ICAO Annex 14 Heliports (Aviation)

Available with Aviation Airports license.

Available with Aviation Charting license.

Summary

Generates obstruction identification surfaces (OIS) for heliports based on ICAO Annex 14 Volume II specifications.

ICAO Annex 14 Volume II defines recommended international standards and procedures for aerodromes containing heliports. This tool can be used to identify obstacles that may impact an aircraft's ability to take off from or land on a helipad. By creating multipatch or polygon features, you can visually identify obstructions in ArcGIS Pro. The OIS created by this tool should extend from a safety area around the FATO surface. Pursuant to ICAO standards, a safety area is a defined buffer around a FATO surface that extends at least three meters out or 1/4 the diameter of the aircraft's rotor wings, whichever is greater. There must be no obstacle present inside the safety area.

Usage

• This tool generates OIS based on three slope design categories. Slope design categories are separated by a rotor aircraft's performance class. Slope design categories will be modified by this tool whether flight operations occur during the day or night.

• Pursuant to ICAO Annex 14 Volume II, the width of the helipad safety area should not exceed the following dimensions:

  • Seven times the rotor diameter during daytime operation
  • Ten times the rotor diameter during nighttime operation

• The helipad safety area features you provide for the Input Safety Features parameter must be circular or rectangular.

• The Input Safety Features parameter must be z-enabled and have a defined vertical coordinate system.

• To create a .json file for the Custom JSON File parameter, use the CustomizeOIS.exe file that is part of the ArcGIS Aviation data package available from My Esri.

• If you select the Curved Surface option for the Surface Shape parameter, you must provide polyline features in the Input Flight Path Features parameter for the surface to follow.

• OIS tools are flexible and accept a variety of input and output feature class types. For more information, see the OIS Input and Output schemas.

• The unit of measurement for the Clearway Length parameter is the same as the unit of measurement for the Input Safety Area Features parameter.

Parameters

Dialog

Label	Explanation	Data Type
Input Safety Area Features	The input safety area around which the obstruction identification surfaces will be generated.	Feature Layer
Target OIS Features	The target feature class that will contain the generated obstruction identification surfaces.	Feature Layer
Surface Classification	Specifies the slope design category that will be used for the obstruction identification surfaces. Category A—Rotor aircraft operated with performance class 1 will be used. Category B—Rotor aircraft operated with performance class 3 will be used. Category C—Rotor aircraft operated with performance class 2 will be used.	String
Operation Type	Specifies the time when normal flight operations occur. Day operation—Normal flight operations occur during the day. This is the default. Night operation—Normal flight operations occur during the night.	String
Rotor Diameter (Optional)	The rotor diameter, in meters, of aircraft using the heliport. The default is 16.5 meters.	Double
Clearway Length (Optional)	The length of the clearway. The unit of measurement for the clearway depends on the Input Safety Area Features parameter value.	Double
Surface Shape (Optional)	Specifies the shape of the take off or approach surface. Straight Surface—The take off climb or approach surface is straight. This is the default. Curved Surface—The take off climb or approach surface is curved.	String
Approach Bearing (Optional)	The absolute bearing that an approaching aircraft will travel along the surface. A value of 0 will align the surface to true north. The default value is 0.	Double
Input Flight Path Features (Optional)	The polyline flight path features that the curved surface will follow.	Feature Layer
Heliport Elevation (Optional)	The elevation of the highest point of the heliport. The value must be in the vertical coordinate system linear units of the target feature class. If no value is provided, the highest point of the Input Safety Area Features parameter value will be used. The default value is 0.	Double
Custom JSON File (Optional)	The import configuration, in JSON format, that creates the custom OIS.	File

Derived Output

Label	Explanation	Data Type
Output OIS Features	The updated feature class containing the generated obstruction identification surface.	Feature Layer

Python

arcpy.aviation.ICAOAnnex14Heliports(input_safety_area_features, target_ois_features, surface_classification, operation_type, {rotor_diameter}, {clearway_length}, {surface_shape}, {approach_bearing}, {in_flightpath_features}, {heliport_elevation}, {custom_json_file})

Name	Explanation	Data Type
input_safety_area_features	The input safety area around which the obstruction identification surfaces will be generated.	Feature Layer
target_ois_features	The target feature class that will contain the generated obstruction identification surfaces.	Feature Layer
surface_classification	Specifies the slope design category that will be used for the obstruction identification surfaces. CATEGORY_A—Rotor aircraft operated with performance class 1 will be used. CATEGORY_B—Rotor aircraft operated with performance class 3 will be used. CATEGORY_C—Rotor aircraft operated with performance class 2 will be used.	String
operation_type	Specifies the time when normal flight operations occur. DAY_OPERATION—Normal flight operations occur during the day. This is the default. NIGHT_OPERATION—Normal flight operations occur during the night.	String
rotor_diameter (Optional)	The rotor diameter, in meters, of aircraft using the heliport. The default is 16.5 meters.	Double
clearway_length (Optional)	The length of the clearway. The unit of measurement for the clearway depends on the input_safety_area_features parameter value.	Double
surface_shape (Optional)	Specifies the shape of the take off or approach surface. STRAIGHT_SURFACE—The take off climb or approach surface is straight. This is the default. CURVED_SURFACE—The take off climb or approach surface is curved.	String
approach_bearing (Optional)	The absolute bearing that an approaching aircraft will travel along the surface. A value of 0 will align the surface to true north. The default value is 0.	Double
in_flightpath_features (Optional)	The polyline flight path features that the curved surface will follow.	Feature Layer
heliport_elevation (Optional)	The elevation of the highest point of the heliport. The value must be in the vertical coordinate system linear units of the target feature class. If no value is provided, the highest point of the input_safety_area_features parameter value will be used. The default value is 0.	Double
custom_json_file (Optional)	The import configuration, in JSON format, that creates the custom OIS.	File

Derived Output

Name	Explanation	Data Type
derived_outfeatureclass	The updated feature class containing the generated obstruction identification surface.	Feature Layer

Code sample

ICAOAnnex14Heliports example 1 (stand-alone script)

The following code demonstrates how to use the ICAOAnnex14Heliport function to generate curved services.

import arcpy

arcpy.CheckOutExtension("Airports")

arcpy.env.workspace = r"D:\Data.gdb"

input_safety_area_features = "SafetyArea"
target_ois_features = "ObstructionIdSurface_MP"
surface_classification = "CATEGORY_A"
operation_type = "DAY_OPERATION"
rotor_diameter = 16.5
clearway_length = 100.0
surface_shape = "CURVED_SURFACE"
in_flightpath_features = "FlightPath"
heliport_elevation = 250.0
customJSON = r"D:\customOIS.json"

arcpy.aviation.ICAOAnnex14Heliports(input_safety_area_features, target_ois_features, surface_classification, operation_type, rotor_diameter, clearway_length, surface_shape, in_flightpath_features, heliport_elevation, customJSON)
arcpy.CheckInExtension("Airports")

ICAOAnnex14Heliports example 2 (stand-alone script)

The following code demonstrates how to use the ICAOAnnex14Heliport function to generate straight services.

import arcpy

arcpy.CheckOutExtension("Airports")

arcpy.env.workspace = r"D:\Data.gdb"

input_safety_area_features = "SafetyArea"
target_ois_features = "ObstructionIdSurface_MP"
surface_classification = "CATEGORY_A"
operation_type = "DAY_OPERATION"
rotor_diameter = 16.5
clearway_length = 100.0
surface_shape = "STRAIGHT_SURFACE"
approach_bearing = 90.0
heliport_elevation = 250.0
customJSON = r"D:\customOIS.json"

arcpy.aviation.ICAOAnnex14Heliports(input_safety_area_features, target_ois_features, surface_classification, operation_type, rotor_diameter, clearway_length, surface_shape, approach_bearing, None, heliport_elevation, customJSON)
arcpy.CheckOutExtension("Airports")

Environments

This tool does not use any geoprocessing environments.

Licensing information

• Basic: No
• Standard: Requires Airports or ArcGIS Aviation Charting
• Advanced: Requires Airports or ArcGIS Aviation Charting