The TopSky (formerly EUROCAT)[1] system is a computerised air traffic control and management solution[buzzword] developed by Thales Air Systems (formerly Thomson CSF).[2] It utilises a distributed computing architecture and is capable of integrating geographically dispersed air traffic control units within a Flight Information Region (e.g. control towers at different airports and en route control centres) into a single coherent system.
During 2012, the Thales marketing name has been changed from Eurocat to TopSky.
Features
TopSky handles a large variety of different functions required for the smooth operation of air traffic control and management. A non-exhaustive list includes:[3]
- Surveillance data processing and track correlation (radar, ADS-B, ADS-C etc.)
- Flight plan processing
- Communication (CPDLC etc.)
- Aeronautical information data processing (NOTAMs, QNH, wind aloft etc.)
- Flow control and sequencing
- Human-machine interfacing (e.g. correlating data to generate controller's display)
- Data recording
- Controller situational awareness and alerts generation
Countries
The software is used in many countries, including:
References