Capturing Desired Attributes of a Dynamic Airspace Design Method

Abstract

From 2007 to 2010, six airspace design methods were developed by NASA with the goal of dynamically changing sector boundaries to reduce imbalances between air traffic demand and control capacity. These airspace design methods were evaluated in either or both fasttime and human-in-the-loop air traffic simulations. Whereas all of the six airspace design methods share a common goal ‐ to reduce demand and capacity imbalances by redrawing sector boundaries ‐ each method uses a different approach to achieve this goal. The objective of this paper is to capture desired attributes of a dynamic airspace design method. That is, using the previous simulations’ data, identify attributes from the six methods that increase air traffic system benefit and generate airspace designs that are acceptable to air traffic controllers. The intent of this paper is not to specify a particular airspace design method. Rather, the intent is to compile a list of desired attributes of a consolidated airspace design method that may be implemented in the future for further evaluation and development. Results show that the system benefit and the controller acceptance level of redrawn airspace boundaries increased most with attributes that enhanced the output sectors’ alignment to the direction of traffic flow. They are clean-sheet followed by localimprovement redrawing approach, aircraft count and sector design cost function base, and modified topology from the input airspace. Another attribute, implicit output sector number specification, increased the system benefit when compared to explicit specification.