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CTAS-FMS Integration (CFI ’02)

CFI’02 compared a sector-oriented approach to arrival flow management to a candidate trajectory-oriented approach. The sector-oriented approach was based on the existing 2002 operations for handling arrival traffic in a time-based metering situation. The trajectory-oriented approach provided advanced tools for the controller and introduced a more active interaction with the traffic management coordinator (TMC). These additions helped to manage an arrival flow from a broader perspective, helping controllers, especially controllers in upstream sectors, to use strategic clearances to improve the downstream flow at the meter fix merge.

NASA researcher using the CTAS-FMS tool in a simulation in the Airspace Operation Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center
NASA researcher Thomas Prevot using the CTAS-FMS tool in a simulation in the Airspace Operation Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center
Credit – NASA

CFI’02 sought to validate the assumed benefits associated with a trajectory-oriented approach. This research was conducted in two operational modes. The first was a baseline condition resembling current day operations for time-based metering. The trajectory-oriented approach was the other condition, adding such tools as CTAS/FMS descent procedures, conflict prediction, trial planning, speed advisories, automation to support controller-controller clearance coordination, and TMA-derived meter fix RTA advisory updates to en route aircraft.

The CFI’02 experiment gave us an opportunity to determine what benefits could be gained by introducing ground-based procedures for trajectory-oriented traffic management, and to develop scenarios and metrics to support other DAG-TM concepts.

CTAS-FMS Integration Publications

B.W. Crane, T. Prevot, E. Palmer & M. Shafto (2000) Flight Crew Factors for CTAS/FMS Integration in the Terminal Area, HCI International, International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

S. Romahn, E. Palmer & C. Null (1999) Experimental Evaluation of CTAS/FMS Integration in TRACON Airspace, Tenth International Symposium on Aviation Psychology 

T. Prevot, N. Smith, E. Palmer & C. Null (1999) Transitioning from Free-Flight to TRACON Airspace: The Ground Perspective of User-Preferred Descents, Tenth International Symposium on Aviation Psychology 

N.G. Leveson & E. Palmer (1998) Safety Analysis of FMS/CTAS Interactions During Aircraft Arrivals, Final Report: Safety Analysis of FMS/CTAS Interactions During Aircraft Arrivals

E. Palmer, D. Williams, T. Prevot, S. Romahn, T. Goka, et. al. (1998) An Operational Concept for Flying FMS Trajectories in Center and TRACON Airspace, International Conference on Aviation Psychology