Wireless Sensor Networks and RFID for Improving Information Visibility in Airport Ground Handling Management

The new economic situation in all industries, and especially in the air transportation industry, claims for new business models supported by accurate management processes, which need constant feedback of the real status of the environment. A combined use of identification technologies and wireless sensor networks (WSN) can provide the required visibility to that information on status. This work proposes a WSN based on a Zigbee network of RFID readers with active tags as end nodes. The WSN can get the identification (ID) information stored in the end nodes, which are carried by the physical resources. Besides the ID, the tag can include other useful data coming from sensors such as acceleration, temperature, humidity, fuel level, etc. The final objective is to achieve an updated/real picture of the resources in the airport environment that will help in the decision-making.