MITIGATION OF OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS IN SUPER-DENSITY OPERATIONS THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS NRA TOPIC IS THE IDENTIF…

Public award description

MITIGATION OF OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS IN SUPER-DENSITY OPERATIONS THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS NRA TOPIC IS THE IDENTIFICATION OF NEXTGEN OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS AND PROPOSAL OF MITIGATION SOLUTIONS APPLICABLE TO SUPER DENSITY OPERATIONS. RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO IDENTIFY A RANGE OF OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS THAT ARE APPLICABLE IN FUTURE SUPER DENSITY OPERATIONS. FURTHERMORE, MITIGATION STRATEGIES (BOTH TECHNOLOGY AND PROCEDURES) TO MINIMIZE OR ELIMINATE IMPACT OF THESE OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS NEED TO BE IDENTIFIED AND EXAMINED (BY MODELING) TO STUDY THEIR EFFECTIVENESS. THE PRODUCT IS A DESCRIPTION OF OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS, THEIR IMPACTS, AND MITIGATION SOLUTIONS APPLICABLE TO SUPER DENSITY OPERATIONS. METRON PROPOSES TO COLLABORATE WITH AN EXCEPTIONAL TEAM OF SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS (SMES), TO RESEARCH MITIGATION STRATEGIES FOR A RANGE OF OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS IN SUPER-DENSITY OPERATIONS (SDO) FOR THE NEXT GENERATION AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM (NEXTGEN). A CAUSALITY ANALYSIS IS PERFORMED IN ORDER TO LINK THE CAUSES OF OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS TO SDO AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT (ATM) IMPACTS. SCENARIOS ARE CREATED TO DESCRIBE SDO CONDITIONS FOR A HIERARCHICAL FAILURE MODE ANALYSIS. MITIGATION STRATEGIES INCLUDE TECHNOLOGY-BASED SOLUTIONS (FOR INSTANCE, THE USE OF OPTIMAL PATH MAPS (OPMS) TO PREPARE FOR ALTERNATIVE METERING FIXES OR ALTERNATE MERGE POINTS GIVEN A FAULT IN THE NOMINAL FLOW PLAN) AND PROCEDURES (FOR INSTANCE, POLICIES FOR MODIFIED ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ASSIGNED DURING OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS). THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D) EFFORT ARE: IDENTIFY A RANGE OF OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS THAT ARE APPLICABLE TO SDO. PERFORM AN IMPACT ANALYSIS OF OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS. DETERMINE MITIGATION STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS OFF-NOMINAL EVENTS RETURNING THE SDO SYSTEM TO AN ACCEPTABLE NOMINAL STATE. DEMONSTRATE IN SIMULATION HOW MITIGATION STRATEGIES PROVIDE ROBUSTNESS TO SDO SOLUTIONS. OVERALL, THE EXPECTED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS R&D EFFORT IS THAT IT SIGNIFICANTLY ENABLES THE ATTAINMENT OF SDO IN NEXTGEN BY DEMONSTRATING HOW OFF-NOMINAL CONDITIONS CAN BE ADDRESSED THROUGH SUITABLE CONTINGENCY PLANS.