THE GOAL OF U.S. AIRSPACE OPERATIONS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP NEW CONCEPTS OF OPERATIONS AND TECHNOLOGIES THA…

Public award description

THE GOAL OF U.S. AIRSPACE OPERATIONS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP NEW CONCEPTS OF OPERATIONS AND TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL TRANSFORM THE AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM, BY INCREASING THE SAFETY OF AIR AND GROUND OPERATIONS, AND BY MAKING THE SYSTEM ADAPTABLE TO INCREASING TRAFFIC DEMAND. THE NATION S AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS VERY COMPLEX AND IT IS DIFFICULT AND VERY COSTLY TO DETERMINE THE EFFICACY OF NEW CONCEPTS OF OPERATIONS AND TECHNOLOGIES THROUGH GROUND OR FLIGHT TESTS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS EFFORT IS TO RESEARCH AND DEVELOP A SIMULATION TOOL THAT WILL FACILITATE UNDERSTANDING COMPLEX AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS OPERATIONS AND ENABLE MANAGERS AND RESEARCHERS TO INVESTIGATE THE IMPACTS OF DIFFERENT PROCEDURES, TECHNOLOGIES, POLICIES, AND SYSTEM DESIGNS ON CAPACITY, RISK, AND COST. CURRENTLY, THERE ARE NO SIMULATIONS AT THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF FIDELITY THAT MODEL THE INTEGRATED OPERATIONS OF AIRBORNE ARRIVALS, SURFACE MOVEMENTS, AND DEPARTURES. A CAPABILITY IS NEEDED TO MODEL AND SIMULATE NEW OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS AND ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL INTEGRATE THESE OPERATIONS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH TASK IS TO LEVERAGE EXISTING HIGH FIDELITY SIMULATIONS OF AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT AND ON THE GROUND TO DEVELOP A PROTOTYPE AGENT-BASED SIMULATION TOOL THAT WILL SIMULATE END-TO-END CLASS B TERMINAL AREA OPERATIONS. THIS TOOL, THE AIR PORTAL OPERATIONS REGIONAL TRAFFIC SIMULATION (AIRPORTS), WILL PROVIDE MANAGERS AND RESEARCHERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE THE IMPACTS AND BENEFITS OF DIFFERENT OPERATIONS CONCEPTS AND TECHNOLOGIES WITHIN A TERMINAL AREA. IT WILL ALSO PROVIDE A RICH THREE DIMENSIONAL VISUALIZATION OF AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS WITHIN THE TERMINAL AREA THAT CAN BE ADJUSTED BY THE USER.