It is recommended that, in the absence of radar data, lateral ground track dispersion be modelled on the assumption that the spread of tracks perpendicular to the backbone track follows a Gaussian normal distribution. Experience has shown that this assumption is a reasonable one in most cases.
Assuming a Gaussian distribution with a standard deviation S, illustrated in Figure C-1, about 98,8 percent of all movements fall within boundaries of ± 2,5·S (i.e. within a swathe of width of 5·S).
Figure C-1
Subdivision of a ground track into 7 subtracks
(The width of the swathe is 5 times the standard deviation of the ground track spreading)
A Gaussian distribution can normally be modelled adequately using 7 discrete sub-tracks evenly spaced between the ± 2,5·S boundaries of the swathe as shown in Figure C-1.
However, the adequacy of the approximation depends on the relationship of the sub-track track separation to the heights of the aircraft above. There may be situations (very tight or very dispersed tracks) where a different number of subtracks is more appropriate. Too few subtracks cause ‘fingers’ to appear in the contour. Tables C-1 and C-2 show the parameters for a subdivision into between 5 and 13 subtracks. Table C-1 shows the location of the particular subtracks, Table C-2 the corresponding percentage of movements on each subtrack.
Location of 5, 7, 9, 11 or 13 subtracks
(The overall width of the swathe (containing 98 % of all movements) is 5 times the standard deviation)
Subtrack number | Location of subtracks for subdivision into | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 subtracks | 7 subtracks | 9 subtracks | 11 subtracks | 13 subtracks | |
12/13 | ± 2,31·S | ||||
10/11 | ± 2,27·S | ± 1,92·S | |||
8/9 | ± 2,22·S | ± 1,82·S | ± 1,54·S | ||
6/7 | ± 2,14·S | ± 1,67·S | ± 1,36·S | ± 1,15·S | |
4/5 | ± 2,00·S | ± 1,43·S | ± 1,11·S | ± 0,91·S | ± 0,77·S |
2/3 | ± 1,00·S | ± 0,71·S | ± 0,56·S | ± 0,45·S | ± 0,38·S |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Percentage of movements on 5, 7, 9, 11 or 13 subtracks
(The overall width of the swathe (containing 98 % of all movements) is 5 times the standard deviation)
Subtrack number | Percentage of movements on subtrack for subdivision into | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 subtracks | 7 subtracks | 9 subtracks | 11 subtracks | 13 subtracks | |
12/13 | 1,1 % | ||||
10/11 | 1,4 % | 2,5 % | |||
8/9 | 2,0 % | 3,5 % | 4,7 % | ||
6/7 | 3,1 % | 5,7 % | 7,1 % | 8,0 % | |
4/5 | 6,3 % | 10,6 % | 12,1 % | 12,1 % | 11,5 % |
2/3 | 24,4 % | 22,2 % | 19,1 % | 16,6 % | 14,4 % |
1 | 38,6 % | 28,2 % | 22,2 % | 18,6 % | 15,6 % |