Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2016. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 173-184). / Divergence is defined in this thesis as an inconsistency between the human operator's assumption of the system state and the actual state of the system, which is substantial enough to have consequential effects on the outcome of the situation. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the concept of divergence and develop a framework that can be used to identify the consequential causes of divergence in cases involving human-system interaction. Many recent aircraft accidents involve divergence between the crew state assumption and the actual system state. As aircraft systems and automation become more complex, it's possible that the consequential effects of divergence, illustrated by these accidents, could become more prevalent due to the correspondingly more complex understanding that may be required by the crew to effectively operate the aircraft. Divergence was explored as a concept by (1) understanding the previous literature related to divergence such as work on human error, human information processing, situation awareness, and mode awareness (2) developing a framework that can be used to understand possible causes of divergence, (3) illustrating use of the framework with accident case studies, and (4) discussing the implications of the findings of the case study analysis of divergence. Human information processing of divergence was developed using the established human information processing literature including Wickens (1992), Endsley (1995), and Reason (1990). The framework highlighted the inputs to the human and represented human processing of this information in relation to formation of a state assumption. The process model was used to identify potential causes of divergence, which were hypothesized as human information processing failures affecting the human state assumption, and to evaluate the effects of those failures on downstream processes and the human state assumption. Eleven accident case studies involving automation mode confusion were conducted to evaluate divergence using the process model of divergence. Eight of the case studies involved auto-throttle mode confusion and the three remaining cases involved divergence in other automation systems that resulted in controlled flight into terrain. The industry implications of the findings of the case studies were then discussed. / by Sathya Silva. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-157). / by Andrew Kang Sang Fund. / M.S.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-188). / by George John Govatzidakis. / M.S.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-159). / Satellites have become a critical component of nearly every aspect of modern life. In addition to well-known civilian applications, military applications of space-based platforms include supporting mission operations through communications; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR); and position, navigation and timing (PN&T). While satellite applications are numerous and increasing technical achievements make satellites more capable, they do have several drawbacks. Satellites are expensive, they require long development times and they are difficult to replace. Since the successful Chinese anti-satellite (ASAT) missile test on January 11, 2006, U.S. military leaders have become increasingly concerned over this new vulnerability to critical space assets. In addition to efforts designed to improve operationally responsive space capabilities, military leaders have begun researching alternatives to space-based platforms. In November, 2006, the U.S. Army released the Army Space Master Plan (ASMP). In the unclassified extract of that plan, the Army identifies a list of eight topics for further investigation including the question, "Where should the Army invest in near-space and high-altitude, long-endurance [HALE] platforms as a lower cost, more responsive alternative to space platforms if they prove technically feasible?" This thesis discusses technical challenges associated with making HALE platforms feasible and explores the potential benefits of using these platforms to augment or enhance the three primary military applications of communications, ISR and PN&T including a detailed examination of current satellite-based military payload capabilities and limitations. / (cont.) Finally, this thesis discusses potential methods to integrate HALE capabilities into the current U.S. Army Space Operations doctrine and provides some suggestions for the potential role of Army Space Operations in the design, development, implementation and use of HALE systems. By demonstrating how the Army can use HALE platforms to reduce the capability gap and fulfill more of the users' requirements, this research will answer the question posed in the Army Space Master Plan. / by William Everette Symolon. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2008. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-72). / This study estimates the impacts of commercial aviation noise at 181 airports around the world. These airports are located in 38 countries plus Taiwan, with 95 of the airports located in the United States. They are part of the 190 Shell 1 airports in the FAA's Model for Assessing Global Exposure to the Noise of Transport Aircraft (MAGENTA), which comprise an estimated 91% of total global aviation noise exposure [FAA 2008]. The model calculates both physical and monetary impacts of aviation noise. The physical metrics are the number of people exposed to 55 dB or more noise, and the number of people highly annoyed. The model uses a noise depreciation index developed from hedonic pricing studies of housing transactions to monetize the effects on property owners in terms of housing value loss and rent changes. Due to data collection difficulties the impacts are only approximately consistent chronologically. Population data are from the years 2000 and 2001 depending on the country, while house prices and rents are 2006 estimates, and noise levels are for the year 2005. Based on there data, we calculated that around the 181 airports more than 14 million people are exposed to at least 55 dB of commercial aviation noise. Of these individuals, approximately 2.3 million are highly annoyed. We found that the noise resulted in a total of $21 billion of housing value depreciation, which is equivalent to about $1.1 billion per year using a 30-year life of the house and a 3% discount rate, and an additional $800 million of lost rent each year. The impacts are spread over all parts of the world. Although most of the airports included in this study are located in the US and Europe, each continent with an airport in the study had airports with greater than $100 million in housing value loss and greater than 200,000 exposed people. / (cont.) Furthermore, North America, Europe, and Asia each had examples of airports with an estimated $80 million in annualized housing value loss ($1 billion total), 400,000 people exposed to 55 dB, and $25 million in yearly lost rent. We also examined potential changes to these impacts in the future for a scenario with no technological or operational advances to reduce noise (with the exception of retirement of older aircraft in the fleet). Based on an assumption of 2-3% annual growth rates in operations at these airports between 2005 and 2035 with no noise-technology improvements, we found that the undiscounted housing value and rent loss could approximately double by 2035 while the population exposed to 55 dB and highly annoyed could increase by about 70%. These results demonstrate the potential gains from further advances in aircraft technology and operations to mitigate community noise. / by Christopher KIsh. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-80). / by David L. Ferris. / S.M.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1987. / Bibliography: leaves 217-229. / by John S. Langford, III. / Ph.D.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2018. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 57-63). / Asia-Pacific anthropogenic emissions have changed rapidly in recent years due to industrialization, increasing mobility, and emissions controls. Although these changes have altered the region's burden of premature mortalities due to ambient fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅), the contribution of each sector and effectiveness of different policy measures has not yet been quantified. Such data would inform future decision-making on both policy effectiveness and the relative importance of controlling emissions from different sectors. This study estimates changes in regional anthropogenic emissions by industrial sector between 2010 and 2015, based on sector-level activity indicators and enacted emission controls. These factors are applied to an existing high-resolution emissions inventory for 2010 to estimate emissions up to 2015. Using a chemical transport model, the effects of changes in each sector's contribution to total PM₂.₅-driven premature mortalities are calculated for 2010 - 2015, in addition to the total contribution of each sector to premature mortality in 2015. 2,000,000 (95% CI: 1,740,000-2,260,000) annual global PM₂.₅-driven premature mortalities are attributed to Asia-Pacific anthropogenic sectoral emissions in 2015. The agricultural, industrial, and residential sectors constitute the top three sources of these total impacts. Between 2010 and 2015, sustained economic and activity growth, particularly in South and Southeast Asia, have led to 129,000 (95% CI: 106,000-166,000) additional annual premature mortalities, primarily across India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. The energy and industrial sectors, in particular, cause 38,000 and 45,000 additional annual premature mortalities across these three countries respectively. Simultaneously, falling activity rates in other countries due to structural changes such as electrification of railroads, as well as newly introduced abatement measures over this period, including China's Action Plan on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution as well as region-wide adoption of Euro IV/V/VI-compliant road vehicle emission and fuel quality standards have led to a total reduction of 95,000 (95% CI: 76,000-129,000) annual premature mortalities, primarily across East Asia, including China and Japan. These opposing drivers result in a net change of an additional 34,000 (95% CI: 23,000-47,000) PM2.5-driven annual premature mortalities between 2010 and 2015 due to Asia-Pacific anthropogenic emissions. / by Kingshuk Dasadhikari. / S.M.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1989. / GRSN 406710 / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-147). / by Robert J. Polutchko. / M.S.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-184). / This thesis presents new insights and techniques for the analysis and design of autonomous or technology-assisted ("intelligent") transportation systems. The focus is on cooperative, on-line planning and control, of a fleet of transport vehicles with limited carrying capacity, where new transportation demands enter the system in real time. The study extends an existing probabilistic framework which has provided numerous insights about vehicle scheduling and routing problems since its inception. Additionally, the thesis provides algorithms and new probabilistic cost bounds, for optimal bipartite matchings between large sets of random points and optimal stacker crane tours through large sets of random demands. A recurrent theme of the thesis is that capacity-constrained vehicles must drive passenger-less, inescapably, for some positive fraction of time (in almost any practical setting). Moreover, under probabilistic modelling for the uncertainty of demand, one can predict the aforementioned fraction precisely, using strong Laws of Large Numbers arguments; it relates to a quantity known as the Earth Mover's distance (EMD), described by a fundamental problem in transportation theory. Since the existence of an unavoidable extra cost term has significant implications, e.g., for operational budgets of shared-vehicle systems, the results illuminate a phenomenon whose neglect could prove an unfortunate oversight. To the author's knowledge, this connection of the EMD to on-line vehicle routing is novel. The thesis also provides a new study of the practical considerations imposed by the "street rules" ubiquitous among ground-based transport problems. A new efficient algorithm for the Bipartite Matching problem for points on a roadmap is given. Also given is a new explicit formulation of the EMD on road networks; very few explicit formulas for EMDs have been known previously. / by Kyle Treleaven. / Ph. D.