ICE (Integrated Cartographic Environment) is a GIS (graphical information system) based solution for the creation and maintenance of aeronautical charts as per the ICAO roadmap from AIS (aeronautical information services) to AIM (aeronautical information management). It increases the efficiency of production, and quality, of ICAO Annex 4 and tailored aeronautical charts by establishing a live connection to data sources such as IDS AirNav AeroDB. A high level of rule-driven automation, such as object clashes and label de-confliction, significantly reduces production time and costs.
ICE can insert, extract and update all of the aeronautical feature data and chart templates that are needed to generate new charts and update existing charts for each Aeronautical Information Regulation and Control (AIRAC) cycle.
It is fully integrated with IDS AirNav PLX workflow management system and maintains a live connection with the centralized aeronautical database and other geographical data sources.
By default, ICE includes a database and a predefined set of rules (chart templates) which allow the immediate production of ICAO-compatible charts. It also allows the rule sets to be edited in order to configure new chart templates. This flexibility enables a chart producer to meet their evolving requirements as ICAO, EUROCONTROL and ARINC continue to enhance the concept of a default aeronautical database.
ICE Main Application
Just as with roadmaps for drivers and nautical charts for maritime navigation, pilots, both commercial and private, need accurate charts to navigate safely and successfully, especially when flying under instrument flight rules.
These aeronautical charts are generally produced by ANSPs (air navigation service providers), airports or aeronautical service providers, and cover all aspects of a flight, from Plotting and Enroute charts for the central part of a flight to Approach charts for instrument approach and missed approach procedures at an airport and including Standard Instrument Departure (SID) and Standard Arrival charts for the transition between the en-route phase and take-off or landing at an airport.
As aeronautical charts need to be able to portray a lot of different information, such as navigation aids and three dimensional air traffic service systems, they can be quite complicated. In addition, due to the international nature of air transport, these charts need to be standardized so that pilots from around the world can easily and quickly recognize their features. These aeronautical chart standards are defined in ICAO Annex 4.
ICE aids chart designers in efficiently producing clear and accurate charts in accordance with the ICAO Annex 4 standards and helps ensure the safety and efficiency and global air transport.
Live, ADQ (Aeronautical Data Quality) compliant database connection guarantees data quality
ICE is able to identify which charts need to be updated following the change of an attribute value in one of the connected databases
Generates reports on chart changes in both tabular and graphical formats enabling easy visualization of any chart changes
Monitors and audits the workflow, storing changes in the database in order to preserve the integrity of the source data
Chart layout definition allows the definition of both static and dynamic information (dynamic legends, dynamic lists of features, etc.)
Rule driven definition of chart symbology and labeling allows the cartographer to define a set of rules (using a preview of the final output) which indicate which data needs to be symbolized and the proper ICAO compliant symbolization to be used
Label placement de-confliction tools ensure that labels do not overlap and reduce the time required to clean up the charts
Time saving: the system remembers the manual clean up performed by the cartographer in previous chart production
creation & maintenance