Analysis of Air Traffic Controller Workload Reduction Based on the Solution Space for the Merging Task

Abstract

Air traffic controller workload is considered to be an important limiting factor to the growth of air traffic. The difficulty of an air traffic control task can be analyzed through examining the problem’s solution space, that is, all possible vector commands that satisfy the constraints of safety, productivity and efficiency. But apart from deriving metrics for workload, a visualization based on the solution space, resulting in the Solution Space Diagram, could help the controller inmanaging the air traffic. An experiment was conducted in which two different levels of traffic density were tested in order to evaluate the effects of presenting the Solution Space Diagram on controller workload. The experiment entailed the task of merging aircraft into a single route and subjects provided subjective ratings of workload at fixed intervals of time. Depending on traffic level and subject experience, significant effects of the Solution Space Diagram were found on the reduction of controller workload.