How do air traffic controllers, or ATCos, distribute visual attention and can it vary between controllers? In this study, using primarily eye-tracking data and a couple of on-site interviews, these questions are explored. Two ATCos, with the most similar landings, had their eye-movements recorded with Tobii pro glasses 2 and further analysed by categorizing every fixation into different areas of interest during four landings. Two more ATCos were interviewed briefly during an observational visit to the control tower. The results showed that the ATCos distributed their attention fairly equally between the outside of the control tower and the inside. When attending to something outside the runway was the focus and when attention was inside the control tower the radar was usually the focus. The ATCos differed in their attention distribution by the presumably more experienced ATCo distributing their attention more outside the control tower than the presumably less experienced ATCo.  A large number of fixations were not categorized bringing the method of dividing the ATCos eye-tracking view into areas of interest into question.

Through a history of more than 50 years, the results of mathematical models have shown that controller workload is being driven by the complexity involved in the airspace environment. Part of this complexity is prompted by the dynamical behavior of traffic patterns. From the results of models describing controller’s workload, it is observed that predictability decreases the complexity. Therefore, the general idea behind this topic is to analyze how a specific notion of predictability influences the controller’s workload. This specific notion in this research is a type of automation that aircraft benefit from. In a more specific sense, the goal of this research was to analyze how the controllers handle the air traffic in different complex situations when exposed to different automation levels. The following dilemmas are focused through this work: - Information visualization of controllers’ interaction with radar screen - Quantification of dynamics of air traffic patterns - Modeling and quantification of controllers’ workload First, in order to have a grasp of the controllers’ interaction with the air traffic patterns, the controllers’ activities on the radar screen have been visualized in chapter 2. The visualization results for different automated conditions have been analyzed. Based on such analysis the criteria for problem space has been addressed and the main research question is identified. Next in chapter 3, the airspace complexity caused by air traffic flow has been studied and a set of known complexity factors are quantified using a novel calculation approach. With a logistics perspective toward airspace complexity, to calculate each complexity factor, a mathematical formulation has been used and the effects of each corresponding factor on controllers’ workload are addressed. Then in chapter 4, a novel approach toward modeling controller’s workload is presented. After implementing the model on 18 different scenarios, a model for controller’s workload has been developed in which around 60 percent of the en-route air traffic complexity values and around 80 percent of terminal air traffic complexity values could be well-matched with the workload values. From statistical point of view, the results are very much acceptable for experiments in which human factors are involved. Cognitive load has not been considered in the workload model which is the focus of a future work. Later on in chapter 5, the results for each complexity factor as well as workload models are analyzed and discussed for each sector separately. Based on the airspace complexity results, areas where traffic situation had become complex were identified and the controller’s response to different situations are discussed. For each complexity factor as well as workload, the results for three different scenarios featuring different automation levels for two en-route and terminal sectors are compared. At last in chapter 6, the main ideas are discussed, thesis conclusions are presented and possible future work is suggested.

Research shows that although the representation of women in the workforce has increased over the past couple of decades, there are many industries that still remain male dominated. In addition, it is generally known that such male-dominated industries have minimal female representation at their managerial levels. One such male-dominated industry in South Africa is the air traffic control (ATC) industry. Women represent about 30 percent of the industry, which suggest their status in the industry is still quite low. The purpose of this study was to examine male and female air traffic controllers’ perceptions of factors that facilitate and constrain women’s career advancement, and to determine whether there were any significant differences in their opinions. The study also identified what male and female air traffic controllers (ATCOs) think the industry can do to help prepare women for leadership positions in the industry, and how to eliminate barriers that may exist to women’s career advancement. Data for this study were collected through an online questionnaire adapted from Zhong’s (2006) study on a convenience sample (N = 147) of male and female ATCOs in South Africa. The data analysis was executed by using factor analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Content analysis was used to analyse the two open-ended questions. The findings from the ANOVA suggest that there were four significant gender differences in perceptions of the Personal effort/External support, Attitude/Internal character, Equity, and Family issues. There also were significant differences in opinion on External support/Personal effort, Attitude/Internal character, Equity and Family issues, depending on the number of children the respondents had, and significant differences of marital status on the External support/Personal effort and Family issues. Finally, significant differences were found in the years’ experience variable for Attitude/Internal character. In response to the open-ended questions, most of the respondents suggested that the ATC industry should offer training programmes to improve awareness of possible barriers within the industry, as well as to offer advice on how to overcome them and improve their leadership skills. This could be done by creating programmes on the knowledge and skills needed to advance one’s career or by providing mentors or role models. Future research could compare the perceptions of employees from different race groups and their perceptions of women’s career advancement in male-dominated industries. It is also recommended that researchers conduct in-depth qualitative interviews together with the current questionnaire to evaluate perceptions of the career advancement of women more critically. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

This study was conducted at the Swedish Defense research agency as an attempt to understand affordances and limitations in visualizing altitude information for fighter controllers. The fighter controllers are subject to large quantities of numerical information from multiple sources simultaneously. Their duties are highly stressful and require large mental workload and situational awareness. Today, a large portion of information is represented visually, except for altitude. The altitude of a jet is represented only numerically on the screen, next to the icon representing an airplane. This thesis attempts to aid the users in their tasks, by determining if interactive visual information could benefit the current system. This study resulted in one prototype, where height was represented in three different ways, one using color coordination, one using different sizes and one mimicked the current numerical representation. These variations were evaluated in a user study, consisting of semi structured interviews along with benchmark tests. None of the suggested visual cues could be demonstrated as more efficient than the current representation, but a majority of participants preferred the version using varying sizes as this was considered more intuitive and held less limitations than the other version. Future research is encouraged as to successfully determine if altitude information can be visually represented for a decreased mental workload. / Denna studie genomfördes vid Totalförsvarets Forskningsinstitut som ett försök att utreda möjligheter och svårigheter med att visuellt presentera information om altitud för flygstridsledare. Flygstridsledare utsätts för stora mängder numerisk information, från ett flertal olika källor simultant. Derad uppgifter utförs under hög stress och kräver stor mental belastning samt situationsmedvetenhet. Idag representeras en stor mängd information visuellt, på flygstridsledarens radarskärm, med undantaget för höjden. Ett objekts altitud på skärmen representeras alltid numeriskt, bredvid ikonen för flygplan. Detta arbete har gjorts i avsikt att hjälpa flygstridsledaren i dennes uppgifter, genom att utreda om interaktiv visuell information kan vara av nytta för deras nuvarande system. Denna studie resulterade i en prototyp, i vilken höjd representerades på tre olika sätt. Genom färg med varierande opacitet, genom olika storlekar på objekten, samt den nuvarande numeriska metoden. Dessa versioner utvärderades i en användarstudie, bestående av semistrukturerade intervjuer samt benchmark test. Ingen av de föreslagna visualiseringarna kunde påvisas mer effektiv än det nuvarande systemet, men en majoritet av deltagarna föredrog versionen med varierande storlekar, eftersom detta ansågs mer intuitivt samt hade färre begränsningar. Vidare studier uppmanas för att med framgång avgöra om altituden kan representeras visuellt, för en minskad mental belastning.

The aviation industry is under increasing pressure to reduce cost and manage the increased number of passengers. One area under pressure is the Air Traffic Control. The Air Traffic Control will in a foreseeable future manage the introduction of drones also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by integrating them into civil airspace with manned aircraft. Drones are lacking consensus from authorities with regards to standards due to their rapid expansion. Given their size, shape and speed, they can also pose threats to manned aircrafts and there is a need to address them in an Air Traffic Management system interoperating with manned aircrafts. The purpose in this study is to identify what considerations to make when automating complex system elements with respect to safety. Safety involves all the different stakeholders in the air transportation system, which is a Safety critical System. Furthermore, the aim is also to identify areas in which European Operational Concept Validation Methodology (E-OCVM) can be complemented with. Standard E-OCVM is missing specific assessment criteria with regards to safety and how it can interact with other standards. The approach is thereby to use various standards with focus on Systems Engineering to complement E-OCVM since it is lacking with regards to how it is used to validate Air Traffic Control systems. To capture the complexity of automating elements of an industry involving many stakeholders, a qualitative analysis was conducted in this project, using a System Engineering approach with four standards A-SLP, A-RLP, A-DAS and A-SAS. A-SLP and A-RLP are two general standards while A-DAS and A-SAS are focusing on the contexts of aircrafts and software development. Empirical data was gathered by semi-structured interviews of seven experts within the relevant areas in the field. From the review of the four standards, it was found that they can for instance complement E-OCVM in how software errors can lead to a failure condition among other ways. The main identified considerations faced with an integration of drones into civil airspace, is to manage the human interaction with the introduced Air Traffic Management systems. More specifically, the human element must be involved from the training phase in the development of systems in a Safety Critical System to minimize risk. Furthermore, redundancies that are built into the system has to, not only be able to put the system into a safe state, but also be carefully analyzed in how they interact with other systems to avoid misjudgement for the Air Traffic Controllers. Lastly, to obtain specific details on how interoperability could occur using standards, the standards used in this study refer to usage of other documents and standards. Standards specifically tailored for the operational context of drones would facilitate further testing and implementation of their integration into civil airspace. Given that different standards were used to complement the EOCVM standard, a set of unified standards are required that are proportional with the type of drones, the type of operations and in the environment that they are operating in. This will be needed to fulfill the European vision of safe integration of drones and needs thereby to be carried out in a global manner, thus also share experience with other actors to advance the new technology adaptation.

A língua franca utilizada na comunicação piloto-controlador ainda é pouco conhecida no meio acadêmico. Poucos estudos têm sido dedicados ao seu contexto de uso e ao mapeamento de suas características lingüísticas principais. Esta pesquisa acadêmica apresenta um estudo mais acurado da atividade de controlador de tráfego aéreo, no que se refere ao uso dessa linguagem de especialidade, além de desenvolver um estudo descritivo da língua franca utilizada na comunicação piloto-controlador para a identificação de suas características lingüísticas principais, com o recorte para a produção de material didático. Por meio da utilização do método do Professor André Camlong, a ferramenta computacional denominada STABLEX, fazemos uma análise descritiva, objetiva e indutiva de um corpus lingüístico, constituído dessa linguagem de especialidade. O que se pretende é oferecer subsídios aos professores de língua estrangeira para a produção do seu próprio material didático para o ensino dessa linguagem. É fato que, em determinados contextos de ensino, a necessidade de aprendizagem dos alunos é tão específica, que os materiais prontos para consumo, disponibilizados nas prateleiras das livrarias ou pelas editoras, não são suficientes, cabendo ao professor a tarefa de elaborá-los. No entanto, essa tarefa não tem se mostrado amistosa, já que o professor não dispõe de \"guias de orientação\", cientificamente justificáveis, para fazê-la. Assim sendo, o processo de elaboração torna-se intuitivo e empírico e, na grande maioria das vezes, restringese à adoção de fórmulas já consagradas de apresentação dos conteúdos. Acreditamos ser fundamental o correto entendimento das reais necessidades lingüísticas de um determinado público-alvo, para que haja mais condições de se estabelecerem processos mais ricos e eficientes de ensino e aprendizagem de qualquer língua estrangeira. / The lingua franca used in the communication between pilots and controllers is still not well known in the academic community. Few studies about its use and mapping of its main linguistic characteristics have been made. This theoretical research introduces an accurate study on the language used in the activity of air traffic controllers and develops a descriptive study of the lingua franca used in the communication between pilots and controllers, in order to identify its main linguistic characteristics towards material production. By using the method developed by Professor André Camlong and the computational tool STABLEX, an objective descriptive and inductive analysis of a linguistic corpus constituted by the language used in the ATC specialty has been conducted. The aim of this work is to provide language teachers with subsides for ATC material production hence helping teachers to elaborate materials that meet the very specific needs of their students based on the real needs of the stakeholders so as they can establish a more fruitful and efficient language teaching and learning process.

A língua franca utilizada na comunicação piloto-controlador ainda é pouco conhecida no meio acadêmico. Poucos estudos têm sido dedicados ao seu contexto de uso e ao mapeamento de suas características lingüísticas principais. Esta pesquisa acadêmica apresenta um estudo mais acurado da atividade de controlador de tráfego aéreo, no que se refere ao uso dessa linguagem de especialidade, além de desenvolver um estudo descritivo da língua franca utilizada na comunicação piloto-controlador para a identificação de suas características lingüísticas principais, com o recorte para a produção de material didático. Por meio da utilização do método do Professor André Camlong, a ferramenta computacional denominada STABLEX, fazemos uma análise descritiva, objetiva e indutiva de um corpus lingüístico, constituído dessa linguagem de especialidade. O que se pretende é oferecer subsídios aos professores de língua estrangeira para a produção do seu próprio material didático para o ensino dessa linguagem. É fato que, em determinados contextos de ensino, a necessidade de aprendizagem dos alunos é tão específica, que os materiais prontos para consumo, disponibilizados nas prateleiras das livrarias ou pelas editoras, não são suficientes, cabendo ao professor a tarefa de elaborá-los. No entanto, essa tarefa não tem se mostrado amistosa, já que o professor não dispõe de \"guias de orientação\", cientificamente justificáveis, para fazê-la. Assim sendo, o processo de elaboração torna-se intuitivo e empírico e, na grande maioria das vezes, restringese à adoção de fórmulas já consagradas de apresentação dos conteúdos. Acreditamos ser fundamental o correto entendimento das reais necessidades lingüísticas de um determinado público-alvo, para que haja mais condições de se estabelecerem processos mais ricos e eficientes de ensino e aprendizagem de qualquer língua estrangeira. / The lingua franca used in the communication between pilots and controllers is still not well known in the academic community. Few studies about its use and mapping of its main linguistic characteristics have been made. This theoretical research introduces an accurate study on the language used in the activity of air traffic controllers and develops a descriptive study of the lingua franca used in the communication between pilots and controllers, in order to identify its main linguistic characteristics towards material production. By using the method developed by Professor André Camlong and the computational tool STABLEX, an objective descriptive and inductive analysis of a linguistic corpus constituted by the language used in the ATC specialty has been conducted. The aim of this work is to provide language teachers with subsides for ATC material production hence helping teachers to elaborate materials that meet the very specific needs of their students based on the real needs of the stakeholders so as they can establish a more fruitful and efficient language teaching and learning process.

Über die psychologische Eignung von Fluglotsenbewerbern und Fluglotsenbewerberinnen wird mithilfe verschiedener wissenschaftlich entwickelter Selektionsverfahren in einem mehrstufigen Auswahlprozess entschieden. Typischerweise erfolgt in diesbezüglichen Eignungsuntersuchungen derzeit die Leistungserfassung in computerbasierten kognitiven Tests durch die Anzahl richtiger und falscher Antworten sowie mittels Reaktionszeiten – dabei bleibt bislang der Weg, der im besten Fall zur Lösung einer Aufgabe führt, weitgehend verborgen. Um tiefergehende Einsichten in die perzeptiven und kognitiven Prozesse zu erlangen und den Weg vom Beginn bis zum Ende der Bearbeitung einer visuellen Aufgabe transparent zu gestalten, bedarf es anderer Methoden – wie zum Beispiel der Methode der Blickbewegungsmessung. Hierbei werden die Blickbewegungen der zu untersuchenden Teilnehmenden während der Bearbeitung einer solchen Aufgabe aufgezeichnet und anschließend ausgewertet. In Anbetracht der geringen Anzahl an Studien, die zur Beziehung zwischen dem interindividuellen Blickverhalten und kognitiven Leistungsunterschieden vorliegen, besteht ein deutlicher Bedarf an weiterführenden Untersuchungen zu dieser Thematik. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, Erkenntnisse über die Verwendbarkeit einer berührungsfreien Blickbewegungsmessung im eignungsdiagnostischen Kontext der Luftfahrt – speziell bezüglich der Auswahl von Nachwuchsfluglotsen/innen am Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) – zu erlangen. Zur Erforschung dieser Fragestellung wurden zwei umfangreiche Arbeitspakete definiert und umgesetzt – zum einen die Entwicklung eines geeigneten Testverfahrens – des Eye Movement CONnflict Detection Test (CON) –, zum anderen die Untersuchung von Blickbewegungen im Kontext der Eignungsdiagnostik anhand des CON. Zur Entwicklung dieses neuen Testverfahrens wurden drei Vorstudien und eine Expertenstudie durchgeführt. Zusammenfassend legten die Ergebnisse der oben genannten Studien sowie die der Hauptstudie nahe, dass mit dem CON ein objektives, reliables und valides Messinstrument für den Einsatz in Blickbewegungsstudien vorliegt. Auf der Basis des gegenwärtigen Kenntnisstands zur Beziehung zwischen Blickbewegungsparametern und kognitiven Leistungsunterschieden wurden für die vorliegende Arbeit Hypothesen abgeleitet und in der Hauptstudie (N = 113) in Korrelations- und Regressionsanalysen überprüft. Ergänzend zu den hypothesengeleiteten Analysen erfolgten explorative Berechnungen, die als Grundlage für die Generierung von Hypothesen für zukünftige Studien dienen können. Es kristallisierten sich vier Blickbewegungsparameter als Indikatoren für die kognitive Leistung im CON heraus: die Fixationsanzahl, die relative Anzahl höhengeleiteter Übergänge als ein neu eingeführter Parameter zur Charakterisierung der Vorgehensweise im Test, die Entropie sowie – mit Einschränkung – die mittlere Fixationsdauer. Aus Kombinationen dieser Parameter konnte die Leistung im CON im statistischen Sinne vorhergesagt werden. Blickbewegungsparameter vermochten 54 % der Varianz der Gesamtleistung im CON aufzuklären. Zudem legten die Ergebnisse eines hierarchischen Regressionsmodells nahe, dass eine Kombination aus Blickbewegungsparametern zusätzlich zu den allgemeinen kognitiven Fähigkeiten, wie sie im Fluglotsenauswahlverfahren am DLR erfasst werden, 26 % der Gesamtleistung im CON aufklären. Zusammengefasst liefert die vorliegende Arbeit vielversprechende Ergebnisse bezüglich der Beziehung zwischen Blickbewegungsparametern und interindividuellen kognitiven Leistungsunterschieden und zeigt das große Potential der Blickbewegungsmessung für einen zukünftigen Einsatz im Rahmen der Auswahl von Nachwuchsfluglotsen/innen auf. Weitere technische Verbesserungen der Blickbewegungsmessgeräte sowie zusätzliche Forschungserkenntnisse – insbesondere zur prognostischen Validität – sind empfehlenswert, um basierend auf Blickbewegungsanalysen eigenständige Entscheidungskriterien abzuleiten.

Wir berichten über die Ergebnisse, die im Rahmen des BMBF-Projektes „StayCentered – Methodenbasis eines Assistenzsystems für Centerlotsen (MACeLot)“ erzielt wurden. Die Aufgabenstellung des Projektes bestand in der Entwicklung des notwendigen Methodenvorrates zur Realisierung eines emotionssensitiven Assistenzsystems, welches das Personal an einem kooperativen Arbeitsplatz situativ unterstützt. Darüber hinaus sollte das System für mögliche Supervisoren Informationen über den Zustand der Belastung der Teams liefern und Metadaten generieren, die Schwachstellen des Arbeitsplatzentwurfes deutlich machen. Die realisierten Konzepte und Verfahren wurden im Sinne eines Nachweises der prinzipiellen Funktionsfähigkeit (Proof-of-Concept) für den Arbeitsplatz von Centerlotsen prototypisch umgesetzt. Diese Umsetzung war notwendig, da das Zusammenspiel einzelner Verfahren (etwa bei der Sensorfusion) einen wesentlichen Einfluss auf die Funktionsfähigkeit des Gesamtsystems besitzt und daher anwendungsorientiert getestet werden sollte. / We report on the results obtained in the project „StayCentered“ funded by the Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie. In this project the methodical framework of an emotion sensitive system to assist the work of air-traffic controlers and their supervisors has been developed.

隨著航空產業科技技術日新月異，發展一日千里，搭乘航空器在世界各國穿梭，已成了現代人生活中不可或缺的交通運輸方式之一，尤其是當今航空運送過程層層關卡中，飛航管制無疑是對航機間安全最能直接掌握風險的一環，也因此探求飛航管制員業務上作為與不作為之注意義務，是進一步探討飛航事故中其民事過失損害賠償責任的核心。本論文架構為第一章為序論，第二章比較我國法與日本法在民事過失責任概念異同，第三章就從事航空運送第一線的飛航管制員工作內容注意義務進行探討，第四章則分析飛航管制員過失案例，最後一章則提出結論與預防建議，歸納可能誘發航空事故之人為過失因素，並提出若干預防措施作為參考。 / In the process of air transportation, take the Cheese theory for an example , the air traffic control is by all means the most important and crucial layer of risk control. Therefore understanding the “dos and undos” of the air traffic controller is the key to the tortious liability of the air traffic control. The structure of this thesis is as follows: The chapter one is an introduction. The chapter two compares the civil negligence concept between the law of our country and Japan. The chapter three indicates the working characteristics and liability of the air traffic controller. The chapter four analyses a series of negligent air traffic controllers’cases. The final chapter ends up with personal recommendations for practical references.