Application Guide for Apron Floodlighting at Civil Airports — Key Considerations for Stand Lighting Design

This guide is based on the MH/T 6108—2014 “Technical Requirements for Apron Floodlighting at Civil Airports” and the practical application of LED lighting technology. It outlines apron floodlighting design methods, with aircraft stand lighting design and testing as examples, providing practical guidance for design, construction, testing, and operation and maintenance.

I. Advantages of LED Light Sources in Airport Lighting

The airport lighting system is recommended to fully adopt LED light sources, replacing traditional High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) and Metal Halide (MH) lamps. The advantages of LED sources are as follows:

3.2 Luminaires and Layout Scheme

IV. Key Points for Illuminance Testing and Calculation

To evaluate design effectiveness, guide construction acceptance, and support future operation and maintenance, it is essential to scientifically arrange test grids and perform standardized measurements:

4.1 Test Areas and Grid Arrangement

Applicable Areas: Main functional areas such as aircraft stands, working areas, maintenance areas

Test Grid:

Use 5m × 5m square grids.

Place one measurement point at the center of each grid cell.

For symmetric areas, half-grid testing is acceptable.

Measurement Surface Setup:

Horizontal illuminance: probe placed at center ground level;

Vertical illuminance: probe placed 2 meters above ground on a vertical plane facing aircraft taxi-in direction.

Example of Measurement Point Layout:

For an area of approximately 30m × 40m, a 6 × 8 grid (48 points) is recommended;

Record illuminance at each point to compute minimum and average values for compliance check.

4.2 Glare Rating (GR) Test Point Placement

Observation points can coincide with illuminance test points but must account for line of sight.

Setup Guidelines:

Observer’s line of sight should be slightly downward, simulating human eye-level view (e.g., pilot or ground crew).

Background should be a typical illuminated surface.

Light source must appear in the upper visual field of the observer.

At least one GR test grid should be set up for each typical lighting configuration.

Tests should be conducted at night or under low ambient light to avoid external interference.

Testing instruments must have a proper detection angle and stray light shielding.

Calculation Example Below:

This is an example of a contact stand adjacent to a boarding bridge, with dimensions of 45×36m and a 30m high mast installed in front of the aircraft on the boarding bridge side. The layout was imported into AGi32 for simulation, with horizontal illuminance, vertical illuminance, and GR test points arranged according to standard requirements.

Appropriate floodlights were selected and imported into AGi32, with the maintenance factor set to 0.7.

Luminaires were arranged and calculations performed.

Results showed 32.11 lux horizontal illuminance with a uniformity of 0.4, and 47.19 lux vertical illuminance, both meeting the requirements for Category I/II stands.

The highest GR value was 41.3, within the acceptable limit of GR < 50.

Therefore, the luminaire type and quantity used in this AGi32 layout are appropriate and can be applied to other stands of the same specification.

For customers wishing to visualize the effect, we can import corresponding models and perform full calculations.

↑Rendering Illustration

↑3D view showing luminaire projection angles and calculation zones

↑False Color View with beam projection and measurement grid overlay

V. Recommendations for Power Supply and Control System Configuration