Modeling Tactical Merge Management Techniques in the TRACON within a Fast-Time ATM Simulation Platform

摘要

Functionality has recently been added to Boeing's Trajectory Analysis and Modeling Environment (TAME) to model the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) use of a new tool, Relative Position Indicator (RPI), developed by MITRE CAASD. This tool is currently being demonstrated and tested at select FAA TRACON facilities within the NAS. The RPI is a visual aid that can be used by controllers to quickly assess diverse merging situations within the TRACON. The RPI is currently being postulated as a means to enable Optimal Profile Descent (OPD) operations in the TRACON while aircraft fly on published RNAV procedures, using speed control to manage traffic merging. While the RPI tool projects aircraft "ghost" positions using distance rather than estimated time of arrival (ETA) to the merge point, the controllers compensate for this effect in their speed clearances using knowledge of wind, altitude, and speed schedules for the paths involved, and it is this functionality that is modeled in TAME. This paper describes the model of controllers using the RPI in TAME, called the RPI Emulator, and a set of trade studies designed to evaluate the use of RPI in a complex TRACON operation. The results test the effectiveness of speed control as a mechanism to manage merging traffic on RNAV procedures in the TRACON, and the relationship between this separation method and the design of the RNAV procedures.