ATS Data AIXM Mapping#

Required roles: AIS Navigation Data via Cloud — Roles
Base endpoint: none
Reference documents: AIXM 5.2 schema set (aixm.aero) · ICAO Doc 10066 PANS-AIM, Ed. 1, Amend. 3 (28/11/24) · ITU-R M.1677-1 International Morse code
Attribution: show ibonav.aero wherever this data is displayed
Data sources: none
Last updated: 18 OCT 2026

How the ATS data in AIXM maps to the columns of the ATS GeoPackage. Every AIXM property of the mapped features has a column; a column can be empty when no source provides that property. Derived columns (map labelling, symbology, route network status) have no AIXM counterpart and are described in their own sections.

For the extension elements (ibosoftais:*) see AIXM Schema Extension; for coding rules (provenance, antimeridian, geometry) see Data Coding Policies.

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Layers#

Every layer also has id (INTEGER primary key) and geom. Coordinates are WGS 84 (EPSG:4326).

Why there is no Route layer. The attributes of a Route are carried on each of its segments in the route_* columns of routeSegments (and partly of changeOverPoints), so one table shows both segment and route information.

Why there is no points layer. aixm:Point is not an AIXM feature (it has no identifier or TimeSlice of its own); it is embedded in the feature that uses it. Points that must exist on their own, such as the antimeridian crossing points, are coded as DesignatedPoint (type = OTHER).

Why changeOverPoints is a line. A change-over point is a point, but AIP ENR 3 publishes only its distances from the navaids at the two ends, not its coordinates. Calculating coordinates would add data the source does not give. The layer therefore carries the route portion the COP applies to as a line that starts at the start point of the portion; copSymbology_offsetPercent places the COP symbol along that line.

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Naming rules#

Columns without layer prefix. Families that have the same structure in every layer carry no layer prefix:

Column types.

Vertical limits of route segments are REAL: text values such as UNL or GND cannot be stored as numbers and stay NULL; use the *Reference column to tell them apart.

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Common columns#

Relation columns#

Lists (associated…) are comma-separated and their order is meaningful where stated.

Identity#

In two layers a row is built from two AIXM objects and the identity is that of one of them:

• navaidComponents: the identity of the navaid equipment feature. NavaidComponent is an AIXM object with no identifier of its own. One piece of equipment can belong to several navaids; the links are in associatedNavaid.
• routeSegments: the identity of the RouteSegment. The identity of the Route is not carried; the route is identified by its route_designator* fields.

AIXM base#

From AbstractAIXMFeature / AbstractAIXMTimeSlice. When a time has no value, the GML indeterminatePosition (unknown …) is written to the same column.

gml:boundedBy has no column; it is the envelope of geom.

Provenance#

From the ibosoftais:<Feature>DataProvenance extension element (AIXM Schema Extension). Coding: Data Coding Policies › Provenance.

Annotation#

annotation/Note/purpose decides the column; a note without purpose goes to annotationRemark. No note is dropped.

A row can hold the notes of two features:

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Repeated (0..∞) structures#

Repeated AIXM structures are stored as JSON in a TEXT column. The whole subtree is kept; only technical attributes such as gml:id are left out. An element with xlink:href becomes {"href": "<uuid>"}; a value with a unit becomes {"value": …, "uom": …}.

Properties defined on both Route and RouteSegment:

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designatedPoints#

Source: DesignatedPointTimeSlice. Geometry: location/Point/gml:pos.

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navaids#

Source: NavaidTimeSlice. Geometry: location/ElevatedPoint (or Point). Route segment end points resolve to this layer.

ILS family name (temporary). For ILS, ILS_DME, LOC and LOC_DME navaids and their Localizer / Glidepath components the sources give no name; the runway direction is written there instead (RWY 04R). For ILS DME components it is added after the existing name (BRUSSELS NATIONAL RWY 25R). The correct AIXM place is the runwayDirection association; this will change when aerodrome and runway features are added.

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navaidComponents#

One row per navaid equipment. The fields of the NavaidComponent and of the linked equipment feature are flattened into one row:

Navaid.navaidEquipment (0..∞) → NavaidComponent → theNavaidEquipment → equipment feature (VOR, DME …)

Each row has its own position (the localizer, glide path and DME of an ILS are three points).

Common columns#

Equipment-specific columns#

A field that belongs to one equipment type is named navaidComponents_<Equipment>_<field>. The same AIXM name can exist in several equipment types with different code lists (type, class, channel), so each type has its own column. The table is sparse: only the columns of the row's own equipment type have values.

Example: navaidComponents_VOR_frequency, navaidComponents_DME_channel, navaidComponents_NDB_class.

Navaid ↔ component link#

The AIXM relation is many-to-many and is shown from both sides:

Lists are used because a navaid can have several components of one type (e.g. outer and middle marker of an ILS) and one piece of equipment can be shared by several navaids (e.g. a DME used by two navaids).

navaids          id=12     associatedComponent_Localizer    = "24"
                           associatedComponent_Glidepath    = "25"
                           associatedComponent_DME          = "26"
                           associatedComponent_MarkerBeacon = "13290,13291"

navaidComponents id=13290  MarkerBeacon MIDDLE  associatedNavaid = "12"  associatedNavaidType = "ILS_DME"
                 id=13291  MarkerBeacon OUTER   associatedNavaid = "12"  associatedNavaidType = "ILS_DME"

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routeSegments#

Source: RouteSegmentTimeSlice and the Route it belongs to (routeFormed). Geometry: curveExtent (gml:posList). Route segments crossing the antimeridian are split (see Data Coding Policies).

Segment#

End points#

From start/EnRouteSegmentPoint and end/EnRouteSegmentPoint. The table shows start; the same columns exist with routeSegments_end….

pointChoice_fixDesignatedPoint resolves to designatedPoints, pointChoice_navaidSystem to navaids. If a point cannot be resolved, its Layer/Id/Designator columns stay empty; the segment is still written.

Inherited from Route#

The route_ prefix (not routeSegments_) shows that these are properties of the Route feature.

The route code is split in AIXM (designatorPrefix + designatorSecondLetter + designatorNumber + multipleIdentifier); the full code is also written to route_name.

Plus annotation* (segment, then route), data_* and aixm_* of the RouteSegment.

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changeOverPoints#

Source: ChangeOverPointTimeSlice and its applicableRoutePortion/RoutePortion. Geometry: the route portion as a line, from its start point to its end point, built from the route segments of the portion in order (through intermediatePoint where given). If the portion cannot be built, the geometry is empty and the row is still written.

…Uuid is always written when the reference exists, even if the target is not in this GeoPackage; …Layer/…Id/…Designator are written only when it resolves.

copSymbology_offsetPercent = distance / geodesic length of the line × 100. It places the COP symbol along the line from its start. distanceFromEnd is not used for it.

No designatorSuffix for COPs. In AIXM the suffix belongs to RouteSegment, not Route, and the segments of one portion can have different suffixes, so no single value exists.

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Derived columns#

These columns have no AIXM counterpart. They are calculated from the other columns so that maps and queries can use them directly with the indexes of the layer.

Route network status (atsStatus_*)#

The role of a point in the ATS route network, derived from the route segments that use the point as start or end point. The columns form two groups:

• atsStatus_associated* — for grouping: they tell which kinds of route segments (level, route type) a point or change-over point is related to, so that points can be grouped and filtered, e.g. "points of upper routes".
• atsStatus_depiction* — for chart depiction. This information is not in AIXM, and it is not among the data required by PANS-AIM. Its definitions exist in several manuals, above all ICAO Doc 8697 (Aeronautical Chart Manual), and ICAO Annex 4 gives different symbols according to these definitions. Because the data requirements, the definitions and the symbology do not match each other exactly, these values are produced by logic: from the other parameters in the existing data, following those definitions. The rules are given below.

DP = designatedPoints, NAV = navaids, COP = changeOverPoints.

• Gate: when atsStatus_isElementOfRouteSegment = 0, all other atsStatus_* columns are NULL (not 0). This separates "not in the route network" from "in the network but no such information".
• The level and type flags are independent; a point on both UPPER and LOWER segments has both flags set. A segment without level / route_type adds to no flag.
• For changeOverPoints the flags come from the segments of the COP's route portion (associatedRouteSegment_id); if the portion cannot be built, the seven columns are NULL.

atsStatus_depictionNav — first matching rule wins:

The navigation type comes from navigationType in routeSegments_aircraftCapability.

atsStatus_depictionSIGPointBasicFunc — first matching rule wins:

Map labels (navaidLabeling_*)#

Values for drawing a navaid label. In AIXM the frequency and channel are on the equipment, not on the navaid, and one piece of equipment has either a frequency or a channel; the missing value is taken from the ICAO VHF/UHF frequency–channel pairing table. navaids rows take the resolved values of their components.

A value is calculated only where it is meaningful for the type; otherwise it is NULL:

navaidLabeling_type:

OTHER → OTHER; OTHER:<x> → <x>; a value not in the table → NULL.

Morse code. Dot · (U+00B7), dash − (U+2212); one space between the signals of a letter, three between letters, seven between words. For a marker beacon with auralMorseCode that pattern is used, without letter spacing. If the ident has a character with no Morse code, the value is NULL.

MLS. The MLS frequency is not in AIXM; it is taken from the MLS channel. Azimuth and Elevation rows get the angle guidance frequency (5031.0–5090.7 MHz); an MLS_DME navaid gets the VHF frequency paired with its DME channel (about half of the MLS channels have no VHF pair, so this value is often NULL). Elevation takes its channel and frequency from the Azimuth of the same navaid.

Symbol geometry (navaidSymbology_*)#

The main purpose of these columns is to help place symbols in mapping: a symbol that belongs to one element but depends on a parameter of another element. The parameter is copied onto the element's own row, so the symbol can be placed from that row alone — e.g. the glide path beam drawn in the direction of the localizer of the same ILS.

If the source has no declination, the value is empty (see Data Coding Policies).

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Indexes#

The spatial index is kept up to date by the standard GeoPackage triggers, which use the ST_* functions of GIS software such as QGIS or GDAL. The derived columns are stored, not calculated in queries, so filters such as "route points only" use the same table, spatial index and column indexes.