PACIFIC ISLAND AIRPORT OBSTRUCTION CHARTS

Project Details

CLIENT
Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)

LOCATION
Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau

 

Woolpert was selected to provide airport planning and geospatial services for six airports in the Pacific Islands of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and Palau. The remote nature of these airports severely limits access to the air traffic that connects them to the rest of the world. Harsh weather conditions create additional hardships for these airports and the island communities they serve. As a result, the need for advanced air space technologies and datasets makes modernizing air traffic management a very high priority.

Woolpert’s main project objective was to collect, attribute and upload geospatial data for these remote airports to the FAA’s Airports GIS portal. The project team faced many challenges, included airport locations, lack of locally maintained roads, extreme terrain and various elevations. Woolpert employed a variety of data collection methods to overcome these unavoidable obstacles. The team submitted modification-to-standards documents to the FAA to gain permission for the use of satellite imagery, alternate horizontal/vertical datums, feature accuracy deviances, geodetic control and check points. Woolpert’s ground survey team used existing data—including terrain maps—to identify peaks, verify those areas of the imagery acquired under cloud cover and accurately update the airport obstruction chart survey.

The Amata Kabua International Airport’s satellite imagery was the first such data to be accepted by the FAA. Due to the success of this project, additional work is taking place on these Pacific islands, including the establishment of PACS/SACS on the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Palau.