Implicações do nevoeiro nas operações aéreas no Aeroporto Internacional de Maceió, Zumbi dos Palmares

Abstract

The study of the implications of fog for air operations contributes to flight safety and improvements to air transport services. Visibility restrictions caused by fog formation affect air operations and can cause damage to those involved, notably at Maceió Airport, which receives a significant number of tourists, driving the economy of Alagoas. The objective of the work is to analyze the frequency of fog formation at the Airport of Maceió, Alagoas, Zumbi dos Palmares, and the disturbances that these occurrences can cause to air operations (landings and takeoffs) between the years from 2007 to 2016. A survey analyzed rainfall and air temperature in the municipality studied by drawing up an ombrothermal diagram from 1987 to 2016 using the RGui software; The frequency of the occurrence of fog at the International Airport of Maceió, Zumbi dos Palmares, was evaluated between the years 2007 to 2016, calculating the monthly frequency (%), with data obtained from the Air Space Control Institute; The number of fog occurrences, cumulative duration time (in minutes) and the visibility (in meters) of the phenomenon were quantified by calculating the number of monthly fog occurrences, the cumulative duration time (in minutes) monthly and monthly and annual visibility (in meters), with data from the Meteorology Network of the Air Force Command; The analysis of the impacts of air operations restrictions caused by fog was carried out, which affect passengers and airlines, obtaining the flight delay time by calculating the actual and estimated flight arrival and departure times, with data from the Civil Aviation National Agency. For data analysis, descriptive statistics were used using the BrOffice Calc 2.2 software. Accumulated (monthly) data on the occurrence of fog, frequency, arithmetic mean and correlation were used. At the Rio Largo municipality, Alagoas, the rainy period predominates, with precipitation greater than 100 mm for six months, and only two dry months; The ratio between the occurrence of fog and rainfall (mm) is directly proportional, but the relationship of air temperature (oC) and distance of visibility (in meters) are variable with the occurrence of fog. By analyzing a ten-year period, it's inferred that Maceió International Airport, Zumbi dos Palmares, has a low fog ocurrancy. However, this phenomenon has an impact on air operations at this airport, restricting visibility, which generates delays and cancellations for scheduled flights, and harm passengers and airlines, with socioeconomic disorders to those involved. The scientific contribution of this work to aeronautical activities regarding the influence of Climatology at the International Airport of Maceió, Zumbi dos Palmares, aims to demonstrate to decision makers possible socioeconomic impacts caused by the occurrence of fog, requiring the continuation of studies in order to update the periods of the hypotheses of this research, since it brought meteorological information from the interstitium 2007 to 2016. It is recommended, in order to mitigate impacts that cause disruption to air operations, to analyze other meteorological phenomena to obtain complementary results and investments in equipment to aid the approach to landing more efficient in restricted visibility conditions.