FLIGHT CRITICAL SYSTEMS RESEARCH (FCSR) TASK ORDER STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) TASK ORDER TITLE: CONFLICT DETEC…

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FLIGHT CRITICAL SYSTEMS RESEARCH (FCSR) TASK ORDER STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) TASK ORDER TITLE: CONFLICT DETECTION AND RESOLUTION FOR NEXTGEN TERMINAL MANEUVERING AREA CONCEPTS, ISSUES, AND PILOT VEHICLE INTERFACES BACKGROUND: BY 2025, U.S. AIR TRAFFIC IS PREDICTED TO INCREASE 3-FOLD, YET THE CURRENT AIR TRAFFIC SYSTEM MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE THIS GROWTH. IN RESPONSE TO THIS CHALLENGE, A CONSORTIUM OF INDUSTRY, ACADEMIA AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE PROPOSED A REVOLUTIONARY NEW CONCEPT FOR U.S. AVIATION OPERATIONS, TERMED THE NEXT GENERATION AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM OR NEXTGEN. EMERGING NEXTGEN OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS REPRESENT A RADICALLY DIFFERENT APPROACH TO AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND AS A RESULT, A DRAMATIC SHIFT IN THE TASKS, ROLES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE FLIGHT DECK TO ENSURE A SAFE, SUSTAINABLE AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. TO SUPPORT THE OPERATIONAL GOALS OF NEXTGEN, JPDO HAS PUBLISHED A CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS (CONOPS) [HTTP://WWW.JPDO.GOV/LIBRARY/NEXTGENCONOPSV12.PDF] AND AN INTEGRATED WORK PLAN [HTTP://WWW.JPDO.GOV/IWP/IWP_VERSION_02_MASTER_W-O_APPENDIX.PDF] TO DEVELOP THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT IT CONSIDERS VITAL TO REACH THE NEXTGEN GOALS. WHILE THIS VISION IS NOT NECESSARILY SHARED BY ALL NOR IS IT THE ONLY WAY TO ACHIEVE NEXTGEN, IT DOES ILLUSTRATE MANY OF THE CHALLENGES TO ACHIEVING A NEXTGEN OPERATING ENVIRONMENT. IN PARTICULAR, ONE OF THE KEY CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH THE NEXTGEN INVOLVES AUTOMATED SURFACE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS THAT UTILIZE DYNAMIC ALGORITHMS TO CALCULATE THE MOST EFFICIENT MOVEMENT OF ALL SURFACE TRAFFIC TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY. PILOTS WILL BE REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH 4-DIMENSIONAL (4-D) TAXI CLEARANCES, DICTATING THAT AIRCRAFT ARRIVE AT SPECIFIC LOCATIONS WITHIN SPECIFIC TIME WINDOWS. FURTHER, PILOTS MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR SEPARATION FROM OTHER AIRCRAFT DURING THESE OPERATIONS REGARDLESS OF VISIBILITY CONDITIONS. PROACTIVE SAFETY LAYERS ENABLE PRESENT-DAY OPERATIONS. THESE LAYERS INCLUDE AUTOMATION TO MANAGE, ASSIST AND EVEN, CONDUCT THESE PROCEDURES AND OPERATIONS. IN TODAY S OPERATIONS, A SIGNIFICANT LAYER OF CONFLICT DETECTION AND RESOLUTION (CD&R) CAPABILITY IS PROVIDED BY THE TRAFFIC ALERT AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM (TCAS). TCAS HAS BEEN DEVELOPED AND IMPROVED FOR OVER 15 YEARS AND HAS BEEN VERY EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING OR ELIMINATING AIRBORNE COLLISIONS. NEXTGEN OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS ARE BEGINNING TO EMERGE TO MEET THE PROJECTED AIR TRAFFIC SERVICE DEMANDS. IT WILL BE VITAL TO RETAIN AND EVEN IMPROVE UPON THESE PROACTIVE SAFETY LAYERS FOR NEXTGEN. LIMITED RESEARCH TO DATE HAS BEEN CONDUCTED ON CONCEPTS AND ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH CD&R IN A NEXTGEN ENVIRONMENT, PARTICULARLY IN THE TERMINAL MANEUVERING AREA (TMA) AND ON THE SURFACE. RESEARCH TO DATE INDICATES THAT THE USE OF TCAS MAY WORK FOR ENVISIONED TRAJECTORY-BASED 4-D OPERATIONS, BUT THE SUITABILITY OF TCAS DEGRADES IN OPERATIONS NEARING THE AIRPORT FOR OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS LIKE THOSE MOST LIKELY TO EMERGE FOR NEXTGEN. RESEARCH FOR CD&R IN A 4-D SURFACE OPERATIONS ENVIRONMENT IS IN ITS INFANCY. ANOTHER IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION IS THAT THE 4-D TERMINAL AREA OPERATIONS CONCEPTS PROPOSED FOR NEXTGEN ARE BEING BUILT UPON PRESENT-DAY OPERATIONS THAT ARE ALREADY PROBLEMATIC. THE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD CONTINUES TO INCLUDE IMPROVING RUNWAY SAFETY ON ITS MOST WANTED LIST OF TRANSPORTATION SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS FOR AVIATION [HTTP://NTSB.GOV/RECS/MOSTWANTED/AVIATION_ISSUES.HTM]. IN THE FOUR YEAR PERIOD BETWEEN 2003 AND 2006, 1,306 RUNWAY INCURSION EVENTS WERE REPORTED, WHICH IS A RATE OF ALMOST 1 RUNWAY INCURSION EVENT PER DAY. THE PRESENT-DAY STATISTICS AND EVENTS ARE CAUSE ENOUGH FOR ALARM BUT, WITHOUT PROACTIVE COUNTER-MEASURES, THE INCREASE IN AIR TRAFFIC FORECASTED UNDER NEXTGEN AND USING NOVEL 4-D OPERATING CONCEPTS COULD POTENTIALLY RESULT IN CATASTROPHIC INCREASES IN RUNWAY AND TAXIWAY INCURSION ACCIDENTS. OBJECTIVE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS TASK IS TO IDENTIFY AN