Aircraft de-icing determination systems and methods

Abstract

A system and a method include at least one control unit that determines a de-icing time for an aircraft within a de-icing area of an airport, predicts a de-icing time for an aircraft within a de-icing area of an airport, schedules de-icing times for a plurality of aircraft within a de-icing area of an airport, and/or predicts demand for future de-icing operations of aircraft within a de-icing area of an airport.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) tracking sub-system, wherein the ADS-B tracking sub-system tracks a position of a first aircraft at an airport; and   at least one first control unit in communication with the ADS-B tracking sub-system,   wherein the at least one first control unit determines a de-icing time for the first aircraft based on the position of the first aircraft, as tracked by the ADS-B tracking sub-system, in relation to a de-icing area at the airport.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an airport mapping sub-system in communication with the at least one first control unit, wherein the at least one first control unit receives airport map data including a location of the de-icing area from the airport mapping sub-system. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one first control unit determines the de-icing time by comparing an entry time of the first aircraft into the location and an exit time of the first aircraft from the location. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a weather determination sub-system in communication with the at least one first control unit, wherein the weather determination sub-system provides weather data indicative of current weather conditions in relation to the airport, and wherein the at least one first control unit associates weather conditions with the de-icing time. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a historic de-icing datastore in communication with the at least one first control unit, wherein the at least one first control unit stores de-icing data including the de-icing time for the first aircraft within the at historic de-icing datastore. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the de-icing data further comprises weather data including weather conditions during the de-icing time. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the de-icing data further comprises aircraft data including aircraft type of the aircraft. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one first control unit further predicts a de-icing time for at least one other aircraft within the de-icing area of the airport. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one first control unit comprises a de-icing prediction control unit. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising a historic de-icing datastore in communication with the at least one first control unit, wherein the historic de-icing datastore stores historic de-icing data comprising de-icing times for a plurality of aircraft over a predetermined time period, and wherein the at least one first control unit predicts the de-icing time for the at least one other aircraft based on the historic de-icing data. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the historic de-icing data further comprises weather data including weather conditions during the de-icing times. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the historic de-icing data further comprises aircraft data including aircraft type of the plurality of aircraft. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one first control unit further predicts demand for future de-icing operations based on historic de-icing data. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one second control unit that determines, based on the de-icing time, a schedule for de-icing one or both of the first aircraft and a second aircraft. 
     
     
         15 . A method comprising:
 tracking, by an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) tracking sub-system, a position of a first aircraft at an airport; and   determining, by at least one first control unit in communication with the ADS-B tracking sub-system, a de-icing time for a first aircraft based on a position of the first aircraft, as tracked by the ADS-B tracking sub-system, in relation to a de-icing area at the airport.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising determining, by at least one second control unit, a schedule for de-icing one or both of the first aircraft or a second aircraft based on the de-icing time. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising receiving, by the at least one first control unit from an airport mapping sub-system in communication with the at least one first control unit, airport map data including a location of the de-icing area from the airport mapping sub-system. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the at least one first control unit from a weather determination sub-system in communication with the at least one first control unit, weather data indicative of current weather conditions in relation to the airport; and   associating, by the at least one first control unit, weather conditions with the de-icing time.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising predicting, by the at least one first control unit, a de-icing time for at least one other aircraft within the de-icing area of the airport. 
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause one or more control units comprising a processor, to perform operations comprising:
 determining a de-icing time for an aircraft based on a position of the aircraft, as tracked by an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) tracking sub-system, in relation to a de-icing area at the airport.