About DRAW
Safely and efficiently managing air traffic arriving at airports is challenging in stormy weather. Dynamic Routes for Arrivals in Weather (DRAW) is part of NASA’s solution to help controllers reroute flights impacted by weather. The system dynamically reroutes flights to reduce delays – with more efficient paths for arrival, we can see significant flight time and fuel savings.
The Simulation
The fourth in a series of Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) studies of the Dynamic Routes for Arrivals in Weather (DRAW) tool was conducted October 22 – November 2, 2019 at NASA Ames Research Center’s Air Traffic Control (ATC) simulation laboratory. The purpose of this simulation was to evaluate arrival metering and weather impact mitigation benefits for Atlanta En Route Center (ZTL) arrivals, to assess the effects of different schedule freeze horizon distances on DRAW performance, and to evaluate DRAW reroute coordination with expanded (relative to the third HITL study) operations into Jacksonville En Route Center (ZJX) airspace.
Study participants included four recently-retired Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs) (two each from ZTL and ZJX) and seven recently-retired Sector Controllers (two from ZTL, one from ZJX, and four from Oakland Center). A pair of TMCs (one from ZTL, one from ZJX) participated as a team each week of the study, with the ZTL TMC participating as the primary DRAW user and the ZJX TMC providing consultation for reroutes impacting ZJX airspace and operations.
Each TMC team evaluated two weather-impacted arrival traffic scenarios at two schedule freeze horizon distances, both with and without DRAW functionality, across 16 total runs. The DRAW functions included TMC reroute advisories and schedule impact/delay information. TMCs used the DRAW trial planning capability to evaluate candidate reroutes for weather avoidance, assess their schedule delay impact, coordinate reroutes with sector controllers when required, and amend flight routes as necessary to maintain effective arrival metering. The inclusion of ZJX personnel in this fourth HITL study allowed researchers to investigate the coordination required for reroutes across Center boundaries.
Data collection included questionnaires and DRAW performance data. Researchers gained valuable feedback toward DRAW use in operations that may include extended metering and coupled scheduling. Data analysis is currently underway.
Learn More
DRAW is part of Airspace Technology Demonstration 3 (ATD-3). ATD-3 integrates ground and flight deck technologies that continuously seek and identify more efficient routes around adverse weather and other airspace constraints.
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