Publications
Wind information requirements for NextGen applications phase 7 report
Summary
Summary
This report details the Required Time of Arrival (RTA) performance of B757 aircraft arriving at various meter fixes across a range of altitudes from 33,000' down to 3,000' above ground level (AGL). The system tested demonstrated less than ±10 second arrival error in at least 95% of flights at meter...
Command and control for multifunction phased array radar
Summary
Summary
We discuss the challenge of managing the Multifunction Phased Array Radar (MPAR) timeline to satisfy the requirements of its multiple missions, with a particular focus on weather surveillance. This command and control (C2) function partitions the available scan time among these missions, exploits opportunities to service multiple missions simultaneously, and...
En route sector capacity model final report
Summary
Summary
Accurate predictions of en route sector capacity are vital when analyzing the benefits of proposed new air traffic management decision-support tools or new airspace designs. Controller workload is the main determinant of sector capacity. This report describes a new workload-based capacity model that improves upon the Federal Aviation Administration's current...
ASR-9 Weather Systems Processor technology refresh and upgrade
Summary
Summary
The Weather Systems Processor (WSP) is an add-on system to the Airport Surveillance Radar-9 (ASR-9) that generates wind shear detection and storm tracking products for the terminal airspace. As the original system ages and pre-purchased replacement parts in the depot are used up, it becomes increasingly problematic to procure hardware...
Secondary Surveillance Phased Array Radar (SSPAR): initial feasibility study
Summary
Summary
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is deploying Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) to provide next-generation surveillance derived through down- and cross-link of global positioning satellite (GPS) navigation data. While ADS-B will be the primary future surveillance system, FAA recognizes that backup surveillance capabilities must be provided to assure that air traffic...
Due regard encounter model version 1.0
Summary
Summary
Airspace encounter models describe encounter situations that may occur between aircraft in the airspace and are a critical component of safety assessment of sense and avoid (SAA) systems for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs). Some UAS will fly in international airspace under due regard and may encounter other aircraft during these...
Sector workload model for benefits analysis and convective weather capacity prediction
Summary
Summary
En route sector capacity is determined mainly by controller workload. The operational capacity model used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides traffic alert thresholds based entirely on hand-off workload. Its estimates are accurate for most sectors. However, it tends to over-estimate capacity in both small and large sectors because...
Optimized airborne collision avoidance in mixed equipage environments
Summary
Summary
Developing robust collision avoidance logic that reliably prevents collision without excessive alerting is challenging due to sensor error and uncertainty in the future paths of the aircraft. Over the past few years, research has focused on the use of a computational method known as dynamic programming for producing an optimized...
Risk-based modeling to support NextGen concept assessment and validation
Summary
Summary
This report provides a brief review of major risk-based modeling (RBM) approaches, with particular emphasis on how these tools can be applied during initial Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) concept development and how their use can be validated. Effective safety analysis should play a role even during a new...
Measurements of the 1030 and 1090 MHz environments at JFK International Airport
Summary
Summary
Measurements of signals in the 1030 and 1090 MHz frequency bands have been made by MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the last several years, previously in the Boston area and most recently in April 2011, at JFK International Airport near New York City. This JFK measurement activity was performed as a...