Development of a Computer Program for Airport Runway Location, Orientation, and Length Design in Iraq

The orientation of Airport runway requires information on wind speed, wind direction, and wind speed intensity and duration. On the other hand, the runway location design requires information on the latitude and longitude of the site, temperature variation at the site throughout 20 years period, and the altitude of the airport site, so that the x and y coordinates could be corrected. The design of runway requires information on the expected traffic volume, type of aircraft intending to use it, and the class of the airport as per the ICAO specifications. In this work, a computer program has been developed, with data base constructed inside, such data regarding the wind and temperature and the traffic data as explained above was fed to the data base. The latitude, longitude, and altitude of each of the eighteen provinces in Iraq were also fed to the system. A methodology for drawing the wind rose diagram and the conditions for selecting the best runway orientation through optimization process has been included in the data base. The required calculation procedures for basic runway length and the corrections usually adopted for variation of temperature and altitude, landing and takeoff situations were also fed to the data base in the system. An input sheet was designed through visual basic environment so that if an airport is required anywhere in Iraq, the system will ask for the basic data of latitude and longitude and will suggest the best orientation of the runway using the optimization technique. After suggesting the orientation, another input sheet will ask about the airport class required, the type of air craft, and the traffic volume and modes of takeoff and landing, and then the system will suggest the basic runway length required, and the required corrections to be considered for the environmental conditions. In order to check the validation of the software, Data of selected existing airports in Iraq were obtained and fed to the software so that a comparison of its output with the existing condition could be obtained. It was felt that such program will help in the management of airport design, and provide instant information regarding the runway orientation, location, and design.