CE-4103

Lecture 5: Runway - Orientation

Dr. Ankit Gupta, Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi
Lecture Outline

 Runway orientation
 Crosswind
 Wind Coverage
 Calm Period
 Wind Rose Diagram
 Runway Configurations
Runway Orientation

 The orientation of a runway depends upon the

direction of wind and to some extent on the area
available for development

 Determination of a runway orientation is a

critical task in the planning and design of an
airport.
Runway Orientation

 Runways are always oriented in the direction of

prevailing wind.

 The reason behind it is to utilize to the

maximum the force of wind at the time of take-
off and landing of an aircraft
 Lift and drag produced
Runway Orientation

 The direction of the runway controls the layout

of the other airport facilities, such as
passenger terminals, taxiways/apron
configurations, circulation roads, and parking
facilities.
 According to FAA standards, runways should
be oriented so that aircraft can takeoff and/or
land at least 95 percent of the time without
exceeding the allowable crosswinds
Runway Orientation

 Following points need to be considered while

orienting the runways and taxiways:
 Avoiding delay in the landing, taxiing and take-off
operations and least interference in these operations
 Providing the shortest taxi distance possible from the
terminal area to the ends of runway
 Making provision for maximum taxiways so that the
landing aircraft can leave the runway as quickly as
possible to the terminal area
 Providing adequate separation in the air traffic
pattern
Runway Orientation

 Data Required
 Map of area and contours
 To examine the flatness of area and the possible
changes in the longitudinal profiles so as to keep
them within permissible limits
Runway Orientation

 Data Required
 Wind data i.e. direction, duration and
intensity of wind in the vicinity
 Required for the development of wind rose
diagram

 Fog characteristics of the area

Runway Orientation

 Wind data
 Wind Direction
 To examine whether the wind will attack
aircraft from the head side or tail side or from
sides
 Also the direction of wind is not same
throughout the year
 Maximum wind direction needs to be
ascertained
Runway Orientation

 Wind data
 Wind Intensity
 Reported as velocity in km/hr

 Wind Duration
 Time period for which the wind of certain
intensity blows in a certain direction
Runway Orientation

 Wind Direction
 The direction of wind is variable and keeps
on changing throughout the year. Its effect
on aircraft movement is different and
depends up on whether the wind acts as:
 Head wind
 Tail wind

 Cross wind
Runway Orientation

 Wind Direction

CROSS WIND
V sin
W, speed ‘V’

TW

TAIL WIND HW
HEAD WIND
Runway Orientation

 Wind Direction - Head Wind

 The wind blowing from opposite direction of head or
nose of the aircraft (or opposite to the movement of
aircraft) while landing or taking-off is termed as Head
wind
 It provides braking effect during landing and greater
lift on the wings of the aircraft during take off.
 Thus the length of the runway gets reduced. This
reduction may be around 10%
Runway Orientation

 Wind Components - Tail Wind

 This is defined as the wind blowing in the same
direction as of landing or taking-off of the aircraft
(or in the direction of movement of aircraft).
 Provides push from the back thus increasing stop
distance or lift-off distance.
 May also be dangerous for nose diving aircrafts
Runway Orientation

 Wind Components - Cross Wind

 Transverse component of wind at 90o angle with the
direction of aircraft movement is known as cross
wind.
 If the wind contains large component of cross wind
then the aircraft may not maneuver safely on the
runway
 Excessive cross wind component might even veer off
the aircraft away from runway, thus restricting the use
of runway under such conditions
Runway Orientation

 Wind Components - Cross Wind

 The maximum allowable cross wind depends up on
 Size of aircraft
 Wing configuration
 Condition of pavement surface

 For medium and light aircraft CW  25 km ph

Runway Orientation

 Wind Components - Cross Wind

 The ICAO recommends maximum allowable cross
wind component as

Reference Field Length Maximum Crosswind

Component
1500 m or over 37 km/hr
1200 m to 1499 m 24 km/hr
< 1200 m 19 km/hr
Runway Orientation

 Wind Components - Cross Wind

 The FAA recommends as follows

Airport Reference Code Allowable Crosswind

A-I, B-I 19 km/hr
A-II, B-II 24 km/hr
A-III, B-III, C-I, C-II, C-III, C-IV 30 km/hr
A-IVM D-VI 37 km/hr
Runway
Orientation
 Surface Wind
 Ground Speed
Runway Orientation

 Wind Coverage
 Wind coverage or usability factor of airport is the
percentage of time in a year during which the cross
wind component remains within the limit or runway
system is not restricted because of excessive cross
wind.
 ICAO and FAA recommends minimum wind coverage
of 95%.
 When a single runway or a set of parallel runways
cannot be oriented to provide the required wind
coverage, one or more cross wind runways should be
provided
Runway Orientation

 Calm Period
 This is the period for which the wind intensity
remains below 6.4 km/hr
Runway Orientation

 Once the maximum permissible crosswind

component is selected, the most desirable
direction of runways for wind coverage can be
determined by examining the wind
characteristics for the following conditions:
 The entire wind coverage regardless of visibility or
cloud ceiling (Normal Condition)
 Wind conditions when the ceiling is at least 300 m
and the visibility is at least 4.8 km (Visual
Meteorological Condi.)
Runway Orientation

 Wind Characteristics for defining wind coverage

 Wind condition when the ceiling is between 60 m and
300 m and / or the visibility is between 0.8 km and 4.8
km (Instrument Meteorological Condition)
Runway Orientation

 When visibility approaches 0.8 km and the

ceiling is 60 m, there is very little wind present,
the visibility gets reduced due to fog, haze or
smoke.
 Sometimes the visibility may be extremely poor,
yet there is no distinct cloud ceiling. This
happens due to fog, smoke, haze, etc.
 The criteria of 95% wind coverage is applicable
for all the conditions
Wind Rose

 Wind Rose
 Application of WIND ROSE diagram for
finding the orientation of the runway to
achieve wind coverage.
 The area is divided into 16 parts using an
angle of 22.5o
 Average wind data of 5 to 10 years is used
for preparing wind rose diagrams
Wind Rose

NNW NNE
NW NE

WNW ENE

WSW ESE

SW SE
SSW SSE
Wind Rose

 Wind Rose - Methods

 Type – I: Showing direction and duration of
wind
 Type – II: Showing direction, duration and
intensity of wind
Wind Rose

 Wind Rose - Data

Wind Percentage of Time Total
Direction 6 – 15km/hr 15 – 30 km/hr 30 – 50 km/hr
N 4.6 1.40 0.10 6.10
NNE 3.4 0.75 0.00 1.15
NE 1.8 0.03 0.10 1.93
ENE 2.8 0.02 0.03 2.85
E 2.1 2.20 0.00 4.30
|
|
Total 66.4 21.14 0.46 88.00
Wind Rose

 Wind Rose: Type I

 It is based on direction and duration of wind.
 Minimum eight directions are taken but optimum is 16
directions.
 Data includes total percentage of time in each
direction
 Concentric circles are drawn to scale according to the
percentage of time wind is blowing in a direction.
 Total percentage in each direction is marked on the
radial line drawn in that direction
Wind Rose

 Wind Rose: Type I

 These points on radial lines are joined together to
form a duration map.
 Best direction of runway is indicated along the
direction of the longest line on the Wind Rose
diagram
Wind Rose
Wind Rose

 Wind Rose: Type II

 It is based on direction, duration and intensity of
wind.
 Concentric circles are drawn to scale according to the
wind velocity.
 The influence of wind is assumed to spread at an
angle of 22.5o in a direction
 Radial lines, from center, are drawn up to mid point of
two directions thus dividing the space into 16
directions and 64 parts.
 Categorized duration is marked in the related cell.
Wind Rose

 Wind Rose:
Type II
Wind Rose

 Wind Rose: Type II

 Transparent rectangular template of length greater
than the diameter of the diagram and width equal to
twice of allowable cross wind component is made.

 Wind rose diagram is fixed in position and the

template is placed above it such that center of
template coincides with center of diagram. The
center line of template should pass through a
direction.
Wind Rose

 Wind Rose: Type II

 The template is fixed in position and the sum of
duration shown in cells superimposed by the template
is calculated. This sum is shown as percentage and
represents the total wind coverage for that direction.
Wind Rose

 Wind Rose: Type II

 The template is then rotated and placed in next
direction. The total wind coverage is calculated for
that direction too.
 Same procedure is adopted for all the directions.
 The direction which gives the maximum wind
coverage is the suitable direction for orientation of
runway
 If a single runway is not sufficient to provide the
necessary coverage then two or more runways should
be planned to get the desired coverage.
Runway Orientation
 Wind Rose:
Type II
Runway Configurations

 Types:
 Single runway
 Parallel runway
 Dual parallel runway
 Intersecting runways
 V – shape runways
Runway Configurations

 Single Runway:
 Simplest of the 4 basic configurations.
 Optimally positioned for prevailing winds, noise, land
use and other determining factors.
 During VFR (visual flight rules) conditions, the hourly
capacity is between 50 and 100 operations per hour.
 Under IFR (instrument flight rules) conditions, this
capacity is reduced to 50 to 70 operations per hour.
 Capacity depends upon aircraft mix and navigational
aids available
Runway Configurations

SINGLE RUNWAY
Runway Configurations

 Parallel Runway:
 Capacity depends up on number of runways and
spacing between them
 Two or Four parallel runways are common
 Above this, air space requirement becomes large and
traffic handling becomes difficult
 Spacing between runways is termed as close,
intermediate and far depending upon the centreline
separation
Runway Configurations

CLOSE
PARALLEL
Runway Configurations

 Parallel Runway:
 Close parallel runways are spaced between 210 m
and 750 m. Under IFR (instrument flight rules)
conditions, the operation on one runway is dependent
upon operation on other
 Intermediate parallel runways are spaced between
750 m and 1290 m.
 Under IFR condition, the departure from one runway
is independent from arrival on other runway
Runway Configurations
INTERMEDIATE
PARALLEL
Runway Configurations

 Parallel Runway:
 Far parallel runways are spaced between 1290 m and
above. Under IFR conditions, the operation on both
the runways is independent of each other

 For simultaneous operations under VFR conditions on

close parallel runways, the minimum centreline
spacing for airplane design group I to IV is 210 m and
for group V and VI it is 360 m.
Runway Configurations

 Parallel Runway:
 For Intermediate parallel runways, the minimum
centreline spacing for simultaneous departures in IFR
condition is 1050 m and 1290 m.

 Simultaneous arrivals and departures are allowed if

centreline spacing is minimum 750 m.
Runway Configurations

 Parallel Runway:
 Staggering of runways may be required because of
available shape of area or to reduce the taxiing
distances (for which runway is to be used exclusively
for either landing or take-off)

 If the arrivals are on near threshold, then the

centreline spacing may be reduced by 30 m for each
150 m of stagger with minimum separation of 300 m.
In case of far threshold, the centreline spacing is
increased by 30 m for each 150 m of stagger.
Runway Configurations

FAR
PARALLEL
Runway Configurations

 Dual Parallel Runway:

 Consists of two closely spaced parallel runways with
appropriate exit taxiways.

 Both runways can be used for mixed operations,

though it is desirable to use farthest runway (from
terminal) for arrivals and nearest runway for
departures.
Runway Configurations

 Dual Parallel Runway:

 The dual runway can handle 70% more traffic than
single runway in VFR condition and 60% more traffic
in IFR condition.

 If spaced at 300 m or more then capacity becomes

insensitive to centreline spacing
Runway Configurations

DUAL
PARALLEL
Runway Configurations

 Intersecting Runways:
 Two or more intersecting runways in different
directions
 Used when there are relatively strong prevailing
winds from more than one direction during the year.
 When the winds are strong from one direction,
operations will be limited to only one runway.
 With relatively light winds, both runways can be used
simultaneously.
Runway Configurations

INTERSECTING
– NEAR END
Runway Configurations

 Intersecting Runways:
 The greatest capacity for operations is accomplished
when the intersection is close to the takeoff end and
the landing threshold.
 Capacity is dependent up on location of intersection,
runway-use strategy (for take-off and landing), and
the aircraft mix
 Capacity for near end operation ranges between 70 to
175 operations per hour in VFR condition and to 60
and 70 operations per hour in IFR condition
Runway Configurations

INTERSECTING
– MID POINT
Runway Configurations

 Intersecting Runways:
 Capacity for mid point intersection ranges between 60
to 100 operations per hour in VFR condition and to 45
and 60 operations per hour in IFR condition
 Capacity for far end operation ranges between 50 to
100 operations per hour in VFR condition and to 40
and 60 operations per hour in IFR condition
Runway Configurations

INTERSECTING
– FAR END
Runway Configurations

 Open V Runways:
 Two runways, diverging in different directions and
NOT intersecting each other.
 Configuration is useful when there is little to no wind
(both runways in use). With strong winds only one
runway will be used.
 When takeoffs and landings are made away from the
two closer ends, the number of operations per hour
significantly increases.
 When takeoffs and landings are made toward the two
closer ends, the number of operations per hour can
be reduced by 50%.
Runway Configurations

OPEN V
Runway Configurations

OPEN V
SINGLE
RUNWAY
NEWOAKLAND
INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT
PARALLEL
RUNWAY
PHONEX SKY
HARBOUR
INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT
PARALLEL
RUNWAY
ORLANDO
INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT
INTERSECTING
RUNWAY
LAS VEGAS
McCARRON
INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT
OPEN V and
PARALLEL
RUNWAY
WASHINGTON
DALLAS
INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT
DUAL
STAGGERED
PARALLEL
RUNWAY
ATLANTA
WILLIAM B.
HARTSFIELD
INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT