Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) helps to improve situational awareness for pilots. Higher-end equipment can also allow air traffic control see you and other aircraft, helping to improve safety.
Real-time location information
ADS-B provides highly accurate real-time location information that can help you and other pilots to safely navigate, especially in non-controlled airspace.
Where aircraft have ADS-B transmitting (ADS-B OUT) and receiving (ADS-B IN) equipment, the technology can provide pilots with real-time information. In some cases, it can also give warnings about nearby aircraft.
The system can show information on a traffic display or as an audible alert (‘TRAFFIC …!’). It can also show the location of ADS-B-equipped vehicles on a runway.
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.
Visibility study
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s (ATSB) visibility study shows how ADS-B IN can help pilots see other aircraft better.
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.
Additional benefits
Other benefits of fitting ADS-B include:
- effective search and rescue services. Using both ground and space-based ADS-B receivers makes it much easier to find an aircraft that has ADS-B OUT if there's an emergency
- accurate reporting of an aircraft’s position
- better access to preferred routes or cruising levels in controlled airspace, in areas of Airservices’ ground-based ADS-B system beyond radar coverage.