[QUOTE=Spitoon]
-ICAO says, in Annex 14...
-I think Eurocontrol has a few rules about surface surveillance in association with Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS) but it's debatable how much status Eurocontrol rules have. And anyway, what does an enroute ATC provider know about airports.....
- For what it's worth, the UK has some fairly severe - some might say draconian - rules about aerodrome operations in poor visibility. In many other States there are no such provisions for 'procedural' control of a foggy airport so this may result in greater reliance on the availability of SMR.
QUOTE]
Annex 14 ( Aerodrome design and operations) is not the place to dedicated ATM procedures.
Procedures for low visibility
operations are stated in § 7.11 of PANS-ATM
In few words it is said that when the aerodrome controller can see no more (visually) the traffic outside , whatever is the reason, he should apply some practices or methods (note on the § 7.11.1.1.2) which are sum up in the SMGCS manual (§ 4.5.4) It is known as "Procedural control " and clearly to day no airports in the European top 100 -including UK one's - apply this procedural control as described by ICAO.
It should be noted that in the Low visibility operations section an additional § is stating about " provisions for procedures to control aerodrome traffic when CAT II/III approaches are in use".. ( LVO not LVP which are ECAC DOC17 procedures limited to Europe)
There is no words at all about the use of SMR : and why...because the avoiding of collision - main part of the service- is already performed by the procedural control.
Reminder : in § 7.1.1.2 ( general function of aerodrome control) it is said that visual observation can be "
AUGMENTED" - not "
replaced "by radar. ( No information about the fact that it could be an air or surface radar?)
And the ICAO planning manual said: "
SMR can make a valuable contribution…but it is an adjunct, not an alternative" and "
may be used as an aid in the provision of aerodrome control service".
Also "
Specifications on the characteristics of SMR and its use do not exist in ICAO documents"
My conclusion is that you can do "by the book" very little thing with an SMR if you try to follow ICAO provisions and that recommandation to have SMR for CAT II/III is incoherent with the regulatory specifications for ATM.( a kind of fuzzy concrete umbrella for so called decision makers...
)
Second point in your post : EUROCONTROL is not only an ANSP .In fact this part of th Agency represente very little parcel of his official task.
The Headquarter DAP Direction in brussels is in charge of the former tasks of the ICAO AOPG one's and also those coming from the ECAC Airport/Air Traffic Procedures Group (APATSI) . It is handle By a British Director, a British Airport Unit Chief and the A-SMGCS project by a Scottish - nobody's perfect-, former ATCO.And they have no background in En Route domain..!
And finally , ICAO will be provided by the EURO Airport unit at the end of the year by 2 propositions to modify DOC7030/ EUR part ( They are so "conservative" that they are afraid to put new regulations directly in DOC4444)
A new § -22- will modify the equivalent of DOC4444 aerodrome ATC procedure to introduce the
replacement of outside visual activities by the use of a A-SMGCS level 1 and 2 display
A new § -21- will define the procedures to use A-SMGCS level 1 and 2
A new § will be also added to complete the use by pilots of Mode S XPDR on the ground to cope with those new ATM procedures.