Metroplex Coordinated Runway Scheduling

NASA's System Oriented Runway Management (SORM) project is studying operational concepts and algorithms to improve the efficiency and capacity of metroplex operations, where performance is measured not only at the runways but across the airport surface and metroplex airspace. Current SORM research focuses on an approach that plans the airport configuration?the runway configuration and other policies for how classes of flights use metroplex resources. This approach is appropriate for near-term implementation, as it fits within current operations. This project develops an alternative, longer-term approach to SORM that coordinates the trajectory planning for individual flights. NASA is studying future arrival and departure traffic management systems that plan portions of trajectories for each flight. NASA's research efforts each focus on one part of the traffic management problem. This project studies new approaches that coordinate these systems, to achieve increased traffic management effectiveness through a system perspective. In Phase 1, various operational concepts and mathematical approaches will be explored. This approach was originally part of the SORM concept before research focused on the near-term, aggregate approach. The proposed project compliments NASA's research portfolio, contributing work of direct relevance to Airspace Systems Program objectives and providing a foundation for future, advanced SORM research.