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Assessing delay benefits of the Final Approach Spacing Tool (FAST)

August 6, 2001
  |
Conference Paper
Author:
Jerry D. Welch
…
Published in:
AIAA Guidance, Navigation and control Conf., Vol. 3, 6-9 August 2001, pp. 1851-1859.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Air traffic delay grows each year. NASA is developing the Final Approach Spacing Tool (FAST) to help reduce airport arrival delays. FAST is intended to increase throughput and reduce delays. Analysis and field trials have suggested that FAST can help controllers increase arrival throughput on busy runways by several aircraft per hour. Published simulation studies have predicted that delay reductions from such throughput increases would save several hundred million dollars annually. However, these predictions disagree on delay savings for some airports and omit other airports of interest. Their predicted delay savings for some airports are higher than actual reported delays for those airports. They do not consider hazardous weather disruptions to arrival routes, and they do not address downstream delays caused by schedule disruption. This paper focuses on simple statistical and analytical measures of delay to resolve these problems. It develops a rule for ranking benefits and compares delay reduction predictions against actual reported delays. It relates delay to ceiling and visibility and thunderstorms. It examines the correlation of delay between airports and estimates the impact of downstream delay on FAST benefits.
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Summary

Air traffic delay grows each year. NASA is developing the Final Approach Spacing Tool (FAST) to help reduce airport arrival delays. FAST is intended to increase throughput and reduce delays. Analysis and field trials have suggested that FAST can help controllers increase arrival throughput on busy runways by several aircraft...

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Assessing delay benefits of the Final Approach Spacing Tool (FAST)

Using surface surveillance to help reduce taxi delays

August 6, 2001
  |
Conference Paper
Author:
Jerry D. Welch
…
Published in:
AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conf.: a collection of Technical Papers, Vol. 3, 6-9 August 2001, pp. 1809-1817.
Topic:
surveillance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Taxi delay is the largest of all aviation movement delays. However, taxi-out delays have not received attention equal to that focused on airborne delays because taxi-out delays often result from downstream problems. Also, until recently, there was no practical means of tracking surface movements. New surface surveillance technology will revolutionize surface management by providing data for planning, timing, and monitoring surface operations. This paper proposes a simple aid to help manage departure taxi queues and help exploit existing departure capacity, while avoiding the delays that result from saturated queues and unbalanced runways. The proposed decision aide will use archived surveillance data to quantify queuing behavior and model departure capacity, and it will use real-time surveillance to track capacity changes and monitor the state of the taxi queues.
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Summary

Taxi delay is the largest of all aviation movement delays. However, taxi-out delays have not received attention equal to that focused on airborne delays because taxi-out delays often result from downstream problems. Also, until recently, there was no practical means of tracking surface movements. New surface surveillance technology will revolutionize...

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Using surface surveillance to help reduce taxi delays

Role of FAA/NWS terminal weather sensors and terminal air traffic automation in providing a vortex advisory service

October 29, 1991
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Conference Paper
Author:
James E. Evans
…
Published in:
FAA Int. Wake Vortex Symp., Washington, DC, 29-31 October 1991.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is developing a number of terminal weather sensors and a terminal weather information system which can make important contributions toward an operational wake vortex advisory service. Although these systems have been developed to meet other important weather information needs, their existence/development offers the possibility of a more cost effective wake vortex advisory system than would be possible with a standalone system such as was tested in the 1970's. Specifically, we postulate an advisory system in which the aircraft separation during IFR conditions is adjusted to account for the advection of vortices by the wind on the approach path and/or the breakup of vortices due to air instability and in which the desired aircraft separation is achieved by the Terminal Air Traffic Automation (TATCA) system. When reduced separations are obtained with such a system, it is important to be able to anticipate that the winds/vortex stability in the terminal area will continue to meet the reduced spacing criteria for an appropriate time interval (e.g., at least 15 minutes) in the future.
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Summary

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is developing a number of terminal weather sensors and a terminal weather information system which can make important contributions toward an operational wake vortex advisory service. Although these systems have been developed to meet other important weather information needs, their existence/development offers the possibility of...

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Role of FAA/NWS terminal weather sensors and terminal air traffic automation in providing a vortex advisory service

Planning horizon requirements for automated terminal scheduling

October 1, 1990
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Conference Paper
Author:
Herman F. Vandevenne
…
Published in:
Proc. 35th Annual Air Traffic Control Association Mtg., 16-20 September 1990, pp. 438-451.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

This paper presents the results of an engineering analysis of the ability of an automated terminal scheduling process to achieve efficient use of runways. The motivation for the analysis is the need to understand possible architectures for an implementation of the proposed Terminal Air Traffic Automation (TATCA) system. The performance of TATCA is dependent upon metering precision and the controllability that TATCA can apply to aircraft entering the scheduling process. Controllability refers to the amount of time by which the flight time of an aircraft can be lengthened or shortened between the scheduling horizon and the chosen runway. The analysis concludes that when current en route metering mechanisms are used to deliver traffic to the terminal, the terminal scheduler meets a controllability window of 300 seconds or so in order to achieve full runway utilization. Because this amount of controllability is often achievable within the terminal area itself, a TATCA system can provide significant benefits prior to the implementation of further improvements in the en route metering process.
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Summary

This paper presents the results of an engineering analysis of the ability of an automated terminal scheduling process to achieve efficient use of runways. The motivation for the analysis is the need to understand possible architectures for an implementation of the proposed Terminal Air Traffic Automation (TATCA) system. The performance...

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Planning horizon requirements for automated terminal scheduling

Analysis of the potential benefits of Terminal Air Traffic Control Automation (TATCA)

May 23, 1990
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Conference Paper
Author:
Steven B. Boswell
…
Published in:
Proc. 1990 American Control Conf., Vol. 1, 23-25 May 1990, pp.535-542
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Terminal Air Traffic Control Automation (TATCA) is an FAA research and development program to provide computer-aided sequencing, spacing, and management of air traffic flows in terminal areas. This paper discusses technical and national economic benefits that are attainable with such a terminal automation program.
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Summary

Terminal Air Traffic Control Automation (TATCA) is an FAA research and development program to provide computer-aided sequencing, spacing, and management of air traffic flows in terminal areas. This paper discusses technical and national economic benefits that are attainable with such a terminal automation program.

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Analysis of the potential benefits of Terminal Air Traffic Control Automation (TATCA)

Experimental examination of the benefits of improved terminal air traffic control planning

January 1, 1989
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Journal Article
Author:
David A. Spencer
…
Published in:
Lincoln Laboratory Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, Fall 1989, pp. 527-536.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Airport capacity can be improved significantly-by precisely controlling the sequence and timing of traffic flow-even when airspace usage and procedures remain fixed. In a preliminary experiment, a plan for such sequencing and timing was applied in a simulation to a 70-min traffic sample observed at Boston's Logan Airport, and the result was a 13% increase in terminal throughput. A total of 2.2 aircraft flight hours were saved. Delays imposed upon arriving traffic in the simulation were much more equitably distributed than in the actual traffic sample. An even greater improvement may be possible if controllers are able to space aircraft more precisely on final approach than was achieved in the simulation. If the plan had been followed precisely, the throughput increase would have been 23%.
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Summary

Airport capacity can be improved significantly-by precisely controlling the sequence and timing of traffic flow-even when airspace usage and procedures remain fixed. In a preliminary experiment, a plan for such sequencing and timing was applied in a simulation to a 70-min traffic sample observed at Boston's Logan Airport, and the...

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Experimental examination of the benefits of improved terminal air traffic control planning

Using aircraft radar tracks to estimate winds aloft

January 1, 1989
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Journal Article
Author:
Walter M. Hollister
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Published in:
Lincoln Laboratory Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, Fall 1989, pp. 555-565.
Topic:
aviation weather
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

In air traffic control, the wind is a critical factor because it affects, among other important variables, the amount of time an aircraft will take to reach its destination. The authors have developed a method for estimating winds aloft in which the radar tracks of aircraft are used; i.e., data beyond what are already available to terminal air traffic control are not required. The method, which has been implemented at Lincoln Laboratory, gives a useful estimate of wind fields.
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Summary

In air traffic control, the wind is a critical factor because it affects, among other important variables, the amount of time an aircraft will take to reach its destination. The authors have developed a method for estimating winds aloft in which the radar tracks of aircraft are used; i.e., data...

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Using aircraft radar tracks to estimate winds aloft

Collision avoidance for Naval training aircraft

March 8, 1985
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Project Report
Author:
John W. Andrews
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-125
Topic:
collision avoidance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Lincoln Laboratory was tasked by the FAA to assist the Naval Air Training Command in evaluating the feasibility of using the FAA's TCAS I concept as the document summarizes the results of a brief study and flight test activity conducted to that end. It begins with a review of Lincoln Laboratory's understanding of the nature of the mid-air collision problem at the Naval Air Training Center. This is followed by a brief analysis of a set of documented collisions and near-miss encounters involving aircraft of Navy Training Air Wing 5 at Whiting Naval Air Station in Florida in 1982 and 1983. Experience gained from FAA and Lincoln Laboratory flight tests of similar encounters is reviewed and applied to the Navy encounter data base. This is followed by a review of the results obtained when a Lincoln Laboratory aircraft equipped with a TCAS Experimental Unit (TEU) was flown to Whiting Field to evaluate the ability of TCAS I equipment to perform reliable surveillance in the Naval training environment. Flight test results show that the environment is quite unlike typical civil environments, but that the TCAS surveillance design would be capable of providing a significant degree of protection to Naval trainers.
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Summary

Lincoln Laboratory was tasked by the FAA to assist the Naval Air Training Command in evaluating the feasibility of using the FAA's TCAS I concept as the document summarizes the results of a brief study and flight test activity conducted to that end. It begins with a review of Lincoln...

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Collision avoidance for Naval training aircraft

A traffic alert and collision avoidance system for general aviation

October 1, 1983
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Conference Paper
Author:
Vincent A. Orlando
…
Published in:
IEEE/AIAA 5th Digital Avionics Systems Conf., Seattle, WA, 31 October - 3 November 1983, pp. 20.
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

One component of the Federal Aviation Administration approach to independent aircraft separation assurance is known as the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System I (TCAS I), which employs passive or active techniques for the detection of nearby transponder-equipped aircraft. This paper gives the results of a study conducted by Lincoln Laboratory of simple techniques for the passive and active detection of transponders. Filter criteria that may be used to restrict passive detections to potentially threatening aircraft are described and evaluated. These techniques and criteria were used in a candidate passive detector whose performance was evaluated in flight against targets of opportunity. A candidate low-power active interrogator was also evaluated through link calculations and airborne measurements. The results indicate that a low-power active interrogator can provide more reliable detection of nearby aircraft and a lower false alert rate than any of the simple passive techniques considered. The active technique generates insignificant levels of interference and, unlike a passive system, also provides protection in regions where there are no ground interrogators.
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Summary

One component of the Federal Aviation Administration approach to independent aircraft separation assurance is known as the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System I (TCAS I), which employs passive or active techniques for the detection of nearby transponder-equipped aircraft. This paper gives the results of a study conducted by Lincoln...

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A traffic alert and collision avoidance system for general aviation

Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS): a functional overview of minimum TCAS II

April 8, 1983
  |
Project Report
Author:
Jerry D. Welch
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-119
Topic:
collision avoidance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) is a beanon-based airborne collision avoidance system that is able to operate in all airspace without reliance on ground equipment. The TCAS concept encompasses a range of capabilities that include TCAS I, a low-cost, limited-perofrmance version, and TCAS II, which is intended to provide a comprehensive level of separation assurance in all current and predicted airspace environments through the end of this century. This document provides a functional overview of the TCAS II including operating features, a description of the avionics package, and examples of surveillance data obtained with experimental TCAS equipment.
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Summary

The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) is a beanon-based airborne collision avoidance system that is able to operate in all airspace without reliance on ground equipment. The TCAS concept encompasses a range of capabilities that include TCAS I, a low-cost, limited-perofrmance version, and TCAS II, which is intended...

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Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS): a functional overview of minimum TCAS II
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