Air Traffic Control Automation Research Articles

Analysis of Factors Affecting Occurrence and Severity of Air Traffic Control Operational Errors

The rate of occurrence of air traffic control operational errors is recognized as an important measure of the safety performance of the National Airspace System. As the volume of air traffic increases and new automated air traffic control decision support tools are introduced, there is a concern not only to increase the level of safety in the system by reducing the occurrence of operational errors but also to ensure that efforts to increase the capacity of the system do not adversely affect safety. Recent trends in air traffic control operational errors in the United States are analyzed. Factors that have been found to influence the rate of occurrence of these errors are discussed, and the relationship between the severity of operational errors in an en route environment and the traffic characteristics at the time are examined. The limitations of the information currently available to support the analysis of operational errors are described. Finally, the data requirements are addressed for future research to better understand the causal factors affecting the rate of occurrence of operational errors and to develop strategies to enhance the safety of the National Airspace System.

Guest editorial special issue on automated air traffic control systems

Guest editorial special issue on automated air traffic control systems

Air Traffic Control Automation in Armenia

There is a considerable current interest in developing effective methods for the integration of standard air traffic control automation system. The feature of traffic self-similarity can be used to effectively solve optimal control task. That feature displays itself in keeping the correlation function structure to different averaging times. The obtained estimations of the spectral density can be used for predicting and control for cell discarding algorithm and for bandwidth allocation mechanism.

Trajectory Synthesis Algorithms of Plural Aircraft with Variable Speed for Air Traffic Control

This paper discusses Three Dimensional (3D; 2D in space and 1D in time) trajectories synthesis algorithms for future air traffic control automation. In order to prepare the computerized air traffic automation systems that assist human controller, highly complicated time optimal problem should be investigated in non-linear control systems. First, synthesis of the plural trajectories with constant speed is discussed aiming to substitute for human controller that plans simultaneously trajectories of eight aircraft at most. Second, synthesis of the plural trajectories with variable speed for eight aircraft is discussed.

Multiclass transaction scheduling and overload management in firm real-time database systems

Real-Time Database Systems (RTDBSs), have attracted considerable amount of research attention in the recent past and a number of important applications have been identified for such systems, such as telecommunications network management, automated air traffic control, automated financial trading, process control and military command and control systems. Due to the rapidity of change of the system state in such applications, as well as the inherent complexities in controlling such systems (which result in frequent violation of consistency requirements and consequent repeated firings of control actions), it is likely that the transaction load in these systems would be fairly high. Thus RTDBSs need to be equipped with overload management mechanisms. Unfortunately overload management has been a fairly neglected area in real-time systems research in general and real-time database research in particular. In this paper we introduce Adaptive Access Parameter (AAP), a scheduling mechanism for multiclass transactions in real-time database systems that employs an explicit admission control policy to manage overload as well as system bias towards particular transaction classes. We show the theoretical underpinnings behind AAP and then report a thorough performance study that demonstrates AAP's substantial superiority over current algorithms with regard to performance metrics as well as computational overhead.

Capture conditions for merging trajectory segments to model realistic aircraft descents

A typical commercial aircraft trajectory consists of a series of flight segments. An aircraft switches from one segment to another when certain specified variables reach their desired values. Trajectory synthesis for air traffic control automation must be consistent with practical pilot procedures. We examine capture conditions for merging trajectory segments to model commercial aircraft descent in trajectory synthesis. These conditions translate into bounds on measurements of atmospheric wind, pressure, and temperature. They also define ranges of thrust and drag feasible for a descent trajectory. Capture conditions are derived for the Center-TRACON Automation System developed at NASA Ames Research Center for automated air traffic control. Various uses of capture conditions are discussed. A Boeing 727-200 aircraft is used to provide numerical examples of capture conditions.

A Laboratory Glass-Cockpit Flight Simulator for Automation and Communications Research

A laboratory glass-cockpit flight simulator supporting research on advanced commercial flight deck and Air Traffic Control (ATC) automation and communication interfaces has been developed at the Aviation Operations Branch at the NASA Ames Research Center. This system provides independent and integrated flight and ATC simulator stations, party line voice and datalink communications, along with video and audio monitoring and recording capabilities. Over the last several years, it has been used to support the investigation of flight human factors research issues involving: communication modality; message content and length; graphical versus textual presentation of information, and human accountability for automation. This paper updates the status of this simulator, describing new functionality in the areas of flight management system, EICAS display, and electronic checklist integration. It also provides an overview of several experiments performed using this simulator, including their application areas and results. Finally future enhancements to its ATC (integration of CTAS software) and flight deck (full crew operations) functionality are described.

6.4.1 Industrialization Of Formal Methods Through Process Definition

AbstractThis paper advocates the use of process definition methods to drive the “industrialization” of new techniques – that is, the transformation of a technique, or combination of techniques, developed by a research organization into a production process that can be used by an industrial organization. We relate our own experience at Hughes Canada Systems Division (HCSD) based on an effort to industrialize an application of “Formal Methods” to support the development of large automated air traffic control systems. In addition to providing an account of some components of our approach to process definition, this paper provides a glimpse into the topic of “Formal Methods” which is already becoming established in Europe as an important systems engineering discipline and can be expected to soon become as important within North America.

Analysis and Modeling of Flight Crew Performance in Automated Air Traffic Management Systems

NASA has recently initiated a research program to enhance commercial aviation throughput in crowded terminal areas. The Terminal Area Productivity (TAP) initiative seeks to focus technologies in automated air traffic management and to improve flight management systems. The interaction between air traffic control (ATC) automation, flight deck automation and the human operators who mediate them will be reported here. We’ve performed empirical studies in full-mission simulation to address procedural coordination between flight crews and air traffic controllers. In parallel, we have addressed the need for rapidly adaptable analytic techniques by developing a human performance model of flight crew.

Systems integration

A recent ERA conference covered a wide range of advanced topics. The first session, “Operational Challenges”, featured civil and military contributions from airlines, the RAF and a research institute. The latter considered the fact that new airliners, runways, passenger terminals and computer‐assisted or automated air traffic control (ATC) systems will be necessary to accommodate the increasing traffic. This article reached a number of important conclusions. Between 1970 and 1990 the number of subsonic turbojet airliners almost tripled and the number of revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) quadrupled. The safety level improved continuously and finally stabilized in the last decade. The increase in production and safety was made possible by steadily improving aircraft, engines, systems and avionics, as well as by improving ATC.

Next generation air traffic control automation

The automation of air traffic control (ATC) applications has challenged the technologies traditionally used for building and testing large data processing systems. These systems are characterized by complex applications, extensive external and user interfaces, and rapidly changing functional requirements. The Advanced Automation System (AAS) of the Federal Aviation Administration combines high availability, extensibility, and extraordinary functionality into a single distributed system, running at multiple locations. By requirement, the AAS must execute continuously without error, without interruption for upgrades or maintenance, and with the complete trust and confidence of air traffic controllers using it at over twenty centers. Each ATC center uses the same application software coupled with varying quantities of hardware and an extensive base of data to tailor the center to its unique geography and operational procedures. In this paper, we describe the characteristics and architecture of the AAS and focus on key mechanisms of availability and extensibility.

Stream Option Manager (SOM): automated integration of aircraft separation, merging, stream management, and other air traffic control functions

Stream Option Manager (SOM) is a proposed concept for automated integration of aircraft separation, merging and stream management, using linear programming techniques. It was developed as part of a research and development initiative for air traffic control (ATC) automation concepts, sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and performed by MITRE Corporation. SOM is research; it has not been approved by the FAA for use in future ATC. SOM's purpose is to resolve possible problems involving multiple aircraft with given flight paths. Each aircraft must be separated by a minimum distance from every other aircraft at all times, and certain sets of aircraft (e.g., those about to land at a particular airport) must be merged or metered (lined up, or separated in trail by a given distance). Aircraft in sets called streams must be separated in the along-route direction at all times. Each aircraft is also subject to certain speed limits. Given the pilot-preferred flight paths, and separation, metering, stream, and speed requirements, SOM finds modified flight paths for each aircraft that satisfy all the requirements yet stay as close as possible to the pilot-preferred paths. SOM's algorithm represents the (x, y, z) positions of each aircraft at future times as variables in a linear program. The requirements are expressed or approximated by linear inequalities or equalities. Pilot preferences are approximated by a linear objective function. The SOM algorithm has been implemented successfully in a prototype simulation in 2D. Scenarios with up to 15 aircraft and 24 separation and/or merging problems have been resolved.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Automation and cognition in air traffic control: An empirical investigation

AbstractSeveral investigators have expressed concern that the imminent automation of air traffic control may have negative consequences on cognitive functioning, and ultimately on performance. We investigated these possibilities empirically by comparing normal, conventional air traffic control with an experimental condition designed to resemble an extreme version of automation. Overall, measures of performance were comparable between conditions. Most of the cognitive measures (attentional demands, visual search, recall of flights, recall of flight data) were not impaired by the automation analogue. Instead, two prospective measures (prospective memory, planning) showed improved performance. The prospective memory advantage is particularly surprising given that the automation‐analogue group was unable to manipulate external memory aids. Possible reasons for the prospective memory advantage include a reduced workload, which allows the controller to get the necessary information in other ways, and a change in the nature of the task resulting from the “automation” of the strip management module.

Identifying Information Requirements for Air Traffic Control Problem Solving

One of the most important questions facing developers of “human-centered” automation in air traffic control (ATC) is what and how much information does an ATC controller need to take an appropriate action or to make an appropriate decision, especially those with potentially catastrophic failure modes. To obtain such information one must develop a methodology that can be used to evaluate different information attributes and thereby collect data regarding what attributes the most experienced ATC controllers consider most/least important for decision making. A combination of methodologies for evaluating a set of information attributes required to identify and resolve aircraft conflicts and most importantly, specifying the interrelationships between these attributes for ATC problem solving is described. Eighteen attributes were chosen which covered those elements of information deemed most important in conflict identification and resolution and which reflected the thinking of a cross section of experienced ATC controllers. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) and rank-ordering techniques were used to determine the relative importance and interrelationships between attributes. The MDS and ordering results were then integrated into a unified conceptual framework. This framework reflected the importance of each attribute and thus, specified the way ATC controllers think about identifying and resolving conflicts. These results represent a step toward developing an empirical knowledge base for understanding the cognitive processes brought into action by controllers and also becomes a reference point for designing effective displays and decision support systems for ATC automation and to predict their value.

Performance analysis of North Pacific Operations using an automated air traffic control system simulation

A computer simulation is described which models current and future air-traffic control (ATC) system operating environments, including traffic demands, route structures, winds, and separation criteria. Metrics are defined to highlight parameter sensitivities for optimizing direct operating costs, and to provide an assessment of performance in terms of time and fuel penalties under suboptimum operating conditions. The analysis results are intended to help the designers of the future North Pacific (NOPAC) system increase airspace capacity and operational efficiency. Requirements are established for further research to automate ATC functions for future real-time closed-loop control of aircraft over the ocean. >

Microwave landing system modeling with application to air traffic control automation

Compared to the current instrument landing system, the microwave landing system (MLS), which is in the advanced stage of implementation, can potentially provide significant fuel and time savings as well as more flexibility in approach and landing functions. However, the expanded coverage and increased accuracy requirements of the MLS make it more susceptible to the features of the site in which it is located. An analytical approach is presented for evaluating the multipath effects of scatterers that are commonly found in airport environments. The approach combines a multiplane model with a ray-tracing technique and a formulation for estimating the electromagnetic fields caused by the antenna array in the presence of scatterers. The model is applied to several airport scenarios. The reduced computational burden enables the scattering effects on MLS position information to be evaluated in near real time. Evaluation in near real time would permit the incorporation of the modeling scheme into air traffic control automation; it would adaptively delineate zones of reduced accuracy within the MLS coverage volume, and help establish safe approach and takeoff trajectories in the presence of uneven terrain and other scatterers.

Maneuver option manager: automated simplification of complex air traffic control problems

Maneuver option manager (MOM) is part of an air traffic control automation project, sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in which the computer for the first time assumes responsibility for separation assurance between en route aircraft. MOM's purpose is to detect and simplify certain complex air traffic control problems, identified here as sets of interrelated potential pairwise separation problems. MOM determines which of six types of maneuver options is available (free of possible separation problems) for each aircraft. MOM simplifies a complex problem by protecting (for future use) an available maneuver option for one or more of the involved aircraft. Routinely, a single maneuver option resolves multiple pairwise problems. MOM's actions cause complex problems to be iteratively broken down into independent, smaller, and less complex problems. >

Detection efficiency on an air traffic control monitoring task with and without computer aiding : Thackray, R.I., and Touchstone, R.M.Aviation, Space & Environ Med, 1989, 60.8, 744–748, 10 refs.

Future levels of air traffic control automation will incorporate computer-aided features designed to alert the controller by displaying information that will identify upcoming problems and suggest solutions. Concerns have been expressed that reliance on such aids may lead to a reduced capacity by controllers to detect and respond to computer failure. The present study employed a simulated ATC monitoring task with a computer feature designed to detect possible aircraft conflicts. The ability of subjects to detect occasional failures of the computer feature in detecting problem situations was compared with detection efficiency for these same situations when no computer aiding was provided. The hypothesis that alertness would be lower and detection less efficient with computer aiding than when no aiding was employed was not supported. Applications and limitations of the findings to the problem of complacency in automated systems are discussed.

Building a Modeling and Simulation Analysis Tool to Predict Air Traffic Controller Workload and Performance

To meet expected increases in domestic air traffic, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will increase the level of automation in the domestic air traffic control (ATC) system. There is a need to assess the effects of the increased automation on controller workload and performance. Software-based engineering tools are needed to automate the analysis, allowing designers to identify potential problems early in the system design lifecycle. This paper describes one such tool, the Predictive Air Traffic Controller Analysis Model (PATCAM), a modeling and simulation analysis tool that uses a system operations concept and task attributes database, a controller activities model, a sector environment model and simulation engine, and a workload or performance model to predict the impact of system design changes on controller workload or performance.

Advanced Automation Systems design

The Advanced Automation System (AAS) is being developed for the US Federal Aviation Administration to provide air traffic control automation support well into the twenty-first century. The authors provide an overview of the AAS design and discuss key-requirement design drivers. The extremely high system-availability requirements are described, and the architectural, hardware, and software approaches to meeting them are discussed. The replacement of paper flight progress strips with an all-electronic display workstation for the air traffic controller has demanded a major effort in human engineering. The scope and results of this effort to date are described. >