Airport services
We currently provide three geomagnetic services to airports in the Benelux & abroad:
- Compass rose certification
- Runway azimuth orientation
- Supply of isogonal information and maps
Compass rose certification
A cerified compass rose is a spot on the airport grounds,suitable for performing aircraft compass swings. Swings involve rotating the whole aircraft to known magnetic azimuths and, for each orientation,observing the compass deviations.
Deviations of the compass due to magnetic interference are noted and result into a compass correction card, which shows appropriate adjustments according to desired heading.
We offer services throughout the different steps on the way to compass rose certification:
- Site validation: selected site must be convenient for aircraft accessibility and must be suitable for the largest aircraft likely to be certified, but magnetic cleanliness must also be addressed (for instance installation is not suitable close to Instrument Landing System).
- Construction & materials validation: of course no magnetized bodies can be used; underground cables or pipes are also not suitable.
- Cleanliness validation: after construction, the compass rose magnetic cleanliness is measured. Basically, magnetic declination is measured at N points of a grid covering the compass rose. After correction of daily variation of the magnetic declination, min and max values are extracted. MaxDev is defined as the half of the difference between those two values.
Certification is then delivered to the compass rose according to the following standards:
- Class 1 certification: MaxDev <0.1°
- Class 2 certification: MaxDev < 0.25°
Runway azimuth orientation
Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth of the magnetic azimuth of the runway's heading: a runway numbered 09 points east (90°), runway 18 is south (180°), runway 27 points west (270°) and runway 36 points to the north (360° rather than 0°).
We offer services to remeasure the azimuth orientation which can lead to renumbering of the runways.
Supply of isogonal information and maps
An isogonal curve is the name for a line connecting points at which the magnetic declination is the same. We provide maps with updated isogonal information for several airports.hereunder an example of the Brussels airport.
