•We propose a methodology to determine minimum distance separation for safe airspace.•Algorithms for sector/traffic design and applying separation values are proposed.•Multiobjective optimization is ...used to find the minimum separation values.•We show the trade-off between separation values and aircraft pairs violating safety.•We illustrate how sector/traffic properties affect the minimum separation values.
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A precursor question to increase the capacity of an airspace is to determine the minimum distance separation required to make this airspace safe. A methodology to answer this question is proposed in this paper. The methodology takes sector volume, number of crossings and crossing angles of routes, and the number of aircraft as input, and generate air traffic scenarios which satisfy the input values. A stochastic multi-objective optimization algorithm is then used to optimize separation values. The algorithm outputs the set of non-dominated solutions representing the trade-off between separation values and the best attainable target level of safety. The results show that the proposed methodology is successful in determining the minimum distance separation values required to make an air traffic scenario safe from a collision risk perspective, and in illustrating how minimum separation values are affected by different sector/traffic characteristics.
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Abstract This study delves into the realm of Air Traffic Management (ATM) and its criticality in ensuring the safety and resilience of aviation systems. Traditionally, safety has been approached ...reactively (Safety I), but with the complexities of socio-technical systems like ATM, a shift towards proactive measures is essential. This research explores Resilience Engineering (RE) and Safety II, emphasizing learning from a system’s adaptability in everyday situations. ATM, a multifaceted system, relies on technology, organization, and human interactions, striving to maintain equilibrium among these pillars for safe and efficient operations. Any changes to these elements can disrupt this balance, necessitating a systemic perspective. Safety in ATM depends on resource availability, timeliness, and coordination among organizations and humans, while resilient performance extends safety beyond the expected operating conditions. To unify safety and resilience, this study introduces the Safety Resilience-Bayesian Network (SR-BBN) model. This model integrates data-driven and knowledge-based approaches, categorizing variables into separations, external factors, nominal conditions, and Air Traffic Controller (ATCO) strategies. The SR-BBN model aids in predicting safety outcomes and identifies influential variables.
WHAT'S NEXT? Bushnell, Dennis M
Aerospace America,
10/2023, Volume:
61, Issue:
9
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Bushnell discusses electric air taxis which could turn out to be a stepping stone to a transportation revolution that will change where and how people live and maybe help clean up the planet. ...Personal air vehicles (PAVs) are a small part of an advanced air mobility movement dominated by startups flying prototypes of all-electric air taxis. PAVs have been a dream for more than a century, even if people did not call them that. The patent that Orville and Wilbur Wright filed in Mar 1903 for a one-person Wright Flying Machine could arguably be described as a PAV. Air traffic management remains the major pacing item for this revolution, given the raw numbers of PAVs that would have to be airborne: tens of millions versus the current tens of thousands. With such a scope, regulators will need to shift away from today's largely manual system in which pilots must be aboard aircraft and air traffic controllers must give them commands. The crux enabler will be an autonomous and artificially intelligent ATM system working in real time in concert with autonomous software onboard the PAVs.
The diverse club Bertolero, M A; Yeo, B T T; D'Esposito, M
Nature communications,
11/2017, Volume:
8, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
A complex system can be represented and analyzed as a network, where nodes represent the units of the network and edges represent connections between those units. For example, a brain network ...represents neurons as nodes and axons between neurons as edges. In many networks, some nodes have a disproportionately high number of edges as well as many edges between each other and are referred to as the "rich club". In many different networks, the nodes of this club are assumed to support global network integration. Here we show that another set of nodes, which have edges diversely distributed across the network, form a "diverse club". The diverse club exhibits, to a greater extent than the rich club, properties consistent with an integrative network function-these nodes are more highly interconnected and their edges are more critical for efficient global integration. Finally, these two clubs potentially evolved via distinct selection pressures.
•Propose integrated ATFM models for separation management and ground holding•Jointly consider system efficiency and inter-airline equity when allocating ATFM delay•Introduce robustness to both system ...efficiency and inter-airline equity•Develop exact, heuristic, and learning-augmented heuristic solution approaches•Propose three methods for solution selection from a Pareto frontier
Motivated by a recent air traffic flow management (ATFM) initiative in the Southeast Asia region, this paper considers a new ATFM model that integrates Minutes-In-Trail (MINIT) with ground holding and jointly considers system efficiency and inter-airline equity. Three equity metrics are investigated including two Gini coefficient-based metrics previously not considered for inter-airline equity. We formulate both deterministic and robust bi-objective optimization models, with the notion of robustness introduced to equity as well as to efficiency. Several solution approaches are proposed, including an exact approach based on the ε-constraint method and linearization techniques, and heuristics approaches which adapt nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) and a learning-augmented nondominated sorting move (L-NSM) algorithm. For solving the robust bi-objective models, Monte Carlo sampling is further integrated with L-NSM. As inter-airline equity is of primary concern in the models, we also propose three methods for solution selection from a Pareto frontier for potential ATFM use that take into account flight-level equity from different perspectives. Extensive numerical analysis is conducted showing superior performance of L-NSM in both computation time and solution quality for small, medium, and large cases, benefits of the proposed ATFM initiative over a case with only MINIT but no ground holding, differences and similarities of the three equity metrics used, characteristics of the selected solutions from Pareto frontiers using the three proposed methods, benefits of considering robustness, and results sensitivity to key parameters. Findings of this research shed lights on further development of integrated ATFM modeling of separation management with ground holding with bi-objective consideration and relevant practices.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ
Air travel demand has continued to increase rapidly over the past decade, causing severe flight delays. To reduce such delays, Air Navigation Service Providers need to first understand the ...operational capacity and congestion risks associated with a network, and then develop strategies accordingly. However, limited studies have been conducted due to lack of data. New opportunities have arisen given the availability of large-scale aircraft tracking data and many other digitalized records of operations. In response, we develop a novel data-driven framework that characterizes the operational structure and dynamics of an air traffic network using actual tracking data. The framework includes several new statistical measures and data analytic techniques to summarize airspace availability, network structure, and utilization patterns. We then apply the framework to analyze the air traffic networks in China and the US. The results reveal distinctive characteristics of these two networks. Airspace availability for commercial flights is much more restricted in China than the US. The network in China has a clear structure with distinct utilization patterns, while the network in the US has a more flexible structure featuring complex dynamics. These operational differences indicate that China faces a greater chance of en-route congestion when compared with the US. The results also demonstrate that the data-driven approach is effective to identify the actual behavior and complexity of an air traffic network, which are not captured by existing methods.
•A data-driven approach to characterize air traffic networks using flight tracks.•The approach can reveal network features not captured by existing methods.•Characteristics of China and the US air traffic networks are identified.•China network has a clear structure, less routes and limited utilization patterns.•The US network shows a more flexible structure featuring complex dynamics.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Air traffic controllers aim to optimize airport capacity, that is to increase the number of aircraft movements per hour maintaining a limited delay. There are several definitions of capacity, which ...depend on the considered airport element. This study focused on the development of a method that allows evaluating the impact of tower air traffic controllers' workload on airport capacity. It adapts a model for the workload of sector controllers designed by Eurocontrol to tower controllers and tests it on a heavily busy international airport. In order to collect controllers' working times, a campaign of data collection has been carried out from the radio frequency occupation. The results allowed us to extrapolate the hourly percentage of work of the various tower controllers using a fast-time simulation software. By imposing an hourly working threshold on tower air traffic controllers, it was possible to obtain a maximum number of manageable aircraft, which was compared with the airside capacity of the airport. The results show that the maximum traffic manageable from the airside would produce unacceptable workload for tower controllers, highlighting the link between airport capacity and the human component.
To update the current state of evidence and assess its quality, we conducted a systematic review on the effects of environmental noise exposure on the cardio-metabolic systems as input for the new ...WHO environmental noise guidelines for the European Region. We identified 600 references relating to studies on effects of noise from road, rail and air traffic, and wind turbines on the cardio-metabolic system, published between January 2000 and August 2015. Only 61 studies, investigating different end points, included information enabling estimation of exposure response relationships. These studies were used for meta-analyses, and assessments of the quality of evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). A majority of the studies concerned traffic noise and hypertension, but most were cross-sectional and suffering from a high risk of bias. The most comprehensive evidence was available for road traffic noise and Ischeamic Heart Diseases (IHD). Combining the results of 7 longitudinal studies revealed a Relative Risk (RR) of 1.08 (95% CI: 1.01-1.15) per 10 dB (L
) for the association between road traffic noise and the incidence of IHD. We rated the quality of this evidence as high. Only a few studies reported on the association between transportation noise and stroke, diabetes, and/or obesity. The quality of evidence for these associations was rated from moderate to very low, depending on transportation noise source and outcome. For a comprehensive assessment of the impact of noise exposure on the cardiovascular and metabolic system, we need more and better quality evidence, primarily based on longitudinal studies.
Visuospatial attention is a cognitive skill essential to the performance of air traffic control activities. We evaluated the effect of an anodic session of transcranial low-intensity direct current ...stimulation (tDCS) right parietal associated with cognitive training of visuospatial attention of 21 air traffic controllers. Within-subject designs were used, with all volunteers undergoing two tDCS sessions; an experimental (2 mA anodic) and control (sham) performed concomitantly with the cognitive training (2-Back). Visuospatial performance was measured using the Attention Network Test for Interactions and Vigilance pre- and post-intervention. The results indicate that after an active parietal tDCS session, the ATCOs showed faster responses, but not more accurate, for visuospatial attention in its aspects of orientation and reorientation. This result was significant when comparing baseline and post-tests in the active tDCS group. Comparing the post-tests between the tDCS active and sham groups, it is possible to infer a trend of improvement in the results based on faster and more accurate responses, which suggests a possible refinement of the ATCO’s attentional orientation. However, this population may eventually have reached a plateau in the performance of this skill. From the analysis of the results we arrive at the following hypotheses: (I) the increase in cortical excitability mediated by anodic tDCS frequently recorded may not be accompanied by improvements in behavioural measures; (II) the interaction between anodic tDCS with another event of increased excitability—execution of a cognitive task, may have hindered the occurrence of neuroplasticity; (III) the air traffic control activity may be associated with a high level of attention, which may have contributed to a ceiling effect for the development of this skill; (IV) online assessments may be more relevant to identify acute effects; (V) repeated sessions may be more efficient to find cumulative effects; (VI) the analysis of interactions between attentional networks can contribute to the study of visuospatial attention; (VII) tDCS protocols aimed at ATCO need to consider the specifics of this audience, such as circadian rhythm and sleep and fatigue conditions.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The European air traffic network (ATN), consisting of a set of airports and area control centres, is highly complex. The current indicator of its performance, air traffic flow management delays, is ...insufficient for planning and management purposes. Topological analysis of ATNs of this kind has highlighted betweenness centrality (BC) as an indicator of network robustness, although such an indicator assumes no knowledge of actual traffic flows and the network's operational characteristics. This paper conducts topological and operational analyses of the European ATN in order to derive a more relevant and appropriate indicator of robustness. By applying a flow maximisation model to the network influenced by a range of capacity reductions at the local level, we propose a new index called the Relative Area Index (RAI). The RAI quantifies the importance of an individual node relevant to the performance of the entire network when it suffers from capacity reduction at a local scale. Air traffic data from three typical busy days in Europe are utilised to show that the RAI is more flexible and capable than BC in capturing the network impact of local capacity degradation. This index can be used to assess network robustness and provide a valuable tool for airspace managers and planners.
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