Airport Digital Twin for Operations & Safety Planning

The airport digital twin platform is a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that creates a real-time virtual replica of an airport’s physical and operational environment. Using AI, ML, and advanced simulations, it enhances situational awareness, efficiency, and safety by integrating a wide array of information from airfield operations, air traffic flows, taxiway status, gates/aprons, weather data, and other relevant sources. The platform provides real-time decision support, optimizing aircraft movements, delay mitigation, and operational planning through predictive analytics and AI-driven risk detection. It enables what-if scenario modeling for severe weather, infrastructure changes, and demand fluctuations, allowing for contingency planning and operational resilience. Through real-time data integration from ATC, weather, and surveillance systems, the platform improves safety management, offering automated alerts and risk mitigation tools. By combining proactive monitoring, predictive insights, and AI-driven analytics, the airport digital twin transforms airport operations, ensuring smarter, safer, and more efficient airfield management. The funding for Phase II of the proposed platform will be allocated to core development efforts of the platform, including various components such as data processing and management, AI/ML data analytics and prediction algorithms, a simulation engine, 3D visualization, as well as a robust API for external access. Phase II also includes plans for pilot programs with airports where the digital twin will be field tested and capabilities and functions validated in real-world scenarios. In addition to NASA, the target markets for this platform are airport stakeholders in the airside domain. This includes airport management, airlines, ramp control, ATC, as well as ground surface operations.

The proposed airport digital twin platform brings the potential of predictive safety risk tools and digital twin technology to NASA in terms of a broader approach to safety management, risk assessment, and operational efficiency. It directly supports NASA’s aviation safety, automation, and air traffic management (ATM) research through AI-driven predictive analytics, real-time monitoring, and advanced simulation capabilities. For safety decision support, the platform can enhance situational awareness and anomaly detection, using AI/ML to flag irregular aircraft movements, congestion risks, and emergency scenarios. This aligns with NASA’s automation goals for safety monitoring and supports In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance (ISSA) at airports and vertiports. It can also integrate with NASA’s Digital Information Platform (DIP) and UTM system under a "Safety as a Service" model. The platform enhances Runway Safety Initiatives by leveraging ASDE-X data and predictive analytics to predict and alert on runway incursions, aligning with NASA’s Runway Incursion Prevention Systems. It provides a holistic view of airfield safety, integrating ASDE-X, weather sources, NOTAMs, and Digital ATIS to support Aviation Safety Information Programs. The platform’s simulation engine will also allow NASA to test emergency responses, adverse weather scenarios, and other operational conditions, aligning with NASA’s System-Wide Safety Project (SWS). By leveraging AI/ML for scalable airspace services, the platform enhances predictability of airport operations and Trajectory-Based Operations (TBO) conformance risk planning. It also supports NextGen initiatives and NASA’s ATM-X program, advancing airport modernization and Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM) objectives. The digital twin integrates real-time data fusion, AI-driven analytics, and simulation modeling, strengthening DIP’s role in air traffic management and NASA’s broader aviation safety and efficiency efforts. The airport digital twin platform has broad non-NASA applications across airports, airlines, Air Traffic Management (ATM), government agencies, and aviation technology providers. It enhances operational efficiency, safety, resource management, and sustainability by integrating real-time data, predictive analytics, and simulation capabilities. For airport operations, the platform can optimize runway, taxiway, and gate utilization, improving capacity management and delay mitigation. It can enhance irregular operations (IROPS) response planning, safety monitoring, and infrastructure planning through simulating the impact of new construction, procedural changes, or future demand schedules. Airlines benefit from AI-driven gate/apron capacity management, turnaround optimization, predictive taxi times and delays, and de-icing scheduling, reducing delays and operational costs. For ATM and ANSPs, the platform supports ATC decision-making, conformance monitoring, and trajectory-based operations (TBO), improving surface movement efficiency and planning. It may also aid future cockpit automation, providing AI-driven taxi recommendations. Government agencies can leverage the platform for airfield safety analyses, emergency response training, environmental impact analysis, and regulatory compliance. The platform can also be used to inform regulations and guidelines, offering a data-driven approach to enhancing industry-wide safety. Additionally, aviation technology providers and smart cities can use the digital twin Software/Safety as a Service (SaaS) to develop custom solutions, integrating with urban transportation systems such as Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) for seamless connectivity. By providing real-time situational awareness, AI-based risk detection, and scenario modeling, the digital twin platform delivers data-driven decision support to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance safety across several airport stakeholder and the aviation industry as whole.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.