. “El impacto de la meteorología y la incertidumbre asociada en la aviación es muy alto. Se estima que aproximadamente entre el 20 y el 30 por ciento de los retrasos en Europa están relacionados con el clima, con unas pérdidas estimadas en 180-200 millones de euros al año”, explica el profesor del departamento de Bioingeniería e Ingeniería Aeroespacial de la UC3M, Manuel Soler Arnedo, responsable del proyecto TBO-Met en la UC3M. De hecho, solo en 2017 se estimaron pérdidas de 215 millones de euros por los 2,1 millones de minutos de retraso atribuidos a las inclemencias meteorológicas. El objetivo de TBO-Met es optimizar las trayectorias de las aeronaves, de modo que se eviten problemas de seguridad y retrasos en los vuelos. Para ello, se ha estudiado la incertidumbre meteorológica, es decir, los fenómenos meteorológicos de difícil predicción, como el granizo, la formación de hielo severo y los rayos, que pueden infligir daños considerables a las aeronaves. El proyecto se ha centrado en entender, caracterizar y reducir esta incertidumbre. Para ello, se ha enfocado en dos problemas principales: el análisis de la demanda del sector en cuanto al número de aviones que deben estar operativos y la planificación de trayectorias teniendo en cuenta las incertidumbres del pronóstico del tiempo y la actividad de las tormentas. El proyecto TBO-Met está formado por equipos de investigación de la UC3M, la Universidad de Sevilla, la Loddron Universität Salzsburg (en Austria), la Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET) y MeteoSolutions GmbH (en Alemania). Pertenece al programa europeo para la...

The Call for Papers for this Special Issue has now been posted on the journal’s website at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/IJAE/si/257163/cfp/. Please find the Call for Papers attached Call for papers

On Maximizing Safety in Stochastic Aircraft Trajectory Planning with Uncertain Thunderstorm Development Dear Mr Hentzen, We are pleased to let you know that the final version of your article On Maximizing Safety in Stochastic Aircraft Trajectory Planning with Uncertain Thunderstorm Development is now available online, containing full bibliographic details. To help you access and share this work, we have created a Share Link – a personalized URL providing 50 days’ free access to your article. Anyone clicking on this link before August 15, 2018 will be taken directly to the final version of your article on ScienceDirect. No sign up, registration or fees are required – they can simply click and read. Your personalized Share Link:https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1XHiz4W~zIwOOS Click on the icons below to share with your network: We encourage you to use this URL to download a copy of the article for your own archive. It also provides a quick and easy way to share your work with colleagues, co-authors and friends. And you are welcome to add it to your homepage or social media profiles, such as Facebook and Twitter. You can find out more about Share Links on Elsevier.com. Did you know, as an author, you can use your article for a wide range of scholarly, non-commercial purposes, and share and post your article online in a variety of ways? For more information visit www.elsevier.com/sharing-articles. Kind regards,Elsevier Researcher...

We are ofering two PhD positions (starting on Sept. 2018): 1 PhD on topics related to stochastic optimal control applied to trajectory optimization in aerospace engineering. Aero UC3M_ATM 1 PhD on topics related to data science techniques applied to air traffic management Aero UC3M_Data_Science Candidate skills and Requirements  The ideal candidate will have: A university degree (Master’s level or equivalent) mathematical sciences, atmospheric sciences/data science/big data, or aerospace /aviation engineering Skills on control, optimization and algorithmic programming (python preferred) Skills of data science, e.g. knowledge discovery in databases (artificial intelligence, machine learning). Solid skills in both written and spoken English. Great dose of imagination, problem solving skills, passion, and eagerness to learn. A strong academic record and international experience. Outstanding students with only a partial match to this list are encouraged to apply. Women are strongly encouraged to apply. Benefits and conditions The successful candidate will be enrolled in the Department of Bioengineering and Aerospace Engineering (Area of Aerospace Engineering) of the University Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M). In particular, she/he will work within ASAP (dynamics and control of aerospace systems) research group – https://aero.uc3m.es/DynamicsAndControlAerospaceSystems.html-. The conditions are as follows: Salary and duration of the appointment are those determined by UC3M for PhD students (typically 14k to 18k € gross per year and 3-4 years). Additional salary complements for the participation in both European and National research projects (see TBO-Met and OptMet as examples), and in contracts with different companies, e.g., Boeing Research and Technology. Additional elements: laptop computer; and Health Insurance Covered by the Spanish health system. International secondments in prestigious universities and research centers will be granted. Our PhD students have visited in the past, e.g., ETH Zürich, ENAC, ESA, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Opportunity to travel to international conferences (Europe and oversees) and present research activities. Publication in top quality journals. Become part of a young, dynamic, highly qualified, collaborative team. Flexible working environment and schedule. The possibility to develop a unique career outside of mainstream: academia, research centers, international environment, private companies and start-ups. An agile working methodology; ASAP recently implemented JIRA/Scrum and all the research is done on a collaborative wiki/Confluence. To Apply Email directly to Prof. Soler (masolera@ing.uc3m.es) with: 1) a CV; 2) a motivation letter indicating your interest in the topic. Moreover, recommendation letters (or the name and contact info of recommendation person) are welcomed (though not mandatory). Deadline Call for applications will remain open until an adequate candidate is found. Expected start will be in September. Ideally, we would like to do the selection process no later than...

We have published the following paper:   Robust Aircraft Trajectory Planning under Wind Uncertainty using Optimal Control. D. González-Arribas, Manuel Soler, and Manuel Sanjrujo. Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics. Accepted for publication (Sept. 2017). The final (edited by AIAA) version will be made available very soon in articles in advance (with a DOI assigned) and thereafter assigned to a...