The research team when showing the usage of SWD and WSD equipment that will be tested at the airport

ITS Campus, ITS News – In an effort to support air transportation safety, the Center for Research and Development (Puslitbang) of the Air Transport Research and Development Agency (Balitbang), the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation will inspect further the results of research collaboration with Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS). The research output is in the form of a Standing Water Detector (SWD) and Wind Shear Detector (WSD), which will go through operational tests at six airports in Indonesia.

The trial plan was conveyed by the Head of the Center for Air Transportation Research and Development, Capt. Novyanto Widadi, S.A.P., M.M., when visiting the ITS campus on January 13. According to Novyanto, the plan to implement the technology development of research collaboration with ITS became urgent after the problem of the inundation of Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Jakarta, earlier this year. Whereas the airport, which is supposedly the gateway for the country’s guests, was flooded due to heavy rainfall.

Dr. Melania Suweni Muntini, M.T., as the head of the research team, explained that from around 300 airports in Indonesia, no puddle detector was installed on the runway. In fact, according to ICAO, the highest puddle is 4 mm and there should not be more than 25 percent of puddles in the runway area.

The atmosphere of the discussion between the ITS research team with the Research and Development Center for Transportation and Transportation Research and Development at the ITS campus

“When it’s a rainy season like this, and the runway at the airport is flooded, there is no valid information to the pilot about how high the puddles are, to consider whether or not the plane can land at the airport,” elaborated this ITS Physics Department lecturer further.

Not only that, Melania continued, the wind around the airport sometimes also have the potential to cause side wind (wind shear). If the direction and magnitude of the wind appear from various directions at high speed, it will cause conditions that have the potential for the emergence of these side wind.

In his visit, Novyanto revealed that the WSD and SWD equipment trials will be carried out at six airports in Indonesia. “Namely at Cengkareng Airport (Soekarno-Hatta, red), Halim Perdanakusuma, Kualanamu, Juanda, I Gusti Ngurah Rai, and Sultan Hassanuddin,” said this man who was born in 1968.

Illustration of SWD installation at several airports in Indonesia

Research conducted by Melania and her team, at the Instrumentation Laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Data Analytics ITS, has been designed for approximately two years. Functional tests have been carried out and have been successful, and is currently in the certification stage.

Testing was carried out at Trunojoyo Sumenep Airport in 2018 and at Yogyakarta Airport or New Yogyakarta International Airport (NYIA) in 2019. “For the equipment itself, it can be used in all airports, there are 300 airports in Indonesia that have the potential to be tested, especially the SWD,” said this woman from Yogyakarta.

Melania conveyed that the Air Transportation Research and Development Team had visited ITS to discuss the installation and operational test plans of SWD and WSD at several airports. During the discussion, it was agreed that ITS would prepare equipment and training for technicians and operators at the airport, including how to install the equipment on location. “Indeed, only SWD is devoted to testing at the airport, because it is most in accordance with current conditions,” she further emphasized.

The ITS research team with the Research and Development Center for Transportation and Research at the Ministry of Transportation after the discussion at the ITS campus

This ITB doctoral alumnus added that the cooperation carried out was not only limited to that. The team has also worked closely with the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) and the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

“For the smooth running of the trial, we recommend that the feasibility study first such as profiling the runway, the position of the device, the number of sensors to be installed, and other things needed to achieve the smoothness of the trial,” she concluded.

In this case, the Center for Air Transportation Research and Development at the same time suggested the need for increased cooperation in the Center for Air Transportation with ITS. She suggested that in every research with ITS, it should be considered as a Doctoral Program for the researchers involved. This has been taken into account with the opening of the Doctoral Program by Research at ITS, which will begin opening doctoral admissions starting in September 2020. (zar/ory/ITS Public Relations)