As air traffic is forecasted to increase, air traffic control software subsequently needs to be more sophisticated. To efficiently push development forward, testing is important in order to determine usability. The tests need to be adapted to fit a particular purpose and carried out with methods that preserve the validity of the results. This thesis describes an implementation project carried out at the EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre, Bretigny-sur-Orge, France. The purpose of the project is to create an application that enables a user to create datasets of air traffic to be used for these tests. The application allows for manual work or bulk imports from external data sources. Furthermore it compiles scenarios as output datasets intended for prototype air traffic control software developed at Linköping University. The application design rationale and development process is described. Some time is spent on demonstrating the flexibility of the application and how its usage fits in a bigger picture.

The control of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a swarm or cooperative team scenario has been a topic of great interest for well over a decade, growing steadily with the advancements in UAV technologies. In the academic community, a majority of the studies conducted rely on simulation to test developed control strategies, with only a few institutions known to have nurtured the infrastructure required to propel multiple UAV control studies beyond simulation and into experimental testing. With the Cal Poly UAV FLOC Project, such an infrastructure was created, paving the way for future experimentation with multiple UAV control systems. The control system architecture presented was built on concepts developed in previous work by Cal Poly faculty and graduate students. An outer-loop formation flight controller based on a virtual waypoint implementation of potential function guidance was developed for use on an embedded microcontroller. A commercially-available autopilot system, designed for fully autonomous waypoint navigation utilizing low cost hardware and open source software, was modified to include the formation flight controller and an inter-UAV communication network. A hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation was set up for multiple UAV testing and was utilized to verify the functionality of the modified autopilot system. HIL simulation results demonstrated leader-follower formation convergence to 15 meters as well as formation flight with three UAVs. Several sets of flight tests were conducted, demonstrating a successful leader-follower formation, but with relative distance convergence only reaching a steady state value of approximately 35 +/- 5 meters away from the leader.

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The purpose of this research thesis was to develop a framework and methodology for the design of a graphical user interface to be used by air traffic controllers. The interface is intended to be only a part of a complete Advisory System designed to supplement the tasks of terminal area air traffic controllers. This research addresses many of the human factors issues associated with the development of the display. The research takes a user-perspective and applies the principles of rapid prototyping to develop the framework for the design of the interface. Attention is also given to the previous research that explores the implications of automating various air traffic control tasks. Finally, a prototype system was developed to fulfill one of the primary rapid prototyping steps. The prototype displays the general format for the various advisories and presents three typical scenarios where the system may be of particular use. In the future, the prototype can be used to gather additional information on the opinions and requirements of the future system users - air traffic controllers. It is anticipated that moderate benefits can be attained through the implementation of such a system, provided that the interface satisfies the user requirements. / Master of Science

This dissertation presents a research effort to evaluate wake vortex mitigation procedures and technologies in order to decrease aircraft separations, which could result in a runway capacity increase. Aircraft separation is a major obstacle to increasing the operational efficiency of the final approach segment and the runway. An aircraft in motion creates an invisible movement of air called wake turbulence, which has been shown to be dangerous to aircraft that encounter it. To avoid this danger, aircraft separations were developed in the 1970s, that allows time for wake to be dissipated and displaced from an aircraft's path. Though wake vortex separations have been revised, they remain overly conservative. This research identified 16 concepts and 3 sub-concepts for wake mitigation from the literature. The dissertation describes each concept along with its associated benefits and drawbacks. All concepts are grouped, based on common dependencies required for implementation, into four categories: airport fleet dependent, parallel runway dependent, single runway dependent, and aircraft or environmental condition dependent. Dynamic wake vortex mitigation was the concept chosen for further development because of its potential to provide capacity benefit in the near term and because it is initiated by air traffic control, not the pilot. Dynamic wake vortex mitigation discretizes current wake vortex aircraft groups by analyzing characteristics for each individual pair of leader and follower aircraft as well as the environment where the aircraft travel. This results in reduced aircraft separations from current static separation standards. Monte Carlo simulations that calculate the dynamic wake vortex separation required for a follower aircraft were performed by using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Aircraft Vortex Spacing System (AVOSS) Prediction Algorithm (APA) model, a semi-empirical wake vortex behavior model that predicts wake vortex decay as a function of atmospheric turbulence and stratification. Maximum circulation capacities were calculated based on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) proposed wake recategorization phase II (RECAT II) 123 x 123 matrix of wake vortex separations. This research identified environmental turbulence and aircraft weight as the parameters with the greatest influence on wake vortex circulation strength. Wind has the greatest influence on wake vortex lateral behavior, and aircraft mass, environmental turbulence, and wind have the greatest influence on wake vortex vertical position. The research simulated RECAT II and RECAT III dynamic wake separations for Chicago O'Hare International (ORD), Denver International Airport (DEN) and LaGuardia Airport (LGA). The simulation accounted for real-world conditions of aircraft operations during arrival and departure: static and dynamic wake vortex separations, aircraft fleet mix, runway occupancy times, aircraft approach speeds, aircraft wake vortex circulation capacity, environmental conditions, and operational error buffers. Airport data considered for this analysis were based on Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X (ASDE-X) data records at ORD during a 10-month period in the year 2016, a 3-month period at DEN, and a 4-month period at LGA. Results indicate that further reducing wake vortex separation distances from the FAA's proposed RECAT II static matrix, of 2 nm and less, shifts the operational bottleneck from the final approach segment to the runway. Consequently, given current values of aircraft runway occupancy time under some conditions, the airport runway becomes the limiting factor for inter-arrival separations. One of the major constraints of dynamic wake vortex separation at airports is its dependence on real-time or near-real-time data collection and broadcasting technologies. These technologies would need to measure and report temperature, environmental turbulence, wind speed, air humidity, air density, and aircraft weight, altitude, and speed. / PHD

Wake vortices pose a threat to a following aircraft, because they can induce a roll and compromise the safety of everyone on board. Caused by a difference in pressure between the upper and the lower part of the wings, these invisible flows of air are a major hazard and have to be avoided by separating the aircraft at considerable distances. One of the known constraints in airport capacity for both departure and arrival operations is the large headway resulting from the wake spacing separation criteria. Reducing wake vortex separations to a safe level between successive aircraft can increase capacity in the National Airspace System (NAS) with corresponding savings in delay times. One of the main goals of the Wake Encounter Model (WEM) described in this thesis is to assess the outcome from future reduced separation criteria in the NAS. The model has been used to test probable encounters in today's operations, and can also be used to test NextGen scenarios, such as Close Parallel Approaches and reduced in-trail separation flights. This thesis presents model enhancements to account for aircraft turning maneuvers, giving the wake a more realistic shape. Three major airspaces, New York, Southern California and Atlanta, were analyzed using the original and the enhanced WEM to determine if the enhanced model better represents the conditions in today's operations. Additionally, some analysis on the wake lateral travel for closely spaced runways is presented in this thesis. Finally, some extension tools for post -analysis, such as animation tool and various graphs depicting the interactions between wake pairs were developed. / Master of Science

In 2014, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) highlighted to the U.S. Senate the need to focus on air traffic control (ATC) training to meet job qualification and attrition rates within the career field. One U.S. Department of Defense military service assists the FAA in providing worldwide ATC services. This service is referred to as the agency throughout this paper to ensure confidentiality. The agency's ATC career field manager echoed the FAA's call for action in his 2014 Strategic/Action Plan. In August 2013, the agency's ATC trainer program was published. As of December 2015, the program had not been evaluated. The purpose of this study was to ascertain if the program facilitated the learning of critical ATC on-the-job training skills. An ad hoc expertise-oriented evaluation was conducted using the lenses of andragogy, experiential learning, and instructional system design (ISD). Purposeful sampling procedures were used to select 20 participants across the subgroups of supervisors, trainers, managers, and training developers from 7 focus sites. The semi-structured interviews queried 4 topical areas derived from Kirkpatrick's 4 levels of evaluation model. Data collected via documents and interviews were analyzed using descriptive, emotion, eclectic, and pattern coding. Key findings indicated that the program was not developed compliant with ISD principles and did not promote adult learning as endorsed by andragogy and experiential learning theory. The implications for positive social change include providing stakeholders with data needed to make evidence-based decisions regarding the current and future state of the program. The evaluation report project can be shared with the FAA, an agency partner, and has the potential to create a platform for improved training practices focusing on optimum and successful adult learning transactions.