1

Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

p2 Airspace Systems Program’s 

Technical Interchange Meeting

QUARTER 2: JAN–MAR 2011

Airspace Systems 

Program Newsletter

p12 Generic Airspace Phase 5 

Simulation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

Airspace Systems Program’s 

Technical Interchange Meeting

San Diego, CA 

The Airspace Systems Program’s Annual Technical Interchange 

Meeting (TIM) was held in San Diego, CA, March 29-31, 2011. 

The TIM provided an opportunity to engage in active discussion 

of key research issues that address the major technical challenges 

that must be overcome to realize the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).

Over 300 attendees representing other government agencies, 

academia, industry and our international partners engaged in 

discussions that focused on the integration of air traffic management (ATM) technical capabilities developed within the program, 

and the transition of these capabilities to users and operators for 

system benefit.

// Technical/Programmatic Highlights 

airspace systems program’s technical 

interchange meeting, san diego, ca

Image Credit: Kenny McCombs

Representatives from other government agencies and industry attended 

the ASP TIM for focused discussions to enable the reduction of 

technology transition risk.

Akbar Sultan, Deputy Director of the Airspace Systems Program, moderates a panel with selected experts in the air traffic management (ATM) 

community. Pictured from left to right are: James Crites, DFW Operations; Les Parson, Air Transport Association (ATA); Steve Bradford, Federal 

Aviation Administration (FAA) Ed Stevens, Raytheon.
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

The forum provided the opportunity for presentation of recent 

developments and results, open technical exchange, and for 

soliciting feedback to enhance the Program. Researchers gave 

technical presentations across a variety of tracks, and co-chaired 

sessions in surface operations, trajectory-based operations, 

interoperability research, dynamic airspace, traffic flow management, system performance, super density operations, and maturing integrated technologies.

Extensive demonstrations of decision support tools and air 

traffic management concepts and technologies as well as technical 

posters highlighting additional research activities were showcased 

by researchers and research partners from industry 

and academia.

The TIM culminated with a panel session with senior members 

from industry and other government agencies to engage in discussions around targeted partnerships for specific technology evaluation intended for improvement in key areas.

After the three-day meeting, the Program hosted an Industry 

Day where a smaller group of researchers participated in presentations, demonstrations, and discussions with members of the air 

transportation industry.

The Airspace Systems Program Office is looking forward to 

2012 when we will host our next Technical Interchange Meeting. 

Stand by for additional information in the coming year. We hope 

you will plan to attend for more opportunities to engage the Program staff and researchers about future work to realize NextGen.

Nancy Mendonca (left), ASP Technical Integration Manager, Mike 

Madson (right), Deputy Project Manager for the SAIE Project, spend 

time checking out the demonstrations and poster session.

Line managers from Langley Research Center enjoyed the technical 

poster session along with the Program Staff. Pictured from left to right: 

Fred Proctor, Neil O’Connor and John Cavolowsky, Program Director.
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

Left to right: Leighton Quon, Systems Analysis, Integration and Evaluation Project Manager; Dr. Tom Edwards, Director, Aeronautics Ames 

Research Center, ARMD POC; and Dr. Parimal Kopardekar, Concepts and Technology Development Project Manager enjoy a moment prior to 

the start of the Demonstration and Poster Session.

Akbar Sultan and Ty Hoang enjoy a moment during the Industry Day 

technical session.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Tony Strazisar, Senior 

Technical Advisor, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

Future Air Traffic Management Concepts 

Evaluation Tool Wins 2010 NASA 

Government Invention of the Year

March 2011

NASA Ames Research Center

The NASA Office of the Chief Counsel has selected the Future 

Air traffic management Concepts Evaluation Tool (FACET) from 

Ames as its Government Invention of the Year. The team was led 

by Banavar Sridhar and included team members Karl Bilimoria, 

Kapil Sheth, Shon Grabbe and Gano Chatterji (UARC). Their 

outstanding work has made a significant contribution to making our airspace safer, increasing fuel efficiency, and minimizing 

airplane emissions. This is the first time that a software invention 

has won the Invention of the Year award. The NASA Administrator will present the NASA Invention of the Year award at 

the NASA Project Management Challenge in February 2012 in 

Orlando, Florida.

Datalink Communications Performance 

Analysis NASA Research Announcement 

Begins, December 2010

NASA Langley Research Center

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) was awarded a one year NASA Research Announcement (NRA) as a result of 

a competitive selection under ARMD NRA NNH09ZEA001N. 

The full title of the NRA is Datalink Communication Performance 

Analysis for Distributed Separation Assurance System Architecture 

and the technical point of contact is Maria C. Consiglio.

Human-in-the-Loop Simulation of 

Mechanism for Incorporating User 

Preferences into Air Traffic Management, 

December-January 2010/2011

Fairfax, VA; NASA Ames Research Center

On December 15-17, 2010, a contractor team led by George 

Mason University conducted a human-in-the-loop simulation of a 

new mechanism for incorporating airspace user preferences into air 

traffic management decisions. The mechanism is based on “freepass permits” that users can assign to their flights to exempt them 

from delays. The number of permits allocated to each user is proportional to the number of flights scheduled by the user, and users 

can buy and sell permits from each other. Simulation participants 

had experience working for, or studying, airlines that enabled them 

to buy, sell, and use permits as an airline would. Initial participant 

feedback indicates that this concept could be useful for airlines 

once they learned how to utilize permits effectively. The contractor 

team demonstrated this concept and presented the results of this 

simulation to NASA researchers at a contract final briefing at Ames 

Research Center in January 2011. 

Terminal Area Weather and Wake 

Vortices Papers Presented at AIAA’s 

49th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, 

January 2011

Orlando, FL

Nash’at Ahmad presented two papers and served as the co-chair 

of the Atmospheric and Space Environments session on the “Simula-
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

tion and Effects of Wake Vortices, Terminal Area Weather and Hurricanes.” Don Delisi and Matt Pruis of Northwest Research Associates also attended this session and presented their related work, 

which was sponsored under a NASA Research Announcement.

Efficient Descent Advisor Human-inthe-Loop Simulation Completed, 

December 2011

NASA Ames Research Center

The fourth in a series of human-in-the-loop studies to develop 

requirements for implementing the Efficient Descent Advisor 

(EDA) in the field was completed in December 2010. In this 

study, subject-matter-experts from Denver Center evaluated new 

functionality in EDA, specifically the use of advisories with fixed 

versus dynamic start points, and EDA’s ability to operate with 

trajectory uncertainty. The study used the Air Traffic Control 

simulator at the Crew-Vehicle Systems Research Facility at NASA 

Ames Research Center and employed the Multi-Aircraft Control 

System software to simulate the air traffic, controller radar displays, and pseudo-pilot control stations. Air traffic data as well 

as video and audio recordings of controller radar displays and 

pseudo pilot positions were captured for subsequent analysis. 

Weather Translation NASA Research 

Announcements Have Kickoff Meeting, 

January 2011

NASA Ames Research Center

The Traffic Flow Management (TFM) research team hosted a 

NASA Research Announcement (NRA) kick-off meeting at NASA 

Ames Research Center that included Metron Aviation, Mosaic 

ATM, and Sensis Corporation. The team members presented their 

plans and a wide range of approaches and outcomes for improving weather translation models for TFM. The outcomes include 

maturing existing weather translation models, developing probabilistic capacity models of en-route airspace and airports, evaluating 

translation models in the Future Air traffic management Concepts 

Evaluation Tool (FACET) and developing concepts to use weather 

translation models for strategic TFM. The teams recognized there 

could be areas where their work could be complementary and 

expressed interest in collaboration where appropriate. The effort 

will now include a monthly meeting between the three teams and 

NASA to share their respective progress. 

Mid-Task Review for Surface Conflict 

Detection and Resolution NASA Research 

Announcements Conducted, January 2011

NASA Langley Research Center

On January 19, 2011, a mid-task review of NASA Research 

Announcement (NRA) contracts providing concepts and requirements for surface conflict detection and resolution (CD&R) was 

held at NASA Ames. Sensis Corp. and Optimal Synthesis Inc. provided in-depth analysis and descriptions of airport surface CD&R 

systems. The two teams addressed various conflicts, including 

scheduling, taxiway, and runway conflicts. Each team presented 

unique and sophisticated solutions for generating surface conflict 

alerts and identifying algorithms for tactical conflict resolution. 

These CD&R functions will serve as tools in a broader system to 

enable more efficient and safe airport operations. NASA researchers, including Denise Jones of CSAOB, presented material related 

to airport surface research (spot release planner and runway 

scheduler and aircraft-based CD&R) enabling a common ground 

between the NRA responses and NASA research. The meeting 
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

concluded by discussing potential directions for increased collaboration and unification to support NASA research goals. Future 

work for an optional second year includes concepts for integration 

of the surface and aircraft-based CD&R, enabling a unified approach to CD&R in the airport terminal area.

Facility Upgrade to Support Safe and 

Efficient Surface Operations Research, 

January 2011

NASA Ames Research Center

The airport control tower simulator at Ames has been upgraded 

to enable Safe and Efficient Surface Operations researchers to 

conduct increasingly more complex and high-fidelity human-inthe-loop experiments. With funding from the American Recovery 

and Re-investment Act, the simulator’s outdated network and 

computing technology was replaced and upgraded to provide 

better realism, increased performance and reliability during heavy 

simulation traffic load scenarios, and improved connectivity that 

will enable integrated simulations between tower/surface and terminal environments. The simulation platform will now be able to 

more accurately simulate both surface traffic on radar displays and 

enable out-the-window visuals that are needed for a robust evaluation of surface traffic management concepts. The simulator will 

also enable researchers to conduct human-in-the-loop simulations 

to reduce risk prior to operational testing. The upgraded systems 

are in place, tested, and available for the next surface scheduling 

evaluations that follow the development of the Spot and Runway 

Departure Advisor concept. 

Acknowledgement of Patents Awarded in 

Aviation Systems Division, January 2011 

NASA Ames Research Center

Two patents awarded in 2010 for work performed in the Aviation 

Systems Division were recently recognized at a ceremony at Ames 

Research Center on January 26, 2011. One patent was awarded to 

Russell Paielli on “Trajectory Specification for High-Capacity Air 

Traffic Control.” The second patent was awarded to the developers of the Future Air traffic management Concepts Evaluation 

Tool (FACET)—(Dr. Banavar Sridhar, Dr. Kapil Sheth, Dr. Gano 

Chatterji, Dr. Karl Bilimoria, and Dr. Shon Grabbe)—for “Air 

Traffic Management Evaluation Tool.” 

Interval Management Research Published 

in Air Traffic Technology International 

Journal, January 2011

NASA Langley Research Center

Dr. Bryan Barmore, Dr. Jennifer Murdoch and Mr. Brian Baxley, 

all of CSAOB, were invited to submit an article to the Air Traffic Technology International journal based on an earlier paper 

presented at the FAA/Eurocontrol Research and Development 

Seminar in June 2009. The article presents the results of a humanin-the-loop simulation performed in the Air Traffic Operations 

Laboratory that combined airborne spacing technology with 

energy and noise efficient arrival procedures. The combined 

operation was called Flight Deck-based Interval Management. Air 

Traffic Technology International is respected as the industry’s leading review for the comprehensive exchange of the latest ATM ideas 
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

and information, and is read by over 10,000 air traffic technology experts, heads of civil aviation authorities, and governmental 

departments worldwide. The article has just been published in the 

2011 issue of Air Traffic Technology International.

Convective Weather Forecast (Localized 

Aviation Model Output Statistics Program) 

Integration with Future Air Traffic 

Management Concepts Evaluation Tool 

Task Completed, February 2011

NASA Ames Research Center

Mosaic ATM completed a year-long research task to integrate 

a probabilistic convective weather product into the NASAdeveloped Future Air traffic management Concepts Evaluation 

Tool (FACET). The Localized Aviation Model Output Statistics 

(MOS) Program (LAMP) produces probabilistic maps of forecasted convective activity up to 24 hours in advance. The objective 

of this task was to develop the capability to acquire LAMP data 

and compute national airspace capacity estimates and integrate it 

with FACET. The software developed under this contract advances 

NASA capabilities by providing researchers the ability to model 

weather impact in the strategic traffic flow management planning timeframe, typically two to eight hours. The main technical 

accomplishments include: review of airspace capacity models, 

development of a capability to translate a Gridded Probabilistic 

Forecast into a Deterministic Ensemble Forecast, development of 

airspace capacity models, each with increasing levels of complexity, 

validated against actual traffic, and development of a modular software environment that can be used by NASA to continue strategic 

weather translation modeling research. This effort was funded by 

the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. 

NASA & FAA Discuss Recent Progress and 

Future Goals for a Dynamic Airspace 

Configuration Capability, February 2011 

Washington, DC

A meeting of the NASA-FAA Research Transition Team for 

Dynamic Airspace Configuration (DAC) was held in the Washington, D.C. area February 8-10, 2011. There were over 25 attendees 

representing NASA, FAA, JPDO, and MITRE/CAASD. NASA 

researchers presented their work on adaptable/generic airspace, and 

received valuable feedback from FAA air traffic managers about 

operational considerations. The general consensus was that our 

DAC research is heading in the right direction and there was strong 

support for a technology demonstration of a sector combine/split 

advisory tool in a FAA facility such as the Seattle Air Route Traffic 

Control Center. 

Integration of Center-TRACON Automation 

System, FANS-1/A Data Comm, and ERAM 

for Operational Trials, February 2011

NASA Ames Research Center

Technical meetings with representatives from NASA, Boeing, 

and Lockheed Martin were held to discuss technical aspects of a 

task to integrate NASA trajectory automation with the FAA’s En 

Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) system and FANS-
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

1/A integrated FMS/datalink into a field test system suitable for 

operational trials in the National Airspace System. The target 

field test architecture includes a Boeing “Gateway” that enables 

two-way communication between NASA ground-based trajectory 

automation (Center-TRACON Automation System, CTAS) and 

revenue flights equipped with FANS-1/A datalink. A two-way 

connection between CTAS and ERAM is enabled via an existing 

ERAM capability called the “Command Serviced Gateway” and 

the architecture requires no changes to existing ERAM Build 1 

software. Lockheed Martin also expressed strong interest in NASA 

trajectory automation algorithms and software for future builds 

of ERAM. The goal of this work is to demonstrate an integrated 

system that could be the basis for future operational trials of a 

near-term concept for trajectory-based operations with air/ground 

datalink communication. This task is funded by the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 

NASA Provides Briefing to the Joint 

Planning Development Office Aircraft 

Working Group, February 2011

NASA Ames Research Center

Harry Swenson provided an in-depth briefing on the Super Density Operations research focus area and the Terminal Area Precision Scheduling and Spacing (TAPSS) system technology to the 

quarterly meeting of the Joint Development and Planning Office 

Aircraft Working Group. TAPSS is a strategic and tactical planning tool that provides Traffic Management Coordinators, and En 

Route and Terminal Radar Approach Control air traffic controllers the ability to efficiently optimize the flow of aircraft towards a 

demand-impacted airport. The briefing included a description of 

the Super Density Operations concept of operations and a detailed 

review of the TAPSS technology. The Working Group indicated 

this work has direct application to the mid-term NextGen concept 

and NASA is developing a critically needed technology. 

Human-in-the-Loop Flight Prioritization 

Simulation Completed, February 2011

NASA Ames Research Center

A system for prioritizing flights traveling through constrained 

airspace was evaluated in a simulation environment at Metron 

Aviation, Inc., February 22-24, 2011. The system allows airline 

dispatchers to specify their high priority flights by assigning them 

credits, which are allocated to the dispatchers according to their 

number of flights. The credit assignment software developed at 

NASA was integrated in the FAA’s System-wide Enhancements 

for Versatile Electronic Negotiation (SEVEN) framework. The 

FAA has planned for SEVEN to become operational in the fall 

2011 under the Collaborative Trajectory Options Program. The 

integrated system provides flights with the most credits their 

requested departure times and routes. Flights with fewer credits 

may be delayed or re-routed to alleviate congestion. To evaluate 

the system’s feasibility and benefits, five airline dispatchers from 

Continental, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and United Airlines used 

the system to manage a set of flights through several simulated air 

traffic scenarios. A current FAA air traffic manager set constraints 

on airspace capacities. Data and post-experiment surveys indicated 
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

that dispatchers effectively mitigated delays among their flights 

based on their priorities. Credits allowed them greater flexibility 

to achieve their business objectives. Recommendations for future 

experiments included researching other credit allocation schemes 

and evaluating alternate constraint resolution methods. 

Sector Combining Advisory Algorithm Presented at Cleveland Center, February 2011

Oberlin, OH

NASA Ames researchers Karl Bilimoria, Michael Bloem, Michael 

Drew, and Bob Windhorst visited Cleveland Air Route Traffic 

Control Center in Oberlin, Ohio to present and gain operational 

feedback on the Sector Combining Advisory Algorithm (SCAA). 

SCAA uses predictions of air traffic and available staffing levels 

to advise air traffic supervisors about how and when to combine 

airspace volumes, called sectors, controlled by air traffic controllers, 

into larger volumes. The NASA team presented SCAA advisories 

for Cleveland airspace based on historical traffic to fifteen Cleveland 

Center staff, including nine controller supervisors. After viewing 

SCAA advisories, the Cleveland Center staff gave positive feedback 

on the usefulness of SCAA and also suggested some additional capabilities, such as using a more accurate measure of controller workload than aircraft count and providing advisories for when more 

than one controller is needed for a sector. Two opportunities for 

future collaboration were identified: the first, for SCAA advisories 

to inform sector design decisions in an ongoing Cleveland Center 

airspace redesign project; the second, a future field demonstration of 

SCAA at Cleveland Center. 

NASA Contribution to International 

Aviation Safety and Performance 

Requirements Document, February 2011

NASA Langley Research Center

RTCA Special Committee 186 and EuroCAE Working Group 

51 has just released the Flight Deck Interval Management for 

Spacing Safety and Performance Requirements (SPR) document 

for final comment and resolution. This SPR is the first major step 

towards setting surveillance and avionics equipment standards. 

This document will form the basis for future operational approval 

and detailed equipment standards and is one of the first concrete 

steps to integrating Interval Management, both the airborne and 

ground components, into the National Airspace System. NASA 

Langley has had a leading role in the development of this document through the activities of Dr. Bryan Barmore and Mr. Michael 

Palmer of CSAOB and Mr. Terrence Abbott of Booz-Allen Hamilton. This SPAR was approved at the plenary meeting of SC-186 

and WG-51. 

NASA and Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology / Lincoln Laboratory Airport 

Surface Management Technical 

Interchange Meeting, March 2011

Lexington, MA

NASA and MIT/Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) met at the MIT/

LL facility in Lexington, Massachusetts, on March 8, 2011, to 

share results and plans for airport surface management research. 

Gautam Gupta, Yoon Jung, and William Chan from NASA Ames 
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

presented results and optimization algorithms used in NASA’s 

fast-time airport surface simulation platform as well as from an 

airport surface human-in-the-loop simulation conducted in AprilMay 2010. Researchers from MIT/LL presented their progress 

in developing the Tower Flight Data Manager system, discussed 

the pushback control study at Boston’s Logan Airport, taxi time 

estimation, improvements in surface winds forecasts, and strategies 

for enabling the Route Availability Planning Tool to work with 

airport surface management. The meeting ended with plans for 

both research groups to discuss possible areas of mutually beneficial collaboration. 

Generic Airspace Phase 5 Simulation, 

March 2011

NASA Ames Research Center

The radar air traffic control (ATC) Laboratory in the Crew-Vehicle 

Systems Research Facility and the Pilot Simulation Laboratory in 

Future Flight Central successfully hosted the fifth in a series of 

human-in-the-loop simulations evaluating the Generic Airspace 

concept. The simulation team, including software developers and 

researchers from Ames SimLabs (Aviation Systems Division) and 

the Human Systems Integration Division, evaluated the Controller Information Tool (CIT), an auxiliary display used to provide 

enroute controllers with critical information on traffic flows, sector 

information, and special use airspace. The CIT is designed to 

reduce sector information requirements and allow future air traffic 

controllers to manage air traffic in Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) airspace with reduced training. In this 

simulation, a new integrated, onscreen CIT was compared against 

the existing separated or off-screen CIT used in prior Generic Airspace simulations. The effect of mixed aircraft datacomm equipage 

on the FAA’s Mid-term, High Altitude Airspace Concept was also 

investigated. In a parallel effort, researchers from the Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology and the University of Waterloo evaluated 

controller decision-making in this simulation. The Multi Aircraft 

Control System (MACS) software was used to emulate the FAA’s 

en-route air traffic control Display System Replacement radar display and user interface. MACS was configured to provide several 

NextGen automation tools including datacomm, conflict probe, 

and manual conflict resolution. Sixteen experienced air-traffic 

controllers and eight pseudo pilots supported the simulation. The 

data are currently being analyzed. 

Research Product Transition, January–

February 2011

NASA Langley Research Center

Gary Lohr of the Crew Systems and Aviation Operations Branch 

(CSAOB) received a request on January 25 from John Marksteiner, 

leader of the FAA’s NextGen Surface / Terminal Portfolio Team 

and co-chair of the NextGen Integrated Arrival/Departure/Surface 

(IADS) Research Transition Team, for NASA’s current Tactical 

Runway Configuration Management (TRCM) software. The 

software would be incorporated in the Surface Decision Support 

System which the FAA uses to conduct Surface Trajectory Based 

Operations research. The FAA sees this as a transfer of interim 

deliverables to ensure the FAA can take full advantage of the 

NASA research. The FAA understands that the NASA research in 

System Oriented Runway Management is ongoing and would like 

to receive advancements to TRCM as they are developed. Status of 

the TRCM algorithms and the transfer to the FAA is being worked 
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

with the appropriate NASA officials along with line and project 

management. The extent of NASA involvement in FAA evaluations using the software is still under evaluation. 

Mid-Term Review for Metroplex NRAs, 

February 2011

NASA Langley Research Center

A mid-term review was held at the National Institute of Aerospace 

(NIA) for the four one-year metroplex-related NASA Research Announcements (NRAs) that were awarded last year. These NRAs are 

being monitored by Rosa Oseguera-Lohr, Michael Sorokach and 

Lakisha Crosby. Although the kick-off meetings that took place 

several months ago were conducted mostly independently of each 

other, it was felt that a joint mid-term review would be a valuable 

opportunity for researchers to provide input to the NRA teams, at 

a point in the development process where modifications to simulation test plans could still be made. All four NRA teams showed 

preliminary results, which were generated from their algorithm 

development thus far, indicating appropriate progression according 

to the terms of the contract. These NRAs are focused on developing concepts and methodologies to impact the current and NextGen by leveraging the metroplex airport approach. These concepts 

and methodologies will influence interdependencies of air traffic 

flows into and out of proximate airports within the metroplex 

realm to increase ATS capacity and throughput without degrading 

system safety. Additional contributing factors currently hindering the realization of NextGen goals and objectives which will be 

addressed and remedied by the research include: (1) traffic volume 

(2) convective weather (3) poor situational awareness (4) reduced 

visibility conditions (5) conservative air traffic spacing (6) unbalanced air traffic flows (7) mixed equipage (8) rigid operational 

rules and flight plans. Technical feedback from other NRA teams 

and from other interested researchers was mostly very positive, 

and several echoed the feeling that the joint mid-term review was 

very worthwhile and informative. Two of the four teams presented 

their research at the NASA Airspace Systems Technical Interchange 

Meeting in March; it was felt that the nature of, and maturity level 

of, the work in these two efforts lended themselves better to the 

theme of integration that was the emphasis of the ASP TIM. The 

other two teams, whose work is in areas that are considered less 

technically mature, presented posters of their work at the TIM. 

System Oriented Runway Management 

Quarterly Contract Review, March 2011 

NASA Langley Research Center

The seventh quarterly review of a contract supporting System 

Oriented Runway Management research under the Airspace 

Systems Program was held at Mosaic ATM, Inc. Headquarters 

in Leesburg, Virginia. Mosaic ATM leads a team comprised of 

AvMet, LMI, U Minnesota, and William & Mary for a three year 

contract. During the second year of the contract, research has focused on Tactical Runway Configuration Management (TRCM), 

the determination of the runway configuration within the next 

hour at an airport. The TRCM algorithm uses pre-defined runway 

usage policies based on general strategies, weather, traffic demand 

and other considerations to recommend a runway configuration 

plan (set of “active runways”) and schedule for runway configuration changes. One aspect of the contract focuses on quantification 
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

and forecasting of weather phenomenon to support more informed 

runway configuration selection and the best time to change configurations. The limited ability to accurately predict convective 

weather significantly impacts operations in and around airports. 

Current efforts in this area are centered on “Radial Sector Pattern 

Recognition,” which superimposes a radial grid over the airport 

and surrounding airspace and maps convective weather in terms 

of intensity and velocity. 

In year-three of the contract, algorithms will be developed that address runway configuration management in the multiple-airport, or 

Metroplex, environment. The review was attended by Paul Stough, 

Dr. Burnell McKissick, and Gary Lohr (contract technical monitor) 

of the Crew System Aviation and Operations Research Branch. 

Visit by Wake Vortex NRA Team Members 

for Six-Month Review, March 2011

NASA Langley Research Center

On March 14, 2011, Neil O’Connor (CSAOB), Wake Vortex Tech 

Lead and TM for the contract “Enable Super-Dense Operations 

by Advancing the State of the Art of Fast-Time Modeling Wake 

Vortex Modeling,” hosted the three year contract’s fifth six-month 

review. A total of 21 researchers were in attendance from NASA 

and the contractor team. The NASA Research Announcement 

(NRA) contract team consists of NorthWest Research Associates, 

Lockheed Martin Coherent Technologies, Aerospace Innovations, and George Mason University. The NRA’s three objectives 

were reviewed, with significant progress noted for all three. These 

objectives are: 1) To characterize the capabilities of state-of-theart, deterministic, fast-time, wake vortex prediction models, 2) To 

quantify the accuracy of Lidar sensor technology used to collect 

existing wake vortex strength and position data sets, and 3) To develop probabilistic, fast-time wake vortex prediction tools applied 

to reduced aircraft spacing. Of particular note is the development 

of a Lidar Simulator Tool to emulate operation of the Lockheed 

Martin WindTracer lidar—the state of the art for wake vortex detection. This tool can assess the operation of the WindTracer while 

also enabling development of improved wake vortex post-processing software — software that is critical to the development of more 

robust wake prediction models. The team envisions that validated 

wake fast-time models may form the basis of wake-enabled, super 

high density NextGen solutions.

Participation in Wakenet USA Working 

Group Meeting, March 2011

Miami, FL

Neil O’Connor, Dr. Nash’at Ahmad, Don Bagwell, Dr. Ed 

Johnson, and Dr. Fred Proctor of the Crew Systems and Aviation Operations Branch, participated in the semi-annual Wakenet 

USA’s working group meeting held at the Airbus Training Center 

in Miami. NASA, along with the FAA, are founding members of 

Wakenet USA, which is an information gathering and exchange 

activity between the aviation user community and the wake vortex 

research and development participants (industry, academia, and 

government). Wakenet USA provides a mechanism by which its 

participants are updated on the progress of US and international 

wake vortex research and development activities and obtain feed-
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

back concerning that progress. Wakenet USA is linked to Wakenet 

Europe, with mutual exchanges of research and development 

information. The approximately 60 participants included airplane 

manufacturers, pilots, researchers, engineers, and regulators from 

North America and Europe. 

Neil O’Connor, the wake vortex technology lead, participated as 

an invited member on a panel discussion that included topics such 

as planned and ongoing R&D that can support FAA/NextGen 

goals. Fred Proctor presented an update on the APA Suite Wake 

Vortex Fast-time Model and Nash’at Ahmad presented results of 

an evaluation study that looked at the current state-of-the-art in 

mesoscale weather prediction models.

Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests 

Presentation and Demo, March 2011

San Diego, CA

David Wing joined colleagues from Langley and Ames in presenting research concepts and technology solutions to the Air Traffic 

Management R&D and flight operational communities. David 

first presented an overview of Langley’s “Autonomous Flight Rules” 

concept and the extensive research and technology accomplishments over the last decade. This work represents a long-term 

“self-separation” vision for ADS-B In surveillance application. He 

then presented a newly proposed near-term concept called “Traffic 

Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests” (TASAR). In this innovation, 

NASA flight-deck technology, matured through extensive simulation to enable the far-more-demanding operations of self-separation, would be leveraged for use in current-day operations to provide near-term benefits. It would do so by providing pilots with an 

advisory tool that assists in formulating trajectory change requests 

(e.g., reroutes, new altitudes) to improve flight efficiency without 

causing traffic conflicts. It is anticipated that such “traffic-aware” 

requests would be more likely approved by the controller than 

requests generated without knowledge of the surrounding traffic 

aircraft. The presentation garnered significant interest and spun off 

many off-line discussions. A demonstration of the TASAR concept 

was also provided, thanks to the skill of the Engility Corporation 

software development team in quickly prototyping a TASAR-like 

tool and to the dedication and resourcefulness of Sheri Hoadley for 

crafting the scenarios and building (on site) an innovative and very 

popular interactive mock-up.

Study Finds Dynamic Weather Reroutes 

Save an Average of 4 Minutes per Eligible 

Flight, March 2011

NASA Ames Research Center

An initial study was conducted to explore the benefits of timesaving route amendments that avoid weather, called dynamic 

weather reroutes, using a dataset of flights that operated during 

twelve hours of severe weather that occurred over four days in 

the Fort Worth (Texas) Air Route Traffic Control Center. NASA’s 

Direct-To decision support tool was used to select flights with 

direct routes that saved at least 5 minutes. Dynamic weather 

reroutes were generated from those direct routes that crossed 

convective weather and which were extended to traverse around 

the weather. The dynamic weather reroutes were found to save an 
15

Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2011

average of four minutes per flight when compared to the original 

flight plan. Although the time savings found in this study are 

noteworthy, the study only investigated a small number of flights. 

A new study investigating a larger sample is needed to substantiate 

the benefit and efforts are underway to expand the dataset. 

This figure represents an example of a dynamic weather reroute. The 

white solid line represents the aircraft’s current flight plan. The image 

shows that the aircraft must be rerouted due to convective weather. 

The yellow dotted line shows an initial direct route to its downstream 

fix that reduces flight time, but this route also encounters convective 

weather. The green dashed line shows a new dynamic weather reroute 

that avoids weather and decreases flight time.

FACET integrates weather and air traffic information, which 

enables systems operators to reroute flights to maintain safety and 

minimize delay. 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Headquarters

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Washington, DC 20024

www.aeronautics.nasa.gov

www.nasa.gov