Validation Management in an ATM Research Project

Abstract

This paper describes the validation process used in the Mediterranean Free Flight (MFF) project. MFF was a large, six-year ATM research project, sponsored by the European Commission, that studied Operational Concepts and procedures for more efficient use of airspace through the delegation of tasks related to separation assurance. The validation approaches proposed in recent validation research initiatives, and in particular in the project Master ATM European Validation Plan (MAEVA), have been modified, integrated and applied in MFF. The paper illustrates how the project adopted these approaches in a practical project environment, in particular how Validation Objectives to assess the suitability, effectiveness and feasibility of the MFF Operational Concepts were identified and investigated, and their relation to overall ATM objectives. Then, it describes in detail the Validation Process as applied, giving examples of the practical methods used in the different phases, and describing the use of the Validation Data Repository to support the collection, comparison and integration of Validation results. The paper provides a complete example describing the Safety Objective in detail, together with the different Validation Exercises that were run to evaluate the achievement of this objective. The paper concludes by reporting the main feedback from the application of the Validation Process and the use of the Validation Data Repository, and discusses the related advantages and disadvantages.