What does ADS-B mean in Aircraft & Aviation?

Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast

Automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast is a cooperative surveillance technology in which an aircraft determines its position via satellite navigation and periodically broadcasts it, enabling it to be tracked. The information can be received by air traffic control ground stations as a replacement for secondary radar. It can also be received by other aircraft to provide situational awareness and allow self separation. ADS–B is "automatic" in that it requires no pilot or external input. It is "dependent" in that it depends on data from the aircraft's navigation system. ADS–B is an element of the US Next Generation Air Transportation System and the Single European Sky ATM Research. ADS–B equipment is currently mandatory in portions of Australian airspace, the United States requires some aircraft to be equipped by 2020 and the equipment will be mandatory for some aircraft in Europe from 2017.

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