Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is once again playing the role of backdrop for the unveiling of yet another technological advancement within the aviation industry. This time the breakthrough involves an increase in the efficiency level associated with the tracking of aircraft and a decrease in the amount of carbon emissions associated with those aircraft. Automatic Dependant Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is an air-traffic control system that uses modern-day GPS technology in tracking the location of various aircraft. Officials with the company behind the advancement, say the new systems’ advantage is twofold; ADS-B allows for more accurate tracking of aircraft, while also cutting greenhouse emissions by maximizing efficiency. “Radar is extraordinarily safe, but we need improved efficiency,” said Mike Wilson, president of ITT, Advanced Engineering and Sciences, the company charged with implementing the GPS-based system. “Greater efficiency leads to reductions in both fuel and emissions.” ITT officials say Houston will be one of the first major markets in the U.S. to employ the ADS-B system, a decision which prompted editors at Time magazine to send a photography crew to IAH, to capture a group photo of some of the individuals responsible for the technological advancement.

Click Here to view video. © Houston Airport System Time Photo Shoot.  Another breakthrough at IAH puts the airport in the spotlight.

Even before sunrise on the morning of October 1st, 2009, photography crews from Time were busy scouting locations and testing backgrounds at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Wilson was one of the four team members from ITT, smiling for the camera that morning.

“We’ve already seen amazing advancements in technology in other areas of our lives, such as the internet and the cell phone,” Wilson said immediately after the photo shoot was completed. “Well, now the whole digital communications reality that we live in day- to- day is being deployed to the national air transportation system.”

ITT representatives say that digital technology will give both pilots and controllers a more complete view of air traffic at any given time, because GPS navigational screens are updated within milliseconds, as opposed to every five to ten seconds under the existing radar system.

Once fully employed, the new system could dramatically alter the way pilots operate during routine flights.

For example, right now pilots land their aircraft using a maneuver known as Continuous Descent Approaches (CDA), where an aircraft descends step by step so that air-traffic controllers can space aircraft safely for landing.

But Wilson says that the ADS-B system could allow for a more direct and smooth landing, since greater aircraft accountability would lessen the need for large spaces between landings.

Passengers would likely notice the improvement because it would mean less, “ear popping,” while environmentalists will be able to notice the change because of a dramatic decrease in the amount of fuel being burned.

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