LOXODROMA este linia de poziie care intersecteaz meridianele sub acelai unghi.

Loxodroma este linia care trece prin punctul de plecare PIT i punctul de sosire PFT al drumului aerian i taie toate meridianele sub un unghi constant. Din punct de vedere geometric, loxodroma, prelungit incolo de capetele drumului apare ca o spiral care se apropie tot mai mult de poli dar fr s-i ating. De la aceast regul fac excepie paralelele, meridianele i ecuatorul. Navigaia aerian care folosete compasul de la bord se efectueaz pe loxodrom. Navigaia este uoar i convenabil pe distane curte (sub 1000 Km), deoarece pn la aceast distan erorile n lungime sunt mici. Ortodroma este arcul mic din cercul mare care trece prin punctul de plecare Punctul Initial al Traiectului (PIT) i cel de sosire punctul Final al Traiectului (PFT) al unui traiect de pe suprafaa pmntului. ORTODROMA reprezint cel mai scurt drum aerian n spaiu ntre 2 puncte. Ortodroma se folosete de obicei la zboruri pe distane mari (peste 1000 km), n cadrul navigaiei radioelectrice (unde pe sol sunt amplasate mijloace radioelectrice dispuse pe ortodrom). Astfel n cadrul unui zbor ntre Roma i New York, dac se merge pe loxodrom, vom trece prin: Ankara, Krasnovodsk, Pekin i msoar peste 12.300 km, n timp ce zburnd pe ortodrom vom trece prin: Leipzig, Leningrad, Long Eniseisk, Blagowescensk i msoar aproximativ 10.500 km.

An ATC ground station consists of two radar systems and their associated support components. The most prominent component is the PSR. It is also referred to as skin paint radar because it shows not synthetic or alpha-numeric target symbols, but bright (or colored) blips or areas on the radar screen produced by the RF energy reflections from the target's "skin." This is a non-cooperative process, no additional avionic devices are needed. The radar detects and displays reflective objects within the radar's operating range. Weather radar data is displayed in skin paint mode. The primary surveillance radar is subject to the radar equation that says signal strength drops off as the fourth power of distance to the target. Objects detected using the PSR are known as primary targets. The second system is the secondary surveillance radar, or SSR, which depends on a cooperating transponder installed on the aircraft being tracked. The transponder emits a signal when it is interrogated by the secondary radar. In a transponder based system signals drop off as the inverse square of the distance to the target, instead of the fourth power in primary radars. As a result, effective range is greatly increased for a given power level. The transponder can also send encoded information about the aircraft, such as identity and altitude.

Automatic Dependant Surveillance The arrival of satellite technology in the late 1980s brought with it the possibility of another type of ATC surveillance equipment, principally for use in areas where radar coverage does not or cannot exist. Originally known by the acronym FANS (Future Air Navigation System), this has matured into the system known as Automatic Dependant Surveillance (ADS). It is Automatic because it requires no pilot or controller input to function (other than turning the equipment on and logging in to the system), and Dependant because it requires operating airborne equipment (like SSR). The ADS system is basically a datalink system that transmits data from the aircraft's onboard navigation systems about its position, altitude and intentions (projected flight path) to the ground system. In that sense, it can be thought of as an analogue to SSR. Although it was the availablility of satellite technology that gave the genesis to ADS, the system can also use VHF or even HF links to ground stations. The original ADS system is now known as ADS-C, or ADS-Contract, because reports from the aircraft are generated in accordance with a 'contract' set up with the ground system. For example, the ground system may demand reports when the aircraft reaches top of climb, at position reporting points or other navigational waypoints, or at specified time intervals. These reports basically replace verbal reports from the pilot and facilitate the application of procedural separation. There is also a further application of the ADS idea, known as ADS-Broadcast (ADS-B). In this system the aircraft has a special transponder that 'squitters', or broadcasts, similar information to that described above, but at a much higher rate of twice per second. This information can be received either by a ground station, for Air Traffic Services use, or by another aircraft. This leads to the possibility of so-called Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI). ADS-B commenced trials in Australia in 2003 using the Mode-S Extended Squitter (1090 ES) system, operating in the radar band at 1090 MHz. In December 2009 a network of 28 out of a planned 43 ground stations was commissioned by Airservices Australia, providing continuous high-level coverage (above about FL300 or 30,000 ft) across the Australian continent. Substantial lower-level coverage is also available. Air Traffic Controllers can use ADS-B data for separation in a similar way to radar data. Multi-Lateration One final surveillance system used in Australia is multi-lateration. This relies on a number of relatively simple ground stations triangulating on the signals from an ordinary aircraft Mode A/C (or Mode S, or ADS-B) transponder. This system has the advantages of very much simpler, and thus cheaper, ground installation than conventional SSR whilst not requiring expensive, new aircraft equipment as does ADS-B. From an ATC point of view, multilateration data is treated the same as if it came from a conventional radar. In Australia, a Wide Area Multi-lateration (WAM) system became operational in June 2010, using a network of 14 widely-dispersed ground stations to provide coverage in Tasmania. This is one of the largest geographical deployments of WAM in the world to date. As of 2010, a multi-lateration system is also being installed at Sydney/Kingsford Smith Airport with the intention of replacing the existing conventional radar Precision Runway Monitor for the close-spaced parallel ILS approaches.