Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) helps to improve situational awareness of pilots. It also allows air traffic control to see you and other aircraft, helping to improve safety.
The system provides real-time location information that helps pilots navigate through airspace.
ADS-B enables the use of cockpit displays of traffic information called ADS-B IN which can show other aircraft in the sky as well as the location of ADS-B-equipped vehicles on the ground. As a pilot this can help you see what controllers see.
Overall, ADS-B can greatly improve and enhance your situational awareness when flying or operating around an aerodrome.
Learn more about how ADS-B works.
Benefits of ADS-B: visibility study
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s (ATSB) visibility study highlights how ADS-B IN can help pilots better identify potential traffic conflicts.
The study looked at a specific incident involving cockpit visibility. The researchers tested to see when each aircraft might have been visible to the pilots of the other aircraft.
It also considered what effect an ADS-B IN system would have had on the pilots’ ability to detect traffic as they converged.
The study found that pilots benefited from aircraft fitted with ADS-B IN in a couple of ways, including:
- having a better chance of locating the other aircraft
- alerting pilots to other aircraft position much earlier.
You can read the full report and watch the video animation on the ATSB website:
Additional benefits
Other benefits of fitting ADS-B include:
- more effective search and rescue services. Using both ground and spaced-based ADS-B receivers, the chances of pinpointing the position of an ADS-B OUT equipped aircraft in an emergency are greatly improved
- more accurate reporting of an aircraft’s position
- efficient spacing and routing in controlled airspace that’s outside of conventional radar coverage but within detection range of an ADS-B ground station.