Systems and methods for improving runway status awareness

1. A method comprising:

at a processor,

automatically selecting a runway based on a direction of travel of an aircraft in the air or based on a position of the aircraft on the ground;

determining if the automatically selected runway is identified as at least a partially closed runway, based on previously uploaded runway operational information stored in a database;

if it is determined that the automatically selected runway is not at least a partially closed runway, then repeating said step of determining if the automatically selected runway is identified as at least a partially closed runway without the generation or presentation of a closed runway indication;

if, in the alternative, it is determined that the automatically selected runway is at least a partially closed runway, then:

determining whether the aircraft is approaching the selected runway from the air or on the selected runway on the ground;

if it is determined that the aircraft is approaching the selected runway from the air, then generating a closed-runway indication that comprises either an approaching closed runway alert in the event that the selected runway is a fully-closed runway or a runway length available alert in the event that the selected runway is a partially-closed runway;

if, in the alternative, it is determined that the aircraft is on the selected runway on the ground then generating a closed-runway indication that comprises either an on closed runway alert in the event that the selected runway is a fully-closed runway or a runway length available alert in the event that the selected runway is a partially-closed runway; and

at an output device,

presenting the generated closed-runway indication.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

at the processor,

periodically updating the database with current runway operational information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the runway operational information comprises closure information.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the closure information comprises at least one of partial or full closure information and wherein the partial closure information identifies the area of the partial runway closure.

5. A system located on an aircraft, the system comprising:

a database configured to store previously uploaded runway operational information;

a processor configured to,

automatically select a runway based on a direction of travel of an aircraft in the air or based on a position of the aircraft on the ground;

determine if the automatically selected runway is identified as at least a partially closed runway, based on the stored runway operational information;

if it is determined that the automatically selected runway is not at least a partially closed runway, then repeating said step of determining if the automatically selected runway is identified as at least a partially closed runway without the generation or presentation of a closed runway indication;

if, in the alternative, it is determined that the automatically selected runway is at least a partially closed runway, then:

determine whether the aircraft is approaching the selected runway from the air or on the selected runway on the ground;

if it is determined that the aircraft is approaching the selected runway from the air, then generate a closed-runway indication that comprises either an approaching closed runway alert in the event that the selected runway is a fully-closed runway or a runway length available alert in the event that the selected runway is a partially-closed runway;

if, in the alternative, it is determined that the aircraft is on the selected runway on the ground then generate a closed-runway indication that comprises either an on closed runway alert in the event that the selected runway is a fully-closed runway or a runway length available alert in the event that the selected runway is a partially-closed runway; and

an output device configured to present the generated closed-runway indication.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising a communication device configured to receive updated runway operational information from a remote source, wherein the processor is configured to update the database with received runway operational information.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the runway operational information comprises closure information, and wherein the closure information comprises at least one of partial or full closure information.

8. A method for improving runway status awareness, the method being performed automatically by a computer processor embedded within electronic flight systems of an aircraft, the method comprising:

determining automatically, using the electronic flight systems of the aircraft, whether the aircraft is airborne or not airborne;

if it is determined that the aircraft is airborne, then:

a) automatically determining, based on an automatically-detected movement of the aircraft through the air, whether the aircraft is approaching a runway that is either partially-closed or fully-closed, and based on the automatically determining of step a), subsequently performing one of steps a-i), a-ii), or a-iii), as follows;

i) if the aircraft is approaching an open portion of a partially-closed runway, generating and presenting a runway closed indication that comprises a runway landing length available alert;

ii) if the aircraft is approaching a closed portion of a partially-closed runway or a fully-closed runway, generating and presenting a runway closed indication that comprises an approaching closed runway alert;

iii) if the aircraft is not approaching a runway that is either partially-closed or fully-closed, then repeating the automatically determining step a) without generating or presenting a closed runway indication;

if, in the alternative, it is determined that the aircraft is not airborne, then:

b) automatically determining, based on an automatically-detected position of the aircraft on the ground, whether the aircraft is positioned on a runway that is either partially-closed or fully-closed, and based on the automatically determining of step b), subsequently performing one of steps b-i), b-ii), or b-iii), as follows;

i) if the aircraft is located on an open portion of a partially-closed runway, generating and presenting a runway closed indication that comprises a runway take-off length available alert;

ii) if the aircraft is located on a closed portion of a partially-closed runway or a fully-closed runway, generating and presenting a runway closed indication that comprises an on closed runway alert;

iii) if the aircraft is not positioned on a runway that is either partially-closed or fully closed, then repeating step b) without generating or presenting a closed runway indication.