Month: January 2023

Navigations and systems such as GPS are fundamental parts of ensuring an effective airport. After all, planes use GPS to get to the right location and broadcast where they are, and effective navigation means that aircraft plan the most efficient routes possible. Learn more about what GPS is, how navigation works and some of the systems and solutions in the navigation process at an airport.

What is GPS?
GPS stands for global positioning system and was initially a system that the United States military developed to increase the accuracy of its targeting systems. This meant more accurate positioning of aerial bombardments and artillery. In the years since, GPS has become an important tool for members of the general public, providing people with real-time tracking of their own location.

GPS works by sending signals into space, with three satellites or more returning the signal and triangulating the location of the device to a more specific location. The use of satellites makes this an accurate form of tracking in all environments, with devices such as cell towers being almost useless in remote environments such as forests and deserts. On the contrary, satellites have excellent access and visibility across the entire planet.

How does navigation work?
Navigation at an airport works in a unique manner, with different systems and solutions depending on the range and objectives of each system. These include:
Non Directional Beacon (NDB)

A non-directional beacon, or NDB, is a system that sounds out a message to a specific range away from the airport. Pilots use this information to understand where they are and to cross-reference between the satellite-based navigation systems that they use and the real world. The beacon is an ideal method of ensuring that you are where the map says you are, with beacons informing pilots of details such as the airport emitting the beacon and some of the conditions within the range of the beacon, assisting pilots that are landing.

TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation)
TACAN is a form of RADAR navigation system that uses high-frequency signals and their reflections to understand the distance and bearing of an aircraft from a ground station. With several ground stations in place, airports and other authorities have a higher chance of triangulating the specific location of the aircraft rather than a single idea of the distance and bearing. More stations mean higher precision and greater certainty of where aircraft are in the sky. This helps airports track traffic and plan for landings.

Visual Guidance Docking System (VDGS)
The Visual Guidance Docking System, or VDGS, is a system that supports planes in the final phases of their approach. Once a plane has completed its journey, it uses a series of lights and signs to carefully approach the terminal, docking without the risk of causing any damage to the airport itself or the plane. These lights provide pilots with guidance even in dark or foggy conditions, keeping passengers safe and reducing any potential for confusion on the pilot’s end.

If you have an interest in learning more about navigation systems and installing them in an airport, contact the Bayanat Engineering Qatar team today to find out more and visit our website at https://www.bayanatengineering.qa/.

When running any large organization, balancing the size of your operation and the people using it is a necessity. For locations such as airport, this includes using thorough people counting systems and crowd monitoring solutions. Find out more about what people counting and crowd monitoring are, the benefits of these systems and how airports implement them in day-to-day operations.

What is people counting and crowd monitoring?

People counting refers to systems that airports and other large facilities use to track the number of people in a space. This is a relatively simple process, using AI as a means of tracking the number of people entering the airport by counting the number of boarding passes accepted and counting passengers that leave through the air. This includes both counting individuals in the group and “crowd counting”, which is a method of estimating the number of people through recognizable body features.

Crowd monitoring slightly differs, instead focusing on the way that a crowd behaves and moves. This means that an airport has the right security provision in the right place at the right time, reducing the risk of people causing harm to one another through overcrowding and other related issues.

Technology used in people counting and crowd monitoring

There is a selection of technology that organizations use in the people counting and crowd monitoring processes. These include:

CCTV

CCTV is one of the simpler methods of using crowd monitoring. This is a series of cameras that show security and logistics teams the entire airport, providing instant access to an idea of the levels of footfall that the airport is experiencing at any one time. CCTV is prevalent in businesses and premises of all kinds, which makes it a highly flexible method of counting people and monitoring the size of crowds as they move and develop throughout the day.

Monitoring crowds is impossible without seeing them, and organizations see crowds with ease when using CCTV.

Queue Management Systems (QMS)

Queue management systems play an underlying role in monitoring and controlling the number of people in a set area at any one point. For example, one kiosk with a large queue receives a significant number of customers, and upon seeing this amount of customers the organization opens more kiosks. This is a method of diluting the excess pressure on individuals and bottlenecks in the organization, increasing efficiency and significantly reducing the density of crowds.

Guidance signage

Guidance signage sees use at the very end of the process. Airports and other facilities use guidance signage to guide people to the right location, such as signage that shows passengers where their next flight is and exactly when the flight is due. Monitoring crowds and then implementing systems to control them keeps the people in the airport as safe as possible, preventing dangerous crushes and guaranteeing a more comfortable experience.

If your organization has any interest in making use of people counting systems and crowd monitoring, contact Bayanat Engineering Qatar to find out more about how to count the people within your premises and how to monitor and manage large crowds on our website https://www.bayanatengineering.qa/.

Whether you’re overseeing the operation of a company or an entire city, waste management is paramount. Waste management has an impact on many parts of our lives, including public health and cleanliness. Read on to find out more about waste management, its importance and how it works.

What is waste management?

Waste management refers to the process of ensuring that all waste is disposed of safely and responsibly. This includes organising the right machinery to deal with the waste, organising the rotas and schedules of waste management staff and establishing a logistical chain that disposes of all waste in the most appropriate manner. Waste might refer to a wide range of materials, products, and items, including packaging and food waste to industrial and mechanical waste.

Why is waste management important?

Waste management is important for several reasons, the first of which is that it keeps premises and public areas clean and tidy. A clean and tidy environment is where people want to be, so locations with good waste management will benefit from more tourism. This is the case in Qatar, which has focused greatly on public improvement in upcoming events.

Another significant benefit of waste management is that public health improves. Consider a factory, for example. Good waste management means that excess chemicals and materials are taken away from the factory floor, which reduces the risk of accidents on the property and increases the health of workers that spend less time next to waste. But waste that is disposed of safely also means that fewer chemicals are being released into the atmosphere and fewer new products are being manufactured, reducing the amount of pollution in the air.

How does waste management work?

The way that waste management works can vary depending on the type of waste in question. For the sake of this example, we’ll discuss general waste such as litter and rubbish. The first step in this waste management process is gathering the waste. In public, councils and authorities place bins on streets to collect people’s waste, encouraging them to dispose of it responsibly rather than dropping it on the ground. This significantly speeds the process up, as the public does a large part of the job out of civic pride.

After this point comes the logistics. This includes having staff members empty the bins and then transport all waste to the relevant recycling centers. Once the waste has been sorted, all recyclable waste will be distributed and reused, while the remainder will end up in landfill. While this isn’t ideal, the amount of waste being dumped in landfill has significantly dropped in recent years.

Waste management technologies in airports

Airports make use of several waste management technologies. By balancing these technologies, airports become completely clean environments and remove the risk of contamination on the property and make the quality of life within the airport far higher. Some of these technologies include:

Airport design and consultancy

The focus of the inside of an airport’s design makes a significant difference to the standard of waste management inside the airport. Airports are reliant on having plenty of receptacles in place for people to use when disposing of waste, and the earliest stages of design are an ideal point for this. By planning ahead of time for basic utilities such as waste management solutions, airports increase their chances of resolving waste management issues quickly. This is also the case in any further redesigns and when planning any and all adjustments to terminals, with waste playing a significant role in the way that people perceive airport terminals.

CCTV systems and sensors

Knowing exactly where waste is and the role it plays throughout the airport is an underlying feature of the waste management process. Understanding waste’s location means that the airport sends maintenance people out to the right places at the right times, and having items such as weight sensors in receptacles means that airports know when individual bins are full. This is ideal for airports at peak traffic times, as having a rota in place may not be enough to empty bins at the right time. Introduce smart technology and solutions into the waste management process and gain a significant competitive edge.

Maintenance staff

More effective use of maintenance staff is one of the most significant tools an airport has available to it. Maintenance crews are responsible for completing some of the more important tasks in the airport, which includes maintaining a pleasant atmosphere for all of the passengers that are taking flights that day. By working in tandem with other systems, maintenance crews react to waste accumulation and collect it, removing it from public spaces and keeping the terminal clean and tidy throughout busy traffic.

If you’re interested in learning more about how waste management systems work and how to apply them in a range of organisations, contact the Bayanat Engineering Qatar team today. We offer a number of services that can support industries in Qatar and beyond to learn more you can visit our website.

Military is a serious business. Protecting the population and defending the country is not a simple task. It requires meticulous and timely responses, to prevent threats and execute tasks efficiently. For this, impeccable communication is primordial. The principle lies at the very core of the military training. Army professionals are, therefore, specifically instructed in communicating and transmitting information in a rapid, accurate and prompt manner.

However, essential human training is only a part of the equation of a correctly executed military operation. Nowadays, the army cannot function without specific and specialized technologies that will inevitably facilitate the task of information transmission and, by extent, improve the chances of a mission’s success. Therefore, many of the most efficient communication technologies have initially been created and developed for the army.

It is no secret that the military uses RADAR in many of its communication technologies, namely those specialized on detection.

On such tool is Identification, friend, or foe, more commonly referred to as IFF. It helps determine whether an aircraft is an enemy vehicle, even if it’s not in the visual range. Powerful and efficient, its origins stem from World War II. The principle is based on a signal transmission between the emitter and the flying object. The emission happens via a transponder, whose radar frequency reaches that of the target broadcaster. If the latter’s own frequency matches the emitter, it is considered friendly. If, however, the returning signal is unrecognizable, the aircraft is considered as a foe. In addition to identifying the nature of the broadcaster, the technology also determines its bearing and range. This technology is primordial in preventing threats in due time, thanks to its ability to detect the nature of the incoming airplane even before it reaches the site of the pilot.

Another very efficient and common technology used in the military is the UHF/VHF Radio communications. Several of its existing channels are dedicated purely to military use nowadays. This equipment is used to transmit messages over high ranges and long distances. Specifically, it is used for coordinating aircrafts from afar, mapping out their plan of action for the incoming operation, whether it be staying put, attacking, or changing course.

But UHF/VHF communications aren’t the only way to communicate with the airborne objects. In fact, air-to-ground communications has been constantly developing since its introduction to aerial warfare. Most recently, these technologies have implemented satellite signals in signal transmission and reception. Satellites are not merely used in GPS navigation but have also been an essential addition to accurate and timely military communication. They can transmit very accurate information about the object in question, such as its position. This is essential for an effective military operation, as it is deviating by even a degree from the right course can result in a vast difference over large distances.

Communications equipment in the military is numerous and varied and is by no means summarized by the technologies mentioned in this article. Its success in warfare has given way to its introduction into the civil aviation. Readapted for commercial and private flights, the same communications equipment is now used in everyday flights, all around the world.

To learn more about how the civil aviation makes use of these and many other technologies, visit www.bayanatengineering.qa. Bayanat Engineering is a Qatari company, specialized in solutions for oil and gas industry, military, and civil aviation. Their high-end systems are developed for a range of clients and purposes and have been largely employed in Qatar’s various infrastructures and industries.