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Airport surface traffic management decision support - perspectives based on tower flight data manager prototype

May 20, 2013
  |
Project Report
Author:
Vineet Mehta
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-398
Topic:
decision support
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

This report describes accomplishments and insights gathererd during the development of decision support tools as part of the Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM) program. This work was performed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory and sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The TFDM program integrated flight data, aircraft surveillance, information on weather and traffic flow constraints, and other data required to optimize airport conguration and arrival/departure management functions. The prototype has been evaluated in both human-in-the-loop simulations, and during operational tests at Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport. In parallel, the Laboratory estimated future national operational benefits for TFDM decision support functions, using analysis and performance data gathered from major airports in the US. This analysis indicated that the greatest potential operational benefits would come from decision support tools that facilitate: i) managing runway queues and sequences, ii) tactical management of flight routes and times, impacted by weather and traffic constraints, and iii) managing airport configuration changes. Evaluation of TFDM prototype decision support functions in each of these areas provided valuable insights relative to the maturity of current capabilities and research needed to close performance gaps.
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Summary

This report describes accomplishments and insights gathererd during the development of decision support tools as part of the Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM) program. This work was performed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory and sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The TFDM program integrated flight data, aircraft surveillance, information on...

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Airport surface traffic management decision support - perspectives based on tower flight data manager prototype

Wind information requirements for NextGen applications phase 1: 4D-trajectory based operations (4D-TBO)

February 20, 2013
  |
Project Report
Author:
Thomas G. Reynolds
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-399
Topic:
weather
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Accurate wind information is required to support some of the key applications envisioned for future air traffic concepts. A Wind Information Analysis Framework has been developed to assess wind information needs for different applications. The framework is described and then applied in a Four-Dimensional Trajectory Based Operations (4D-TBO) application using simplified versions of the framework's elements to demonstrate its utility. Realistic ranges of wind information accuracy in terms of wind forecast and Flight Management System wind representation errors are studied. Their impacts on 4D-TBO performance in terms of Required Time of Arrival compliance and fuel burn are presented. Interpretations of the findings to give insights on wind information requirements are provided, together with an outline of the planned next phase of the study to further refine the outputs.
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Summary

Accurate wind information is required to support some of the key applications envisioned for future air traffic concepts. A Wind Information Analysis Framework has been developed to assess wind information needs for different applications. The framework is described and then applied in a Four-Dimensional Trajectory Based Operations (4D-TBO) application using...

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Wind information requirements for NextGen applications phase 1: 4D-trajectory based operations (4D-TBO)

Tower Flight Data Manager benefits assessment: initial investment decision interim report

November 19, 2012
  |
Project Report
Author:
Thomas G. Reynolds
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-394
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:

Summary

This document provides an overview of MIT Lincoln Laboratory's activities in support of the interim stage of the Initial Investment Decision benefits assessment for the Tower Flight Data Manager. It outlines the rationale for the focus areas, and the background, methodology, and scope in the focus areas of departure metering, sequence optimization, airport configuration optimization, and safety assessment. Estimates of the potential benefits enabled by TFDM deployment are presented for each of these areas for a subset of airports and conditions considered within the scope of the analyses. These benefits are monetized where possible. Recommendations for follow-on work, for example, to support future benefits assessment efforts for TFDM, are also discussed.
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Summary

This document provides an overview of MIT Lincoln Laboratory's activities in support of the interim stage of the Initial Investment Decision benefits assessment for the Tower Flight Data Manager. It outlines the rationale for the focus areas, and the background, methodology, and scope in the focus areas of departure metering...

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Tower Flight Data Manager benefits assessment: initial investment decision interim report

Estimating the monetizable safety benefits of prototype air traffic control technologies

October 22, 2012
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Conference Paper
Author:
Amy L. Alexander
…
Published in:
HFES 2012, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 56th Annual Mtg., 22-26 October 2012.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) utilizes a formal investment analysis process to support the development, procurement and deployment of new air traffic control technologies. It is often unclear how to estimate the impacts of a new technology on aviation safety, both in terms of the probability that incidents and accidents could be prevented and in terms of the potential financial savings associated with reduced aircraft damage and personal injuries. With this in mind, the focus of this paper is twofold: (1) demonstrating the application of a method for generating probabilistic estimates of safety benefits for a future air traffic control technology, and (2) monetizing and extrapolating safety impacts from historical data to provide a quantitative estimate of savings over the lifetime of a new technology. The technologies explored in this analysis involve electronic flight data, enhanced surveillance and decision support tools for the air traffic control tower environment. From this initial analysis, the estimated total monetizable safety benefit of deploying all of these capabilities in a new system with an expected 2015-2035 lifetime across a set of major airports in the US ranges from $155 million to $2.1 billion. Implications of key data assumptions driving the lower and upper-bound estimates are discussed.
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Summary

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) utilizes a formal investment analysis process to support the development, procurement and deployment of new air traffic control technologies. It is often unclear how to estimate the impacts of a new technology on aviation safety, both in terms of the probability that incidents and accidents...

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Estimating the monetizable safety benefits of prototype air traffic control technologies

An approach for estimating current and future benefits of airport surface congestion management techniques

September 17, 2012
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Conference Paper
Author:
Alex H. Nakahara
…
Published in:
12th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations (ATIO) Conf. and 14th AIAA/ISSM, 17-19 September 2012.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Airport surface congestion can be a cause of significant increases in taxi times, fuel burn and emissions at major airports. Various surface congestion management techniques are being developed to help mitigate these issues at different airports, typically by holding aircraft at the gate during times of high congestion to reduce the number of aircraft on the active movement area. This paper presents an approach to estimate the benefits in terms of reductions in active taxi time and fuel burn of applying such techniques at a subset of US airports, both under current and expected future operations. Results show that the benefits of surface congestion management translate to billions of gallons of reduced fuel burn and huge environmental impact reduction over the next twenty years.
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Summary

Airport surface congestion can be a cause of significant increases in taxi times, fuel burn and emissions at major airports. Various surface congestion management techniques are being developed to help mitigate these issues at different airports, typically by holding aircraft at the gate during times of high congestion to reduce...

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An approach for estimating current and future benefits of airport surface congestion management techniques

Wind information requirements to support Four Dimensional Trajectory-Based Operations

September 17, 2012
  |
Conference Paper
Author:
Yan Glina
…
Published in:
12th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations (ATIO) Conf. and 14th AIAA/ISSM, 17-19 September 2012.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Accurate wind information is required to support some of the key applications envisioned for future air traffic concepts. A Wind Information Analysis Framework is described to assess wind information needs for different applications. The framework is applied in a Four-Dimensional Trajectory Based Operations (4D-TBO) application using simplified versions of the framework's elements to demonstrate its utility. Realistic ranges of wind information accuracy limitations in terms of wind forecast and Flight Management System wind representation errors are studied. Their impacts on 4D-TBO performance in terms of Required Time of Arrival compliance and fuel burn are presented. Interpretations of the findings to determine wind information requirements are provided.
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Summary

Accurate wind information is required to support some of the key applications envisioned for future air traffic concepts. A Wind Information Analysis Framework is described to assess wind information needs for different applications. The framework is applied in a Four-Dimensional Trajectory Based Operations (4D-TBO) application using simplified versions of the...

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Wind information requirements to support Four Dimensional Trajectory-Based Operations

A preliminary investigation of Tower Flight Data Manager safety benefits

July 21, 2012
  |
Conference Paper
Author:
Amy L. Alexander
…
Published in:
Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics Conf., 21 July 2012.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Improvements to current air traffic management technologies and techniques are required to move toward the next generation air transportation system (NextGen). The Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM) is a prototype air traffic control system consisting of the: (1) Flight Data Manager (FDM) facilitating interaction with electronic flight data, (2) Tower Information Display System (TIDS) providing enhanced surveillance information, and (3) Supervisor Display providing a means for front line managers and traffic management coordinators to interact with strategic and tactical planning and decision support tools. Given that TFDM aims to enable safe and efficient operations under NextGen, it is critical to analyze potential safety impacts and determine what types of real-world safety issues can be prevented or mitigated by TFDM. With this goal in mind, we reviewed 560 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) reports focusing on commercial air carrier operations over a five year period. Over 100 reports were deemed relevant to TFDM and further analyzed to determine the likelihood that these safety-related events could have been mitigated or prevented by the key TFDM capabilities outlined above. A systematic method for generating probabilistic estimates of benefits for a technology not yet deployed was utilized to produce effectiveness ratings for the various TFDM components.
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Summary

Improvements to current air traffic management technologies and techniques are required to move toward the next generation air transportation system (NextGen). The Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM) is a prototype air traffic control system consisting of the: (1) Flight Data Manager (FDM) facilitating interaction with electronic flight data, (2) Tower...

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A preliminary investigation of Tower Flight Data Manager safety benefits

Establishing wind information needs for four dimensional trajectory-based operations

June 26, 2012
  |
Conference Paper
Author:
Thomas G. Reynolds
…
Published in:
1st Int. Conf. on Interdisciplinary Science for Innovative Air Traffic Management, ISIATM, 26 June 2012.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Accurate wind information is of fundamental importance to the delivery of benefits from future air traffic concepts. A Wind Information Analysis Framework is described in this paper and its utility for assessing wind information needs for a four-dimensional trajectory based operations application is demonstrated.
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Summary

Accurate wind information is of fundamental importance to the delivery of benefits from future air traffic concepts. A Wind Information Analysis Framework is described in this paper and its utility for assessing wind information needs for a four-dimensional trajectory based operations application is demonstrated.

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Establishing wind information needs for four dimensional trajectory-based operations

Dallas/Fort Worth field demonstration #2 (DFW-2) final report for Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM)

May 16, 2012
  |
Project Report
Author:
Hayley J. Reynolds
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-393
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:

Summary

The Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM) is the next generation air traffic control tower (ATCT) information system that integrates surveillance, flight data, and other sources, which enables advanced decision support tools (DSTs) to improve departure and arrival efficiency and reduce fuel burn at the airport. TFDM was exercised as a prototype installed at the Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) during a two-week demonstration in the spring of 2011 termed DFW-2. MIT Lincoln Laboratory conducted this demonstration for the FAA in coordination with DFW air traffic control (ATC) and the DFW airport authority. The objective of this TFDM field demonstration was to validate the operational suitability and refine production system requirements of the Tower Information Display System (TIDS) surface surveillance display and Flight Data Manager (FDM) electronic flight data display and to evaluate the first iteration of the Supervisor Display and DSTs. These objectives were met during the two-week field demonstration. Results indicated that the TIDS and FDM exhibited capabilities considered operationally suitable for the tower as an advisory system and as a primary means for control given surface surveillance that is approved for operational use. Human factors data indicated that TIDS and FDM could be beneficial. The prototype Supervisor Display and DSTs met a majority of the technical performance criteria, but fewer than half of the human factors success criteria were met. As this was the first iteration of the Supervisor Display and DST capabilities, subsequent prototype iterations to achieve the target concept of operations, functionality and information presentation with accompanying field demonstrations to evaluate these honed capabilities were recommended and expected. FLM/TMC feedback will help refine subsequent system design.
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Summary

The Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM) is the next generation air traffic control tower (ATCT) information system that integrates surveillance, flight data, and other sources, which enables advanced decision support tools (DSTs) to improve departure and arrival efficiency and reduce fuel burn at the airport. TFDM was exercised as a...

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Dallas/Fort Worth field demonstration #2 (DFW-2) final report for Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM)

The Tower Flight Data Manager prototype system

October 16, 2011
  |
Conference Paper
Author:
Vineet Mehta
…
Published in:
DASC 2011, 30th IEEE/AIAA Digital Avionics Systems Conference, 16-20 October 2011, pp. 2C5.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM) will serve as the next generation air traffic control tower automation platform for surface and local airspace operations. TFDM provides three primary enhancements over current systems: consolidation of diverse data and information sources into a single platform; electronic data exchange, including flight data entries, within and outside the tower cab; and a suite of decision support capabilities leveraging TFDM's access to external data sources and systems. This paper describes a TFDM prototype system that includes integrated surveillance, flight data, and decision support display components. Enhancements in airport configuration management, runway assignment, taxi routing, sequencing and scheduling, and departure route assurance are expected to yield significant benefits in delay reduction, fuel savings, additional capacity, improved access, enhanced safety, and reduced environmental impact. Data are provided on system performance and air traffic controller acceptance from simulation studies and a preliminary field demonstration at Dallas / Ft. Worth International Airport.
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Summary

The Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM) will serve as the next generation air traffic control tower automation platform for surface and local airspace operations. TFDM provides three primary enhancements over current systems: consolidation of diverse data and information sources into a single platform; electronic data exchange, including flight data entries...

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The Tower Flight Data Manager prototype system
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