Federal Aviation Administration Integrated Arrival/Departure Flow Service “ Big Airspace” Presented to: TFM Research Board Presented by: Cynthia Morris ATO-P Concept Development Date: October 16, 2008

2 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, Outline  Concept  Validation Approach and Findings  Current Status  Automation Requirements

3 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, Current Arrival/Departure Operations En Route Problem Description In major metropolitan areas, arrival/departure airspace is managed by multiple facilities. Complex interactions among facilities and arrival/departure airspace:  Create complexity  Increase controller workload, inter-facility coordination  Limit procedures and affect controller’s ability to optimize airspace  Create traffic flow disruptions far from the airport to commence staging aircraft for arrivals Operational inefficiencies and non-uniform flows affect traffic throughout the area Increased airline, FAA, and consumer costs Problem Description In major metropolitan areas, arrival/departure airspace is managed by multiple facilities. Complex interactions among facilities and arrival/departure airspace:  Create complexity  Increase controller workload, inter-facility coordination  Limit procedures and affect controller’s ability to optimize airspace  Create traffic flow disruptions far from the airport to commence staging aircraft for arrivals Operational inefficiencies and non-uniform flows affect traffic throughout the area Increased airline, FAA, and consumer costs Transition (ARR/DEP) Terminal

4 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, New Operational Concept (Big Airspace) High Altitude Operations (5 mile radar separation) Additional Routes Integrated Arrival/Departure Operations (3 mile radar separation)  Integrates ARR/DEP airspace into one control service and one facility  3 mile separation and terminal techniques up to top of descent  Additional Performance Based Navigation routes  Integrates flow management for efficient flows from top of descent  Dynamic airspace reconfiguration to enable bi- directional routes, route traffic around WX and manage controller workload  Initial step to achieve NextGen Super-Density Ops  Integrates ARR/DEP airspace into one control service and one facility  3 mile separation and terminal techniques up to top of descent  Additional Performance Based Navigation routes  Integrates flow management for efficient flows from top of descent  Dynamic airspace reconfiguration to enable bi- directional routes, route traffic around WX and manage controller workload  Initial step to achieve NextGen Super-Density Ops

5 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, Concept Validation Approach  Developed Concept of Operations  Developed Generic Airspace Simulations to model concept  Fast-Time (FT) Simulation Modeling based on 2012 (baseline), +50%, and +100% traffic levels  Modeled entire arrival/departure airspace for a 24 hour period  Human Performance Modeling (HPM) modeled two arrival and departure sectors to estimate workload effect of increased traffic and data communications  Real-Time, Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) Simulation using two arrival and departure sectors measured effect of concept on controllers and validated flight efficiency improvements  Conducted Preliminary Safety and Requirements Analysis  Conducted ROM Cost-Benefit Analysis

6 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, Terminal Sector D Ghost Sector (not depicted) Terminal Sector A En Route Sector 02 (GRUPR) En Route Sector 01 (BAASS) Depiction of the airspace for the BL condition

7 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, Feeder Sector - A Airport Departure Sector - D D Departure Transition Sector 02 (GRUPR) Arrival Transition Sector 01 (BAASS) Dynamic Airspace 2 Dynamic Airspace 1 Ghost Sector Depiction of the airspace for the BA conditions

8 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, Benefits  Overall Benefits  Initial step to achieve NextGen Super-Density Operations  Focal point around which to organize NextGen Integrated planning and execution  Airspace, technology, facilities  Service Provider Benefits  Reduced inter-facility coordination  Decreased air-to-ground communication  Decreased controller workload  Improved situational awareness  Controllers operate strategically  Increased safety  User Benefits  Reduced fuel burn  Improved use of available runways  More efficient routing around WX  Reduced airspace delays  Increased route flexibility  More efficient flow strategies

9 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, Current Status  Integrated Arrival/Departure Operations (Big Airspace) approved as the FAA’s mid term concept for Super Density Operations  Planning activities to determine changes needed to implement 3 mile separation standards, diverging course procedures, and more closely spaced routes throughout integrated arrival/departure airspace  Safety Assessment  Technical assessment of multi-sensor processing may be needed  Developing more detailed automation requirements to be used to assess alternatives for implementing concept requirements into existing systems  Developing list of candidate locations for initial implementation of the concept based on objective and subjective criteria

10 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, Automation Analysis Needs  Big Airspace Concept Development and Validation study (FAA, 2007) identified the following automation requirements:  Changes to existing surveillance data processors to support 3- mile separation standards  Common automation platform with common computer-human interface (CHI) and tools including flight data processing amendment capabilities  Time Based Metering enhancements to add additional metering points within the BA arrival transition areas, with final meter points near the sector boundaries between the arrival transition and feeder sectors  A departure sequencing tool for departures from any airport where the same runway is used for both arrivals and departures. In addition, an integrated departure scheduler that analyzed the interrelationships of closely spaced major metropolitan airports would optimize common departure paths and optimally reduce ground delay

11 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, Current Automation Requirements Research  MITRE CAASD tasked to develop lower level automation requirements and to assess these requirements against existing automation systems  Analyze existing terminal, en route, and traffic management system automation functions and tools to determine the features and their associated requirements needed for Big Airspace control (Due November 2008)  Evaluate the technical and cost impacts for providing requirements against various alternative strategies that represent modifications to existing automation systems (Due April 2009) 11

12 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, TFM Requirements  TFM personnel that participated in the BA concept development and validation activities identified the following TFM requirements  Big Airspace Traffic Management encompass the capabilities currently used for terminal and en route arrival/departure transition airspace and the new operational features of the concept.  Big Airspace facility will be responsible for adjusting flows and meeting metering times that enable the maximum capacity of the airports within its control to be achieved  Big Airspace TFM will be responsible for assessing and coordinating dynamic airspace changes

13 Federal Aviation Administration Big Airspace TRB Presentation October 16, TFM Tool Requirements*  Arrival Sequencing Decision Support Tool  Departure Sequencing Tool  Handle multiple airports feeding a common departure fix  Enhanced Traffic Management System including FSM, NTML, and TSD  Dynamic Reconfiguration Decision Support Tool  Identify aircraft whose routes will need to be changed given a reconfiguration scenario and notify the flight data processor and other decision support tools, such as TMA  Surface Movement Monitoring Tool  View of runway departure queue and potentially taxi times (ramp or gate or when hit taxiways) to help plan with overhead sequencing etc.  Weather Systems  An accurate forecast product of weather impacts on the airspace and flows. * Existing system names used for simplicity. MITRE tasked to translate these into generic requirements.