National Aeronautics and Space Administration

AOSP Newsletter

Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP)

JUL-SEP 2016 | Quarter 4

TAP Wins Software 

of the Year Award

ATD-2 Begins Shadow Mode 

Evaluations at Charlotte Airport

5

20

www.nasa.gov
2 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016

AOSP IN THE NEWS

FAA Bill Aims to Prevent 

Drones Flying Near Airports

USAToday.com (7/11) reports 

that the bill also called on Federal 

Aviation Administration to report 

to Congress every six months for 

two years about its research and 

development with NASA of an 

air-traffic control system for drones. 

NASA has led a team of industry 

members for years to determine 

ways to keep drones separated the 

way passenger planes are separated.

Senate Passes FAA Funding 

Bill with Drone Directives

Radio Magazine (radiomagonline.

com) (7/15) reports that NASA and 

the Federal Aviation Administration 

have been directed to create comprehensive “testing or modeling” of 

drones colliding with jet, propeller, 

and rotary aircraft of various sizes, 

speeds, and points of contact.

FAA Bill Has Focus on 

Drones, Calls for Extensive 

Collision Testing

AviationPros.com (7/20) reports 

that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA will 

continue to develop a research and 

deployment plan for a traffic management system (UTM), which 

must be completed in approximately 

six months. The plan will then be 

submitted to members of the Senate 

and the House, and posted on the 

FAA website.

White House Unveils 

Plan to Boost Drones

TheHill.com (8/02) reports that the 

Federal Aviation Administration is 

chartering a new unmanned aircraft 

safety team and a drone advisory 

committee to analyze safety data 

and mitigate drone threats, as well 

as forming a data exchange working 

group with NASA.

White House, NSF, NASA 

Tout Ambitious Drone 

Application Plans

NetworkWorld.com (8/02) reports 

the launch of a joint NASA and 

Federal Aviation Administration 

(FAA) data-exchange working 

group under the Unmanned Aerial 

Systems Traffic Management (UTM) 

Research Transition Team. The 

group will address the challenge of 

coordinating information between 

operators, entities that use UTM to 

perform services, and the FAA. The 

group will also develop a consistent 

format for data to be shared 

across the affected parties, with 

recommendations slated for release in 

Fiscal Year 2017.

The FAA Said That Over Half 

a Million Drones Have Been 

Registered in Just 8 Months

Quartz (qz.com) (8/02) reports 

that in the future, as the number of 

commercial and consumer drones 

continues to increase and our skies 

begin to fill with drones buzzing 

around for fun and work, a system 

will need to be in place to manage 

the massive influx of flying machines 

in U.S. airspace. The Federal 

Aviation Administration is working 

with NASA to develop such a 

system, and today the White House 

committed to helping integrate 

drones into U.S. airspace as quickly 

as possible.

Feds Give Google OK to Test 

Project Wing Drone Deliveries

Engadget.com (8/02) reports that 

the White House unveiled a flurry of 

other initiatives. It wants the Federal 

Aviation Administration (FAA) to 

develop new regulations to “safely 

integrate [UAVs, or drones] in the 

airspace” and have the regulations 

ready for comment by winter 2016. 

Additionally, the FAA is being asked 

to create an unmanned aerial vehicle 

“safety team” that can analyze safety 

data and investigate accidents. The 

White House also enlisted NASA 

to help develop “detect and avoid” 

technology, with completion planned 

by 2020.

FAA Launches Drone 

Safety Data Initiative

Airtransport World (atwonline) 

(8/03) reports NASA is developing 

the technologies to enable lowaltitude Unmanned Aerial Systems 

(UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) 

in a series of increasingly capable 

spirals, with the second of four 

planned technical capability levels to 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016 3

AOSP IN THE NEWS

be demonstrated in October at the 

Nevada UAS test site. NASA plans 

to turn over its UTM research to the 

Federal Aviation Administration in 

2019 for further testing.

Federal Aviation 

Administration Head: 

Government Must Go Faster 

then Normal to Cultivate 

the Drone Industry

MIT Technology Review 

(technologyreview.com) (8/03) 

discusses a Federal Aviation 

Administration regulation that 

requires the pilot of an aircraft 

be able to “see and avoid” other 

aircraft to prevent a midair collision. 

When there is no pilot in the 

vehicle, how should this be done? 

A range of sensing technologies—

from advanced digital cameras 

to sophisticated radar systems—

currently under development could 

give commercial drones the ability 

to detect moving objects. Software 

could be used to automate how 

the drone responds when it senses 

certain signals. The agency and 

NASA are also working on an air 

traffic control system for drones.

Eyes on the Skies: The 

Dream of Drone Delivery 

Starts to Take Flight

PackagingDigest.com (8/10) reports 

that “the project being run by NASA 

is responsible for drone integration 

and an air traffic management system 

for drones. It’s an issue of integrating 

other vehicles in the air, and air-traffic 

management systems, with drones 

and building that out.” As further 

explained, “the plan is to figure out 

a way to operate these drones at 

lower altitudes and have this delivery 

model—going from point A to point 

B to deliver a package—take place.”

Air Force Outlines UAS 

Plans as NASA Pursues 

Traffic Management

UASMagazine.com (8/23) reports 

that, while making his second 

trip to North Dakota this year, 

John Cavolowsky, director of 

NASA’s AirSpace Operations and 

Safety Program, said, “There is an 

enormous center of gravity here that’s 

important for us to be a part of.”

NASA Will Develop Rules 

For Flying Small Drones

PopularMechanics.com (8/28) writes 

that the NASA project is meant to 

develop performance standards for 

drones that would be used for commercial purposes by companies such 

as Amazon and Google. It is a virtual 

system designed to help drone operators deal with weather conditions, 

restricted air space, airport congestion, and other obstacles. 

Feds Collaborate with NASA 

for Drone Traffic Plan

NatureWorldNews.com (8/30) 

reports that NASA is on its second 

phase in a four-step plan of setting 

up small drones used for commercial 

purposes. The space agency will 

present its research to the Federal 

Aviation Administration by 2019.

Delta Pilots Are Using a 

New App to Help Spot 

and Avoid Turbulence

Fortune.com (8/31) reports that, 

according to NASA’s Weather Accident Prevention Project, turbulence 

costs airlines a combined $100 million 

every year in extra fuel costs.

A Passenger Plane 

that Flies Itself?

BBC.com (9/13) reports that NASA 

has a concept for a Single-Pilot 

Operations plane that features one 

seat in the cockpit for a captain, 

and one seat on the ground for an 

operator, who would take turns as 

dispatcher and first officer.

How to Prevent Drones 

Colliding in Crowded Skies

MSNBC.com and Newsweek.

com (9/14) report that NASA is 

working with industry partners on 

an Unmanned Aerial System Traffic 

Management project and stated that, 

while this is a great start, further 

efforts like this are needed.

Officials Envision a Day When 

Millions of Drones Fill Skies

JapanToday.com (9/19) reports that 

NASA is working with industry 
4 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016

AOSP IN THE NEWS

partners and the Federal Aviation 

Administration to create a new 

low-altitude air traffic control 

system specifically for drones. 

Industry and government 

officials say such a system will be 

needed eventually if there will be 

widespread drone deliveries by 

Amazon and other companies.

NASA to Help China improve 

Air Traffic Management

Reuters.com (9/28) reports that 

NASA announced on Wednesday 

that it has signed an agreement 

with the Chinese Aeronautical 

Establishment to cooperate on 

research that will help China’s 

airports improve their management 

of air traffic.

40 Years of Safer Aviation 

Through Reporting

PhysOrg.com (9/29) states that 

the United States has an incredibly 

safe aviation system, one that is 

unparalleled when compared to other 

modes of transportation. The basis 

for this historic safety record is that 

safety concerns typically are identified 

and corrected before they become real 

problems. NASA’s Aviation Safety 

Reporting System is one of the tools 

used to make the system as safe as it is.
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016 

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

5

Preparations for UTM Flight 

Test #2 Progressing

POC: KEVIN WITZBERGER AND MARCUS JOHNSON 

The Unmanned Aerial Systems 

(UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) 

Sub Project completed a series of 

checkout tests in preparation for 

its Flight Test #2 scheduled for 

October 2016. A checkout test was 

performed on July 1 at the RenoStead UAS Test Range, Zone A, in 

Nevada. This checkout test was the 

first UTM flight test executed as a 

joint operation between NASA, the 

Reno-Stead Airport, and the Nevada 

Institute of Autonomous Systems. 

The collaboration merged various 

processes and procedures from all 

three entities. Approximately 50 

participants from NASA’s Ames 

Research Center, NASA’s Langley 

Research Center, and commercial 

partners were involved in the planning and execution of the checkout, 

during which researchers flew five 

Cat I Unmanned Aircraft Systems 

(two fixed-wings and three multirotors). The researchers successfully 

met most of the test objectives, 

including those involving the 

evaluation of a surveillance-warning 

region, protocols for flight crew 

communication, and methods for 

human factors data collection. However, a test objective to establish and 

test a UTM Research Coordinator 

position remains a work in progress. 

The next series of checkout activities 

was completed August 24. During 

these activities, the UTM team 

successfully flew three simultaneous 

operations up to 1.8 miles from 

their ground control stations in 

an “extended visual-line-of-sight” 

configuration. The team also 

validated several test scenarios and 

logistics, including communications 

protocols and a situational awareness display, in preparation for the 

planned full demonstration in late 

October. Several partner organizations also participated in these tests. 

A number of environmental conditions, including heat and altitude, 

contributed to unexpected behavior 

for some of the vehicles. The next 

UTM checkout is scheduled for 

early October, and the team expects 

the same partners to participate. 

NASA Meets with United 

Airlines Executive Leadership

POC: WILL JOHNSON

On July 7, 2016, William C. 

Johnson, Sub Project Manager 

of NASA Airspace Technology 

Demonstration - 1 (ATD-1), and 

Leighton Quon, NASA ATD Project 

Manager, met with several United 

Airlines (UAL) executives at their 

headquarters in Chicago. United 

Airlines—a cost-sharing commercial 

airline partner for the ATD-1 flight 

test—is providing a new Boeing 737-

900ER with operational support for 

the flight test. The Project Manager 

for UAL requested the meeting to 

educate the airline’s executives on 

the ATD-1 flight test plans and its 

value to the rest of the Air Traffic 

Management community, including 

the Federal Aviation Administration, 

Radio Technical Commission for 

Aeronautics (RTCA), original 

equipment manufacturers, and 

commercial airlines, among others. 

The meeting went well, with 

assurances from UAL leaders of their 

continued support of the ATD-1 

flight test, which is planned for 

January or February of next year. 
6 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

AAL training at NTX. Engineering shadow evaluation session at CLT.

ATD-2 Begins Shadow 

Mode Evaluations at 

Charlotte Airport

POC: AL CAPPS, SAVVY VERMA 

AND SHIVANJLI SHARMA

During this past quarter, the Airspace Technology Demonstration-2 

(ATD-2) Team began conducting 

shadow mode evaluations of the 

ATD-2 concept at the recently 

dedicated lab at Charlotte Douglass 

International Airport (CLT) in North 

Carolina. From July 12 through 

14, representatives from the Federal 

Aviation Administration (FAA), 

Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) 

and CLT operations collaborated 

with NASA researchers for the first 

ATD-2 shadow evaluation. The 

evaluation successfully introduced 

users to the CLT lab, and included 

demonstrations of the existing system 

user-interfaces and the predictivemodeling capability.Participants 

provided feedback on both the 

shadow evaluation process as well as 

specific ATD-2 system capabilities. 

On July 20, members from the 

ATD-2 team conducted a halfday training session at NASA’s 

North Texas Research Station for 

American Airlines (AAL) operations 

research personnel on the ramp 

management tools that will be 

used in the upcoming ATD-2 

field demonstration at CLT. The 

tools will also be deployed in the 

AAL ramp tower and the CLT 

Air Traffic Control Tower, and 

at FAA’s Washington Air Route 

Traffic Control Center. American 

Airlines is the lead carrier for ATD-2 

activities at CLT, and the focal 

point for all stakeholder airline 

operators. The ramp tools, Ramp 

Traffic Console (RTC) and Ramp 

Manager Traffic Console (RMTC), 

planned for the AAL ramp tower, 

will provide pushback advisories 

to the ramp controllers with the 

aim of reducing taxi congestion 

and emissions. American Airlines 

training participants provided 

feedback on how these tools might 

fit with the existing tools in the 

CLT ramp tower, and gave positive 

reviews on the RTC and RMTC. 

The next shadow session took 

place August 23 through 25, and 

focused on evaluating ATD-2 

ramp management tools with 

AAL ramp personnel. During 

this session, the team continued 

working with representatives from 

the CLT ATCT and AAL ramp 

controllers. Air Traffic Control Tower 

controllers and Traffic Management 

Coordinators were shown progress 

of the ATD-2 surface automation 

system, called Surface TrajectoryBased Operations, and details of 

the surface modeling, timelines, 

and information processing that 

created the displays. The agenda 

for the AAL participants included 

a description of the Tactical Surface 

Scheduler and an overview of the 

ramp management user interfaces. 

Participants offered valuable feedback 

on the ATD-2 system and helped 

refine requirements for future 

development. John Greene, Acting 

Chief of CLT ATCT and Terminal 

Approach Control, also attended 

and participated in the discussions 

of ATD-2 tools and technologies. 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016 

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

7

The next engineering shadow session 

was conducted on September 20 

and 22, and combined participants 

from both ATCT and AAL. 

The participants included tower 

controllers and representatives from 

Traffic Management Centers, the 

National Air Traffic Controllers 

Association, the FAA, the AAL 

Integrated Operations Center, the 

AAL CLT ramp, and the AAL CLT 

airport operations. The session 

featured an evaluation that focused 

on the foundational data exchange 

and integration among users that are 

required for collaborative decisionmaking. Participants offered valuable 

feedback on topics such as the 

sharing of airport configuration, 

ground stops, closures, and other 

areas that enable common situational 

awareness, and also provided 

feedback on the manner in which 

data exchange and integration will 

be handled with the ATD-2 system 

tools and technology. The next 

operational shadow session will be 

held on October 19, and will bring 

together both Washington Center 

personnel and CLT FAA participants. 

 

Air Force Research Labs’ Safe 

and Secure Software and 

Systems Symposium (S5)

POC: GUILLAUME BRAT

The Safe and Secure Software and 

Systems Symposium (S5) was held 

in Dayton, Ohio, from July 12 

through 14, 2016. Many practitioners from industry, government 

agencies, and academia attended the 

meeting. The symposium addressed 

three themes: formal methods for 

validation and verification (V&V), 

compositional verification, and 

safety cases. These themes are perfectly aligned with NASA’s research 

efforts in V&V. Most talks described 

applications of these techniques at 

the design and requirement levels. 

On the last day of the S5, many discussions centered on the work being 

conducted by Air Force Research 

Labs (AFRL) on formal V&V. The 

main themes were safety cases and 

applications for formal methods to 

requirements. Dr. Guillaume Brat 

of NASA’s Ames Research Center 

gave the plenary talk on Wednesday, 

July 13, during which he offered 

an overview of the progress made 

by NASA on reducing the cost 

associated with the current V&V 

processes. As Brat described some of 

the technology developed by NASA 

over the last five years, he made 

repeated appeals to industry to work 

with NASA by using and evaluating 

the NASA tools. His talk was wellreceived, and companies like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and United 

Technologies expressed interest in 

helping to evaluate the NASA tools. 

Intel Technologies was interested in 

the Inference Kernel for Open Static 

Analyzers (IKOS) static analysis 

tool, and is already in contact with 

NASA to install IKOS at their 

site. Their goal is to deploy IKOS 

in many of their business units. 

Lockheed Martin was interested in 

the design-level tools, especially tools 

for Simulink models. As a result of 

the contact established during S5, 

Lockheed Martin sent to NASA a 

set of 10 representative Simulink 

problems. Raytheon was interested 

in collaborating on V&V techniques 

for UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) 

teaming technology. This possibility may require more discussions 

before any tangible efforts can be 

started. John Koelling, of NASA’s 

Langley Research Center, and Brat 

met several times with representatives from the Air Force Research 

Laboratory (AFRL) who have been 

tasked with providing a briefing 

for the October 2016 meeting of 

the NASA and AFRL Executive 

Research Committee. The AFRL was 

eager to have NASA participate in 

the development of this briefing for 

our joint executives. Everyone agreed 

that an initial working outline of the 

briefing would include discussions 

of successful results from past NASA 

and AFRL cooperation, the possibility of future near-term areas of 

cooperation, and a proposed framework for longer-term cooperation. 

One of the goals of the briefing will 

be to obtain executive level support 

for these plans, and the direction 

needed to develop a framework for 
8 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

longer-term cooperation and collaboration on common work and goals. 

 

System-wide Information 

Management Data and 

National Airspace System 

Enterprise Services 

Capabilities and Discussion

POC: KEE PALOPO

As part of a two-day meeting at 

NASA’s Ames Research Center, teams 

met on July 14, 2016, to discuss 

how Shadow Mode Assessments 

Using Realistic Technologies for the 

National Airspace System program 

(SMART-NAS) Test-Beds (SNTB) 

use System Wide Information 

Management (SWIM). The teams 

consisted of representatives from 

SNTB, the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Volpe, 

and other SWIM users, including 

Airspace Technology Demonstration 

(ATD) and Unmanned Aerial 

Systems (UAS) Traffic Management 

(UTM) projects. Attendees included 

FAA Director of Enterprise Services 

Malcolm Andrews, FAA’s Jeri Groce, 

James Hill and Sarasina Tuchen from 

Volpe, SNTB personnel, and other 

interested SWIM data-users from 

NASA. Andrews wanted to know 

whether the SNTB team experienced 

any issues while using the SWIM 

data, and whether they had in mind 

any missing SWIM data they might 

consider supporting in the future. 

The SNTB team alerted the FAA 

about a specific speed performance 

issue SNTB encountered, and 

suggested a need to better organize 

the data. They also asked whether the 

FAA intends to add non-traditional 

air traffic management (ATM) 

data as part of SWIM. The FAA 

indicated that they had been asked 

only about a part of non-traditional 

ATM data involving airport parking. 

Overall, the meeting went well, and 

the SNTB team appreciated the 

face-to-face experience with the FAA 

personnel responsible for SWIM 

data—an element critical to SNTB. 

NASA Hosts National Center 

for Atmospheric Research 

Weather Workshop 

POC: WILLIAM N. CHAN

NASA’s Ames Research Center 

hosted an Unmanned Aerial 

Systems (UAS) Traffic Management 

(UTM) Workshop from July 19 

through 21, with co-sponsorship 

from the National Center for 

Atmospheric Research. The 

workshop brought together aviation 

weather and UTM researchers, and 

UAS operators to discuss weather 

impacts and requirements to enable 

safe and efficient low-altitude 

UTM operations. Participants 

presented on topics such as 

the UTM system, the current 

weather aviation system, weather 

phenomena and their impact on 

UAS operations, and weather 

integration. On the final day, two 

panel sessions were held, one on 

user experiences with weather in 

the field, and another on weather 

research for UAS operations. About 

80 people attended the workshop, 

including representatives from 

industry, academia, government, 

and research organizations. The 

workshop organizers will use the 

outputs from this workshop to 

engage a cross-cutting group of 

users and weather researchers to 

inform future weather product 

development and suggest research 

Steve Abelman (FAA) speaking during the Weather 

Research Panel on July 21.

UTM Weather Workshop.
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016 9

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

directions to enable all weather 

access for small UAS operations. 

Training for Attention 

Management Team Hosts 

Airbus Researchers

POC: ANGELA HARRIVEL

On July 19 and 20, 2016, the 

Training for Attention Management 

(TfAM) Team at NASA’s 

Langley Research Center hosted 

representatives of Airbus SAS from 

Toulouse, France. The TfAM 

team reprised presentations and 

demonstrations provided at a June 

interchange with representatives 

from Boeing. The visit focused on 

technical interchange regarding 

the ongoing Scenarios for Human 

Attention Restoration using 

Psychophysiology (SHARP) study 

and crew state monitoring study. 

The teams also discussed synthetic 

vision, display studies, and headworn display technology. 

The Airbus team presented 

recent study results related to 

psychophysiological measures 

for human monitoring. Airbus 

is particularly focused on the 

understanding and detection of 

“incapacitation and fascination” 

—what the TfAM team refers to 

as “channelized attention.” Airbus 

and TfAM determined that there 

is significant direct overlap in 

their respective research aims. 

Airbus’ interest in this field of 

research underscores the global 

importance of NASA’s work in the 

area of human factors and attentional 

state detection. NASA and the TfAM 

team greatly benefited through an 

expanded breadth of knowledge 

of the state of the art in research 

approaches for human monitoring as 

it relates to commercial flight safety. 

Research in this area offers potential 

benefits for aviation safety through 

support of U.S. airlines and U.S. 

airspace operations. The SHARP 

study assesses the detection of 

limited states of cognitive attentional 

human performance, and aids the 

mitigation loss of airplane state 

awareness – two occurrences that 

the Commercial Aviation Safety 

Team (CAST) specified as causal 

factors in commercial aviation 

accidents and incidents. This work 

is being conducted in response to 

CAST Safety Enhancement 211 

entitled “Training for Attention 

Management,” which supports the 

ATD Project within AOSP under 

the Technologies for Airplane 

State Awareness Sub Project. 

Airbus, like NASA, is a member 

of CAST. All content presented 

to Airbus is already publicly 

available. The TfAM team members 

include Angela Harrivel, Ray 

Comstock, Lance Prinzel, Alan 

Pope, Trey Arthur, Kyle Ellis, 

Randy Bailey, Chad Stephens. 

NASA-FAA RTT Meeting: 

Unmanned Aerial Systems 

Integration Concepts

POC: JOEY RIOS AND PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR

On July 20, 2016, NASA’s Ames 

Research Center hosted a NASAFederal Aviation Administration 

(FAA) Research Transition Team 

(RTT) meeting to focus on 

unmanned aerial systems (UAS) 

integration concepts. In the morning 

session, the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) presented 

their current work, defining their 

concept of operations for all altitudes 

and types of UAS to an audience of 

more than 100 people from NASA, 

industry, and academia. NASA’s UAS 

technology partners were invited 

to attend in-person or remotely. 

Steve Bradford, Sherri Magyarits, 

and Maureen Keegan were the FAA 

speakers. These meetings were the 

first joint outreach activities for the 

NASA-FAA RTT for UAS Traffic 

Management (UTM). During 

the afternoon session, a group of 

participants was asked to create a 

consistent approach for the content 

and format of UAS data exchanges 

to enable their integration into the 

National Airspace System. NASA 

presented their concept of the 

UTM architecture, including roles 

and responsibilities, and defined 

what data exchange they perceive is 

required between the UAS operator 

and the FAA. They asked industry 
10 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

participants to drive and define the 

data exchange requirements for UAS 

operators and support services. Once 

defined, NASA will test the concepts 

and gather data for FAA review. From 

this meeting, a focused working 

group was formed and tasked with 

providing the following deliverables 

within four weeks: definition of data 

schema, protocols, and procedures 

for UAS data exchange, and a date 

for simulation testing. Joey Rios 

of NASA’s Ames Research Center 

will set the meeting dates and work 

with the RTT. NASA will provide 

initial UTM schema, data exchange 

protocol, annual performance 

indicators, and architecture 

documentation as a starting point. 

The goal of this group is to finalize 

the message exchanges across 

architecture elements and to conduct 

a data exchange demonstration. 

Federal Aviation 

Administration Interest 

in Ongoing NASA Work 

on Trajectory-based 

Operations and Integrated 

Demand Management

POC: PAUL LEE AND CONNIE BRASIL

On July 21, 2016, the Federal 

Aviation Administration (FAA) 

and NASA held a quarterly review 

at NASA’s Ames Research Center. 

At the meeting, the Shadow Mode 

Assessments Using Realistic Technologies for the National Airspace 

AOL Researchers Gita Hodell (left) and Kostas Speridakos (right) during IDM HOOTL simulation.

System Trajectory Based Operations 

(TBO) team met with Rob Hunt, 

Manager of the FAA’s ATO Technical 

Analysis and Operational Requirements, and Patricia Horan, Manager 

of the FAA’s En Route Operational 

Concepts and Requirements. The 

purpose of the meeting was to 

provide an update on recent Integrated Demand Management (IDM) 

activities, which included a demo in 

the Airspace Operations Laboratory 

of an upcoming IDM “HOOTL” 

(Human-out-of-the-Loop) simulation scheduled for August. 

The HOOTL simulation study was 

completed August 15 through 19. 

This study evaluated the effectiveness 

of the IDM concept for preconditioning traffic into Time Based 

Flow Management (TBFM) during 

a high-demand arrival flow into 

Newark International Airport. The 

HOOTL, led by Connie Brasil of the 

San Jose State University Research 

Foundation, presented a follow-on to 

an earlier human-in-the-loop (HITL) 

evaluation that was modified to support a clearer comparison of benefits 

between a baseline condition and 

two variations of IDM. Run duration 

for the HOOTL was extended from 

three hours to five hours to increase 

the sample size. Several features of 

the simulation setup and scenarios 

were changed based on findings 

from the earlier study, including 

environmental wind errors and 

TBFM settings. Human interactions 

with the simulation environment 

were reduced, and either automated 

or strictly proceduralized. This was 

in marked contrast to the earlier 

study, where methods, task timing, 

and scheduling decisions represented 

critical components that were left 

to the discretion of subject matter 

experts. A preliminary comparison 

of key quantitative metrics—ground 

delay, airborne delay, and runway 

throughput—indicated that IDM 

preconditioning can greatly reduce 

airborne delay, when compared to a 

baseline condition, while maintaining 

a similar level of throughput. On the 

last day of the simulation, a telecon 

was conducted with the Collaborative 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016 11

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

Decision Making Flow Evaluation 

Team to share these initial observations and to discuss results from the 

January HITL and future plans. 

Federal Aviation 

Administration Next 

Generation Air Transportation 

System Team Visits NASA

POC: SHON GRABBE AND BRYAN BARMORE

On July 21, 2016, Paul Fontaine, 

Acting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Deputy Assistant 

Administrator for NextGen, John 

Maffei, Acting Director for Portfolio Management and Technology 

Development, Wes Wright, and 

Dr. C. Marc Buntin visited NASA’s 

Langley Research Center for a 

Technical Interchange Meeting on 

Trajectory-Based Operations (TBO). 

The FAA is starting a second wave 

of development in support of the 

Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), which is 

focused on enabling TBO. The 

Airspace Operations and Safety 

Program is starting formulation for 

a new project focused on TBO. The 

meeting kicked off an exchange of 

ideas between NASA and the FAA. 

Buntin presented an overview of 

the FAA’s TBO high-level concept 

document. NASA presented work 

on Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Request (TASAR), Pair-wise 

Trajectory Management (PTM), 

Advanced 4D Trajectory Operations, and Novel New York Airspace 

Configurations. The meeting ended 

with plans to start a recurring 

TBO workshop between the FAA, 

NASA, and other stakeholders. 

A follow-on meeting was again held 

at NASA’s Langley on August 10 

and 11, in which seven people from 

the FAA’s NextGen Office participated, including the NextGen Chief 

Scientist, Steve Bradford. Discussion 

and demonstration topics included 

the TASAR concept led by David 

Wing, New York Novel Airspace 

Configurations led by Trish Glaab, 

and Advanced 4D Trajectories led by 

Bryan Barmore. Additional technical demonstrations were provided 

by SMART-NAS Test-Bed Team 

Lead Mike Guminsky. Randy Bailey, 

Lynda Kramer, and Steve Young 

spoke about Flight Deck Interface 

Technologies for NextGen, and 

Ray Comstock presented a discussion on UAS in the NAS. The New 

York Novel Airspace, Advanced 

4DT, and SMART-NAS Test Bed 

components are all sponsored by the 

current SMART NAS Test-Bed for 

Safe Trajectory based Operations 

Project. Attendees showed significant 

interest in the showcased technologies, especially those concerned with 

increasing aircraft and user participation in air traffic management. 

Much of the discussion revolved 

around potential integration 

opportunities for NASA-developed 

concepts and technologies with FAA 

plans, possible technology transfer 

points, and future collaboration. 

Presentation of the 

Aeronautics Research 

Mission Directorate Thrust 

6 (Autonomy) Roadmap 

POC: SHIVANJLI SHARMA

The NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) Thrust 6 

Strategic Roadmap, Assured Autonomy 

for Aviation Transformation, was 

presented to the National Academy 

of Sciences’ Aeronautics Research 

and Technology Roundtable panel 

and the 2014 Autonomy Study 

committee on August 2, 2016, by 

Shivanjli Sharma. Approximately 

50 individuals attended the meeting, including senior members 

from industry and academia in 

the aeronautics discipline, senior 

NASA officials in ARMD, and 

researchers and roadmap team 

members from a number of NASA 

centers. The primary purpose of the 

meeting was to review the Thrust 

6 roadmap and evaluate it against 

the recommendations of the 2014 

National Research Council (NRC) 

Aviation Autonomy study. Sharma 

also presented a comparison of the 

roadmap with the recommendations 

from the NRC study. The roadmap 

presentation outlined a vision of 

the future of autonomy in aviation 

over the next 25 years and beyond, 
12 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

and described specific research 

themes and advancement strategies 

that will be needed to achieve this 

vision. The committee provided 

substantive comments and feedback, 

including thoughts on how to form 

partnerships with industry to help 

support research challenges, and 

how NASA can move forward with 

future research and development to 

implement beneficial autonomous 

applications in civil aviation. 

ATD-2 University at NASA’s 

Ames Research Center

POC: AL CAPPS

On August 2 and 3, 2016, members of the Airspace Technology 

Demonstration-2 (ATD-2) team 

presented the fifth ATD-2 University 

(ATD2U), hosted at NASA’s Ames 

Research Center. The two days of 

presentations and discussions covered 

the foundational Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) and NASA 

technologies that ATD-2 is building on. The first topic covered the 

FAA three T’s: Time-Based Flow 

Management, Traffic Flow Management System, and Terminal Flight 

Data Manager. The next presentations discussed NASA’s Precision 

Departure Release Capability and 

Spot and Runway Departure Advisor, and the “what” and “where” of 

ATD-2. The ATD2U also included 

briefings about the latest Time-Based 

Flow Management and surface 

electronic integration, surface tactical 

departure scheduling, surface modeling, system analysis, field shadow 

evaluations, and ATD-2 concept of 

use. Participants included collaborating team members from the FAA, 

and representatives from Charlotte 

Douglas International Airport’s Air 

Traffic Control Tower and Volpe. 

Future offerings of ATD2U at 

NASA’s Ames Research Center will 

be held on an as-needed basis. 

Terminal Area Detect and 

Avoid Live Flight Research 

with SMART NAS Test Bed 

POC: MIKE GUMINSKY

On August 4, 2016, NASA’s Langley 

Research Center launched two 

aircraft: the SR-22, representing an 

Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) 

Surrogate aircraft, and the C206, 

operating as a target aircraft. The 

airplanes were used to conduct 

a terminal area detect and avoid 

(DAA) flight test demonstration. 

The NASA aircraft flew to Newport 

News/Williamsburg International 

Airport, and downlinked flight data 

to NASA’s Langley Research Center 

UAS Ground Control Station. 

During the test, the aircraft ran the 

NASA Daedalus DAA algorithm 

during multiple traffic-pattern UAS 

encounter geometries, which were 

observed from commercial, general 

aviation, and NASA target aircraft 

flying in the airport’s traffic pattern. 

The flight data and algorithm 

were connected in real-time to 

the Shadow Mode Assessments 

Using Realistic Technologies for 

the National Airspace System 

program Test-Bed Team (SNTB) 

Control Center, which launched 

multiple instantiations of the DAA 

algorithm used during the test 

flight. Data gathered during this 

test flight represent some of the 

first looks at DAA configuration 

and capability for UASs operating 

in an actual terminal area with live 

commercial and general aviation 

traffic, in tower-controlled Federal 

Aviation Administration Class D 

airspace. One primary goal of SNTB 

is to enable higher technology 

readiness-level testing of key 

aeronautics technologies operating 

in live, virtual, and constructive 

environments, as demonstrated 

during this flight test activity. 

ATD Briefings to REDAC 

NAS Ops Subcommittee

POC: SHERI BROWN

On August 9 and 10, 2016, the 

Airspace Technology Demonstration (ATD) team provided briefings 

at the Research Engineering and 

Development Advisory Committee 

National Airspace System Ops Subcommittee Meeting in Washington, 

DC. Over the two days, multiple 

sessions were held covering ATD 

project activities. Two sessions on the 

first day included briefings on the 

ATD-1 Sub Project Overview and 

the ATD-1 Operational Integration 

Assessment (OIA) Joint Test with 

the Federal Aviation Administration 

(FAA). Sessions on the second day 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016 13

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

included overviews of ATD-2 and 

ATD-3 concepts, technologies, goals, 

and collaborations. In the meeting, 

the group discussed the foundational 

technologies and research that NASA 

is building on with ATDs, and the 

‘what’ and ‘where’ of ATDs. Collaborating team members from the 

FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical 

Center were in attendance to present 

their activities, views, and the benefits of working specifically on the 

joint FAA and NASA ATD-1 OIA 

Test that occurred in May of 2015. 

The information on the complexity 

of the ATD activities was wellreceived and the subcommittee recognized the significance of the ATDs 

as the fundamental basis for a full 

Trajectory-Based Operations future. 

Airline Operations 

Workshop Held at NASA’s 

Ames Research Center

POC: RICHARD MOGFORD

An Airlines Operations Workshop 

(AOW) was held at NASA’s Ames 

Research Center Conference Center 

Building at Moffett Field, California, 

from August 2 through 4, 2016. 

Dr. Richard Mogford, a senior 

researcher within Aerospace Operations and Safety Program, organized 

the event. This workshop gathered 

together government and private 

sector interests whose research and 

development work supports the 

airlines (airline operations center and 

flight deck). About 200 experts in 

the field met to exchange new ideas 

and discuss objectives. Workshop 

presentations included examples of 

projects and applications from NASA 

and industry that focus on airline 

operations (as opposed to air traffic 

control or traditional aeronautics). 

With the assistance and input of 

industry, breakout sessions were 

held to gather suggestions to guide 

future NASA work in airline systems 

automation. The workshop helped 

to create a network of researchers, 

developers, and users of airline operations tools that will be a resource 

for future efforts in this domain. 

TASAR Briefings at AOW 

and RTCA NextGen Advisory 

Committee Task Group 

POC: DAVID WING

David Wing of NASA’s Langley 

Research Center conducted briefings 

of NASA’s Traffic Aware Strategic 

Aircrew Requests (TASAR) concept 

and technology to attendees at both 

the Airline Operations Workshop, 

held at NASA’s Ames Research Center from August 2 through 4, 2016, 

and at the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) 

NextGen Advisory Committee Task 

Group, which met on August 23. 

TASAR features cockpit technology 

that includes Traffic Aware Planner 

(TAP) software, an application 

developed by NASA that looks for 

flight-optimization opportunities to 

save flight time, fuel burn, or overall 

trip cost. Kelly Burke and David 

Wing of NASA’s Langley Research 

Center, and Bob Vivona of Engility 

Corporation, highlighted the unique 

features and capabilities of the TAP 

software to scores of attendees. Feedback on the TASAR presentation 

and TAP technology demonstrations 

was highly positive, and comments 

received indicated a growing consensus of the value of integrating air 

and ground trajectory management 

technologies. Multiple vendors, 

including several small businesses, 

expressed technology-transfer interest in TAP, and follow-up discussions 

are expected after the workshop. 

At the RTCA Meeting, Wing briefed 

the RTCA’s NextGen Advisory 

Committee task group on Time, 

Speed, and Spacing (TSS) aspects 

of Performance Based Navigation 

(PBN). This briefing was specifically 

requested by the Federal Aviation 

Administration’s (FAA’s) NextGen 

Chief Scientist, Steve Bradford, 

after he received a briefing and 

demo on August 10 at NASA’s 

Langley Research Center. The PBN 

TSS Task Group is composed of 

representatives from virtually all 

stakeholder groups that have been 

engaged in PBN development and 

implementation, complemented by 

a diverse set of FAA PBN subject 

matter experts. The goal of the PBN 

TSS effort is to “keep the aircraft on 

the PBN procedure from en route 

to the runway while maintaining or 

increasing capacity.” Bradford identified TASAR as being a potential 
14 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

tool in achieving this goal through a 

user-driven path stretching to meet a 

scheduled arrival time. The briefing 

was well-received and sparked significant discussion. As a result of the 

briefing, TASAR may be included 

in the PBN TSS 15-year plan as a 

tool in meeting the PBN TSS goal. 

2016 Oklahoma Unmanned 

Aircraft Systems Summit 

POC: WILLIAM CHAN

On August 9, 2016, the Unmanned 

Systems Alliance of Oklahoma 

hosted the sixth annual statewide 

summit, whose purpose was to support the unmanned systems industry in Oklahoma. Over 100 people 

registered for this event, which 

included presentations from NASA, 

the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Association, the 

University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma 

State University, Hogan Lovells law 

firm, and the University of ColoTAP technology displayed in cockpit.
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016 15

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

rado at Boulder. Discussion topics included how various research 

groups are using Unmanned Aerial 

Systems for environmental monitoring and weather research. The 

summit also included discussions 

related to policy, legal updates, and 

the Small UAS Part 107 FAA Rules. 

William Chan of NASA’s Ames 

Research Center provided a UAS 

Traffic Management (UTM) project overview, including research 

on estimating weather impacts to 

UAS at low-altitude operations. 

Dynamic Routes for Arrivals in 

Weather Dynamic Routes for 

Arrivals in Weather Workshop

POC: CHESTER GONG

On August 10, 2016, the Airspace 

Technology Demonstration-3 

(ATD-3) Sub Project hosted a 

one-day workshop for the Dynamic 

Routes for Arrivals in Weather 

(DRAW) technology at NASA’s 

Ames Research Center. The DRAW 

workshop included 10 subject 

matter experts in air traffic flow 

management with experience 

in operations during convective 

weather, and 5 representatives from 

the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic Organization. The 

workshop opened with a presentation on the DRAW concept, which 

aims to improve arrival traffic 

flow when weather impacts arrival 

routing into major airports, and 

a demonstration of the current 

functionality of the DRAW decision 

support tool. Following a positive 

and encouraging discussion, the 

workshop shifted to discussing the 

operational details of a number 

of actual weather scenarios. The 

DRAW researchers gained valuable 

feedback to help focus the design of 

upcoming high-fidelity, controllersin-the-loop DRAW simulations. 

System Requirements Reviews 

for ATD-2 and ATD-3

POC: RONALD JOHNSON

On August 17 and 18, 2016, System 

Requirements Reviews (SRR) were 

held on the Airspace Technology 

Demonstrations (ATD) Sub Projects, 

and on the ATD-3 Applied Air 

Traffic Management and ATD-2 

Integrated Arrival, Departure, and 

Surface Sub Projects, respectively. 

An Independent Review Board 

(IRB) convened by the Ames Chief 

Engineer’s Office reviewed both 

projects. The IRB included members 

who are experts in air traffic management research, project management, 

systems engineering, and software 

engineering, as well as Steve Bradford, the Chief Scientist from the 

Federal Aviation Administration’s 

NextGen Organization, which is the 

ultimate customer for the ATD-2 

and 3 technologies. Panel members 

also included Chairperson Ezinne 

Uzo-Okoro, Todd Lauderdale and 

Eric Mueller from the Chief 

Engineer’s Office at NASA’s Ames 

Research Center, Jim Price from 

NASA’s Langley Research Center, 

and Rhonda Fitz from NASA’s Independent Verification and Validation 

(IV&V) team. The reviews focused 

on the development of the system 

requirements and their relationship 

to the Sub Project objectives, systems 

engineering processes in place to 

manage requirements, V&V activities, Key Performance Parameters, 

and management implementation 

plans. The IRB verbal brief-outs 

each day conveyed positive feedback 

on the progress and state of both 

Sub Projects since their Formulation Reviews in November 2015. 

Formal reports from the IRB are 

expected over the next three weeks. 

Gogo Takes Steps Toward 

TASAR Commercialization 

POC: DAVID WING

On August 18, 2016, David 

Wing of NASA’s Langley Research 

Center met with representatives 

from Gogo Business Aviation 

in Broomfield, Colorado, to 

discuss commercializing Traffic 

Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests 

(TASAR). Gogo is moving 

forward in their exploration of 

the commercialization potential 

for TASAR, and they’ve identified 

the business aviation market as 

potentially the best initial market 
16 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

opportunity. Wing briefed the Gogo 

Business Aviation team on TASAR, 

provided a demonstration of the 

TAP software, and outlined how the 

software leverages the “connected 

aircraft” environment championed 

by Gogo. The meeting generated 

positive energy and enthusiasm 

for moving the technology into 

the market, and Gogo expects to 

redouble its efforts in this regard. 

To that end, they signed an updated 

Software Usage Agreement for the 

latest version of the Traffic Aware 

Planner software, and plan to reach 

out to the Technology Transfer 

Office of NASA’s Langley Research 

Center’s for the next steps. 

GE Internal Verification and 

Verification Workshop

POC: GUILLAUME BRAT

On August 15, 2016, Dr. Guillaume 

Brat of NASA’s Ames Research 

Center visited the General Electric 

(GE) Global Research Center in 

Niskayuna, New York, to discuss 

the expanding use of Verification 

and Validation (V&V) technology 

developed at NASA. The discussion occurred in the context of the 

first GE-internal V&V workshop, 

organized by Mike Durling and 

John Garrity of GE’s Global 

Research Center. The workshop 

was attended by V&V experts 

from many different business units 

(including aviation, gas, power, 

transportation, sensor, healthcare, 

and their office of chief engineer) 

at GE. These experts described 

their V&V needs and challenges, 

and shared their experiences using 

methods and tools available in 

the commercial sector. In the 

second part of the workshop, Mike 

Durling presented the V&V tools 

that GE is developing and asked 

NASA and Toyota to describe their 

research efforts in V&V. Brat then 

described the current and future 

V&V capabilities developed by 

NASA to reduce the cost associated 

with V&V, while still maintaining 

the current high-level of safety in 

aviation. Brat also identified the 

tools that are ready to be used by 

industry, emphasizing the fact that 

NASA’s primary targets are aviation 

systems. In contrast, Toyota listed 

research efforts, rather than pointing to available tools. Verification 

and Validation experts in healthcare 

(in particular, those developing 

CT scanners) and transportation 

were very interested in the NASA 

tools. The aviation system experts 

and the office of chief engineer at 

GE showed great interest in using 

the NASA tools. For example, the 

aircraft engine business unit is quite 

interested in the model checking 

capabilities for their Safety-Critical 

Application Development Environment models, and the aviation 

business unit is interested in the 

whole tool chain (from requirements to code). Brat expressed 

plans to work with Durling over 

the next few months to make this 

technology transfer a reality. 

International Air Traffic 

Control Association visit to 

Ames Research Center

POC: KATHARINE LEE

On August 22 and 23, 2016, 

Director of Air Traffic Management 

Robert Eagles and Head of ATM 

Engineering Noppadol Pringvanich 

of the International Air Transport 

Association (IATA) visited NASA’s 

Ames Research Center. The purpose 

of the visit was to discuss potential 

collaboration opportunities. Discussion focused on the respective and 

joint work areas for NASA and 

IATA, with special emphasis on 

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) 

and UAS Traffic Management. In 

addition to participating in technical 

discussions, the visitors were given 

a tour of the Air Traffic Operations 

Lab and the NASA small UAS 

Autonomy Research Complex, 

and met with senior research 

managers supporting Airspace 

Operations and Safety Program. 

UTM Comm and 

Spectrum Meeting

POC: PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR

A kick-off meeting for a new focus 

group on Unmanned Aerial Systems 

Traffic Management (UTM) related 

communications, spectrum, and 

other considerations was held on 

August 25, 2016, at NASA’s Ames 

Research Center. Approximately 

70 subject matter experts (about 

50 in person and the rest remotely) 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016 17

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

attended the meeting. Participants 

included representatives from the 

Federal Communications Commission (FCC), industry operators 

and carriers, the Federal Aviation 

Administration, and other NASA 

Centers. The objective of the meeting was to gain an understanding 

of command and control tracking 

spectrum and frequencies, especially 

as they pertain to UTM. The group 

agreed to develop use cases and 

operating profiles to assist the FCC 

in taking the next steps forward 

related to spectrum and frequency. 

Visit from Korean Airlines

POC: WILLIAM CHAN

Aerospace Operations and Safety 

Program (AOSP) researchers hosted 

visitors from Korean Airlines, which 

included Vice President of Safety 

and Security In Gyu Kim, General 

Manager of Safety Hyuck You, and 

Safety Team Manager Yun Ik Jang. 

The meeting took place August 

30 and 31, 2016, at NASA’s Ames 

Research Center. In support of the 

visit, several aerospace engineers 

from NASA’s Ames Research Center 

in California gave presentations on 

current AOSP research activities. 

William Chan presented Air Traffic Management weather research, 

with emphasis on turbulence 

modeling; Kee Palopo of NASA’s 

Ames Research Center in California 

briefed the group on the Shadow 

Mode Assessments Using Realistic 

Technologies for the National 

Airspace System program Test-Bed; 

Chester Gong discussed the Airspace Technology Demonstration-3 

(ATD-3) Sub Project and Dynamic 

Routes for Arrivals in Weather 

capability; and Yoon Jung, the 

associate principle investigator of the 

NextGen Concepts and Technology 

Department Project, discussed the 

ATD-2 Sub Project. The visitors also 

participated in presentations from 

the Human Systems Integration and 

the Intelligent Systems Divisions. 

NASA Weather Rerouting 

Tool Deployed at American 

Airlines Operations Center

POC: KAPIL SHETH

At the end of August 2016, NASA 

Airspace Technology Demonstration-3 (ATD-3) project leads and 

research and development staff 

traveled to the American Airlines 

(AAL) Integrated Operations Center 

(IOC). There, the group deployed 

NASA’s National Airspace System 

Constraint Evaluation and Notification Tool (NASCENT), which 

is the agency’s National Airspace 

System-based single flight rerouting 

advisory software. During the visit, 

two AAL senior air traffic control 

(ATC) coordinators were trained 

on NASCENT functionality, and 

both indicated their eagerness to 

evaluate time-saving opportunities 

for the AAL flights across many of 

their centers. The NASA team also 

provided an overview of the ATD-3 

Sub Project to AAL management 

team members, which included IOC 

Vice President Lorne Cass, IOC 

Managing Director Scott Ramsay, 

Air Traffic Management Managing 

Director Marc Gross, Air Traffic 

Management Director Tim Niznik, 

and Information Technology Director John Nash. Cass expressed his 

appreciation of the time and effort 

the team put into their discussion of 

this work, and showed strong support of this collaboration. American 

Airlines indicated their intent to use 

NASCENT more often once their 

single Flight Operating Service certification is completed on October 1. 

Federal Aviation 

Administration hosts 

ATD-2 Testing Kick-off 

Meeting at William J. 

Hughes Technical Center

POC: JANE THIPPHAVONG

On September 13, 2016, the NASA 

Airspace Technology Demonstration-2 (ATD-2) team met with 

Federal Aviation Administration 

(FAA) representatives to kick-off 

discussions on the Time-Based 

Flow Management (TBFM) testing 

strategy for field demonstrations. 

NASA is proposing integration of 

the ATD-2 surface system Terminal Fight Data Manager (TFDM) 

stand-in with the operational TBFM 

Integrated Departure Arrival Capability web services routing tool 

(WSRT) capability to enable demonstration of 3T-like integration in 

the field. The FAA is finalizing the 
18 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

implementation design, targeting 

TBFM release 4.7. The FAA participants included the co-lead of the 

Integrated Arrival, Departure, and 

Surface Research Transition Team, 

and representatives from the FAA’s 

William J. Hughes Technical Center 

TBFM and Surface Trajectory-Based 

Operations (STBO) system support 

and test team. NASA briefed the 

participants on the ATD-2 system 

and the FAA provided an overview 

of the TBFM and STBO lab where 

release testing is conducted. Followon meetings will focus on setting up 

the ATD-2 surface system in the test 

lab, and detailing test procedures. 

Surface CDM Team Meeting at 

Charlotte International Airport 

POC: RICH COPPENBARGER

On September 21, 2016, NASA’s 

ATD-2 team provided a demonstration to the joint Federal Aviation 

Administration and industry Surface Collaborative Decision-Making 

Team (SCT) on the ATD-2 automation operating at the Charlotte 

International Airport Laboratory 

(CLT) with live input data. The 

SCT includes representatives from 

the major U.S. commercial airlines 

and general aviation industry, who 

visited the lab as part of a meeting held at the American Airlines 

training center. NASA provided 

an overview of recent shadow testing activities at CLT and its plans 

to evaluate the strategic departurescheduling component of ATD-2—a 

Surface CDM Team and ATD-2 team members.

component based on automation 

previously developed by the SCT. 

The groups discussed the availability and accuracy of airline flightreadiness information required for 

trajectory predictions in ATD-2 that 

extend from the gate prior to pushback. They also discussed current 

airline on-time departure metrics 

that are potentially at odds with 

metering holds prescribed at the 

gate. The SCT expressed willingness 

to provide data to NASA and collaborate on ways to redefine on-time 

departure metrics during metering 

operations. The team was encouraged by the progress observed in the 

Charlotte lab and expressed their 

enthusiasm for continued engagement with NASA on ATD-2. 

Advanced 4D Trajectory 

Focus Group Activity

POC: SHERI BROWN

An Advanced 4D Trajectory Focus 

Group Activity was conducted at 

NASA’s Langley Research Center 

from September 8 through 19, 

2016. The purpose was to discuss a 

mid-term Trajectory-based Operations (TBO) concept with subject 

matter experts and potential TBO 

end users (airline pilots and retired 

center air traffic controllers). Attendees included representatives from 

NASA, airline pilots, and retired air 

traffic controllers. Testing was conducted over five days in the Air Traffic Operations Laboratory, during 

which participants were briefed on 

the TBO concept and participated 

in an interactive demonstration of 

various TBO methods of rerouting aircraft around weather such 

as Dynamic Required Navigation 

Performance, Dynamic Area Navigation, Required Time of Arrival, 

Advanced Interval Management, ondemand metering, and user-preferred 

routing. Overall, the participants 

were supportive of the TBO concept 

presented and felt the concept could 

provide many benefits, such as 

reduced workload and time and fuel 

savings whenever aircraft must be 

rerouted. Participant feedback will 

be documented and incorporated 

into future TBO concepts and 

research activities. Results will be 

presented in a NASA report and possible conference paper in the future. 

Avionics Phase 2 Build 1 

Demonstration and Flight 

Interval Management

POC: WILL JOHNSON

The Airspace Technology Demonstration-1 (ATD-1) team—including members from NASA, Boeing, 

Honeywell, United Airlines and the 
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016 19

TECHNICAL AND PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

Federal Aviation Administration 

(FAA)—conducted several meetings from September 27 through 

29, 2016, to discuss preparations 

for the upcoming Flight Interval Management flight test, and 

received a demonstration of the 

Avionics Phase 2 prototype system. 

On September 27, meetings were 

conducted in Phoenix at the Honeywell Flight Operations Facility and 

ramp, where facilitators conducted a 

walkthrough of the Honeywell 757 

flight test aircraft that will be used 

in the ATD-1 flight test. On September 28, organizers conducted 

meetings at the Boeing facilities 

outside of Seattle, where they held 

a data-gathering workshop, demonstration of the flight test operational 

testing, and a walkthrough of the 

operations center. On September 29, 

local FAA facility managers hosted 

a review of flight test operations at 

the FAA’s Seattle Center. Later that 

day, a demonstration of the Avionics 

Phase 2 Build 1 system was provided 

at the Honeywell facilities in Redmond, Washington. The meetings 

highlighted the progress demonstrated across many areas in anticipation of the upcoming flight tests, 

which are targeted for early 2017. 

ATD-3 Technology 

Transfer 1 Completed

POC: KAPIL SHETH

Under the Airspace Technology 

Demonstration-3 Sub Project, 

NASA is performing research and 

development on technologies that 

help airspace users avoid convective weather and gain flight time 

and fuel savings via flight plan 

route corrections in en route airspace. The first of three research 

transition products defined by the 

Applied Traffic Flow Management 

Research Transition Team plan were 

transferred to the Federal Aviation 

Administration in September 2016, 

including NASA’s Dynamic Weather 

Routes (DWR) concept of operations, 23 DWR-focused technical 

publications, functional and performance requirements, and prototype software and documentation. 

Federal Aviation 

Administration Advanced 

Electronic Flight Strips 

Training Systems 

Setup in NASA labs

POC: MICHELLE ESHOW

From September 26 through 28, 

2016, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contractors from 

DTIS Corporation configured 

two Advanced Electronic Flight 

Strips (AEFS) training systems and 

conducted two days of training for 

the NASA Airspace Technology 

Demonstration-2 (ATD-2) team. 

The prototype AEFS system was created and designed by the Terminal 

Second Level Engineering team from 

the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center to replace paper flight 

progress strips used by air traffic 

controllers. The AEFS system offers 

a paperless system that provides a 

single source of collective information. Under the FAA’s Terminal 

Flight Data Manager Program 

Office’s early implementation effort, 

AEFS is being deployed on a limited 

basis, and will include deployment 

to Charlotte International Airport 

in 2017 to support NASA’s ATD-2 

Field Demonstration. An interface 

between the ATD-2 and AEFS 

systems is under development to 

provide scheduling information 

electronically. The ATD-2 team will 

use these AEFS training systems 

to develop software requirements 

for the field demonstrations. The 

AEFS training systems at NASA are 

currently configured for Cleveland 

Airport, and accommodate a Traffic Management Coordinator and 

three controller positions, such as 

local, ground, and clearance delivery. 

NASA’s North Texas Research Station will receive one of the training 

systems, which will be set up in the 

ATD-2 lab for deployment testing. 
20 AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016

RECOGNITION

Drones: Sharing the Airspace

POC: TOM PREVOT

On July 27, 2016, Dr. Thomas 

Prevot participated on the “Drones: 

Sharing the Airspace” panel at the 

Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) AirVenture Oshkosh 

2016. The CEO of AirMap, Ben 

Marcus, moderated the panel, which 

included Dave Vos, project lead 

for Google’s Project Wing, Joseph 

Morra, Manager of Safety and Data 

and Flight Operations of the FAA’s 

Office of Unmanned Aerial Systems 

(UAS) integration, and Jack Pelton, 

President of the EAA. The panel 

discussed how industry, government, 

and academia are working together 

to allow for safe and efficient 

shared-use of the National Airspace 

System by manned and unmanned 

aircraft. Prevot discussed NASA’s 

UAS Traffic Management (UTM) 

research in this context. The panel 

discussion was well-attended and 

favorably received by many general 

aviation pilots and representatives 

of industry and government. 

First-Ever White House 

Office of Science Technology 

Policy Workshop on Drones 

and the Future of Aviation

POC: PARIMAL KOPARDEKAR

Dr. Parimal Kopardekar of NASA’s 

Ames Research Center was invited 

to participate in the White House’s 

Office of Science and Technology 

Policy (OSTP) Workshop on Drones 

and the Future of Aviation, which 

took place on August 2, 2016. The 

OSTP asked Kopardekar to help 

facilitate a breakout group discussion on “Low Altitude Airspace 

Operations/Unmanned Aerial 

Systems (UAS) Traffic Management 

(UTM).” Other facilitators for this 

group included Chris Swider, Steve 

Bradford, and Jay Merkle from the 

Federal Aviation Administration 

(FAA), and Sean Cassidy of Amazon 

Prime Air. There were from 35 to 

40 participants in the group. Initial 

group discussions focused on UTM 

and why it is needed. Participants 

then delved further into the details 

of UTM and the concept of operations. The FAA also commented that 

it has embraced the notion of UTM 

and the need for working collaboratively. At the conclusion of the 

roundtable discussion, participants 

left with a better understanding of 

why UTM is necessary for applications such as beyond visual line 

of sight, high density and scalable 

operations, enabling exception 

handling (currently not possible in 

small rule where aircraft must travel 

above 400 feet, fly in controlled 

environments, etc.), and facilitating 

information about UAS and manned 

operations to and from operators for 

safety. The FAA was asked about its 

current priorities, given the UTM 

value proposition, and responded 

that exception handling and trajectory and constraint notification 

will be offered through UTM data 

exchanges. A few weeks ago, NASA, 

the FAA, and industry initiated 

their first working group, which 

is focused on the commonalities 

of data and trajectory definition, 

and entry into and exit from FAA 

Air Traffic Management systems. 

Patent Awarded on Optimum 

Strategies for Selecting 

Descent Flight-Path Angles

POC: GILBERT WU

In August 2016, the U.S. Patent 

Office approved a patent application 

from Dr. Gilbert Wu on Optimum 

Strategies for Selecting Descent 

Flight-Path Angles. The technology addresses the issue of trajectory predictability by computing 

adaptable, fuel- and cost-efficient, 

and flyable descent profiles for 

one or more aircraft on an arrival 

route over a specific duration. The 

potential benefits of this technology 

include improving throughput and 

reducing airline operating costs. 

TAP Wins NASA Software 

of the Year Award

POC: DAVID WING

Software teams from NASA’s 

Langley Research Center and 

NASA’s Ames Research Center 

were selected as co-winners of the 

2016 NASA Software of the Year 

Award for The Traffic Aware Planner 

(TAP), developed at NASA’s Langley 

Research Center. As a cockpit-based 

software tool, TAP is used to aid 

pilots in identifying in-flight route-
AOSP NEWSLETTER // JUL-SEP 2016 21

RECOGNITION

optimization opportunities that are 

de-conflicted from known traffic, 

weather, and restricted airspace. 

Packaged for low-cost implementation as a “change request” tool, and 

leveraging the emerging trend of 

aircraft connectivity, the TAP software represents the first key transformational step towards operational 

autonomy by enabling aircrews to 

become proactive managers of their 

trajectories, while providing today’s 

operators with a direct operational 

benefit of this critical first step. In 

addition to interest by the Federal 

Aviation Administration, TAP has 

generated immediate and significant 

attention from the aviation community for its operational and 

commercial potential. Inventors 

include David Wing, Mark Ballin, Kelly Burke, Robert Vivona, 

David Roscoe, David Karr, Stephen 

DePascale, Sharon Woods, Brendan 

LeFebvre, and Andres Danziger. 

ATD-1 Journal Article 

Published in “Quality 

Engineering” 

POC: SHERI BROWN

Recently, the Airspace Technology 

Demonstration-1 (ATD-1) project 

published a journal article entitled 

“Statistical engineering approach to 

improve the realism of computersimulated experiments with aircraft 

trajectory clustering,” by Sara R. 

Wilson, Kurt A. Swieringa, Robert 

D. Leonard, Evan Freitag, and David 

J. Edwards. The journal article is a 

joint publication of the Engineering 

Directorate and the Research Directorate supporting the ATD-1 project 

at NASA’s Langely Research Center. 

Human Factors and Ergonomic 

Society Conference

POC: KELLY BURKE

Dr. Kelly Burke of NASA’s Langley 

Research Center attended the 2016 

Human Factors and Ergonomics 

Society International Annual Meeting held in Washington, DC, from 

September 19 through 23. During 

the conference, Burke presented a 

paper entitled “Flight Test Assessments of Pilot Workload, System 

Usability, and Situation Awareness 

of TASAR.” Co-authors of the paper 

include David Wing (also from 

Langley Research Center) and Mark 

Haynes of Advanced Aerospace 

Solutions. Traffic Aware Strategic 

Aircrew Requests (TASAR) is a 

NASA-developed onboard automation concept intended to identify 

trajectory improvement opportunities clear of known traffic, weather, 

and airspace restrictions prior to the 

aircrew initiating a trajectory-change 

request to Air Traffic Control. The 

presentation focused on the results 

of the subjective assessments of pilots 

collected during the second flight test 

of the TASAR project; specifically, 

pilot workload, situational awareness, and system usability. During 

the conference, Dr. Burke gave 

a real-time demonstration of the 

Traffic Aware Planner (TAP) software 

application, which is the implementation of the TASAR concept. 

Both the presentation and software 

demonstration were well-attended 

and generated interest from professionals in several domains, including 

human factors, aviation, government, and military. Participants 

inquired about TAP functionality, 

usability, and software licensing 

options, and expressed interest in 

potential partnerships with NASA. 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Headquarters

300 E. Street, SW

Washington, DC 20024

www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch

www.nasa.gov