Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport (WSI) will operate as a digitised aerodrome, with more than 20 high-resolution cameras monitoring the airport and immediate airspace and beaming real-time vision to a centralised control room.
Airservices partnered with technology providers CDC and Frequentis Australasia to develop the Digital Aerodrome Service (DAS) at WSI using internationally proven, state-of-the-art technology that provides more information and greater situational awareness to air traffic controllers.
Airservices will provide world’s-best practice, safe and efficient air traffic management services from a cutting-edge DAS centre at Eastern Creek.
DAS enables new air traffic management tools and features such as object tracking, night vision and image enhancement – allowing air traffic controllers to see beyond the limitations of the human eye. Infrared cameras will enable controllers to see more at night and during periods of low visibility.
Digital aerodromes are already in operation around the world in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany.
Nilsen, in conjunction with its partner Webb Ausralia, was responsible for the design and manufacture of electrical and communication systems for the operational cameras. The systems comprised Control Panels A + B which housed electrical and communications infrastructure for the 25 cameras (fixed, thermal and PTZ) that reside atop the 45-metre mast.
The Control Panels were affixed to the crown structure of the system, and these had dual power and fibre optic feeds that reticulate to a Communications Shelter located at the Base of the Tower. Distribution Boards A + B were designed, manufactured and installed into the Communication Shelter for the power feeds. The fibre optic cables terminated within a communications rack, in the Shelter, with these being connected onto dual fibre feeds to the Data Centre, some 20kms away, where the Air Traffic Controllers are to reside.
The system was designed based on a full redundancy model, in addition to it being able to operate effectively should only 50% of the cameras be functioning.
All cabling between the Control Panels and the individual cameras, in addition to the red obstruction lights were reticulated within steel anaconda conduit to mitigate damage from birds and vermin.
Nilsen resources assisted with the assembly of Traffic Controller Consoles. Further works included the placement of equipment onto the Consoles, reticulation of power and communications to each of them followed by the connection of equipment either via power or copper patch leads.
Considerable effort was placed into the installation and positioning of the viewing screens for the system. The “looking out “of on-airport Control Tower windows has become obsolete with viewing of all air traffic movements at the airport conducted via the viewing screens.
A similar system has been installed to Canberra Airport, with cameras sitting atop a 30-metre single pole tower.
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