Tactical Conflict Detection in Terminal Airspace

摘要

Air traffic systems have long relied on automated short-term conflict prediction algorithms to warn controllers ofnimpending conflicts (losses of separation). The complexity of terminal airspace has proven difficult for such systems,nas it often leads to excessive false alerts.Thus, the legacy system, calledConflictAlert,which currently provides short-nterm alerts in both en route and terminal airspace, is often inhibited or desensitized in areas where frequent falsenalerts occur, even though the alerts are provided only when an aircraft is in dangerous proximity of other aircraft.nThis research investigates how a minimal level of flight-intent information may be used to improve short-termnconflict detection in terminal airspace such that it can be used by the controller tomaintain legal aircraft separation.nThe flight-intent information includes a site-specific nominal arrival route and inferred altitude clearances innaddition to the flight plan that includes the area-navigation departure route. A new tactical conflict detectionnalgorithmis proposed, which uses a single analytic trajectory, determined fromthe flight intent and the current stateninformation of the aircraft, and includes a complex set of current, dynamic separation standards for terminalnairspace. The new algorithm is compared with an algorithm that models a known en route algorithm and anothernalgorithm that models Conflict Alert. This is done by analysis of false-alert rate and alert lead time with the use ofnrecent real-world data of arrival and departure operations and a large set of operational error cases fromtheDallasFortWorth terminal radar approach control. The new algorithm yielded a false-alert rate of two per hour and annaverage alert lead time of 38 s.