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New Feature on Radar Display to Enhance Air Traffic Controller Performance and Situation Awareness
DescriptionThe continual growth in the number of passengers and cargo transported daily necessitates a proportional increase in the presence of air carriers around the world. As air traffic becomes more congested, there is a greater demand for radio communication between pilots and air traffic controllers, resulting in increased workload and fatigue for both parties. Enhancing the performance and situational awareness (SA) of controllers becomes crucial for maintaining safe airspace operations. SA is to have the "mental picture" and understanding of what is occurring in a fast-paced environment (Durso & Dattel, 2004). Controllers need to be able to predict potential separation issues in advance (Endsley & Jones, 2000).

Radio communication between pilots and controllers can give rise to common scenarios impacting air traffic flow and airspace safety, placing a substantial burden on controllers' time, energy, and impeding SA. Three notable scenarios are encountered in this context. First, the unintentional obstruction of the radio frequency by a pilot, commonly referred to as a "stuck microphone" situation. For example, if a pilot mistakenly doesn't release the microphone button after communicating on the radio, a temporary block in any communication between pilots and the controller occurs. Second, confusion can arise during target identification if aircraft have similar call-signs. For example, if American 3568 and American 3658 are in the same sector, confusion can occur during communication between controller and the intended aircraft. Finally, the simultaneous transmission of voice communication from two or more flights on the radio can distort the modulation.

A controller's radar display usually has several aircraft targets identified by their call signs. Reducing the time to respond to a targeted aircraft one is controlling will reduce workload and maintain safe operations. There is a linear increase in time to select or respond as the number of targets increases (Hicks, 1952) .

To mitigate these identification and response time issues and to enhance communication efficiency we propose the incorporation of a new software into radar system. One of the features of this software is to flash the callsign of the targeted flight on the controller's radar display when the pilot activates the microphone. This salient feature dramatically reduces the number of targets the controller needs to survey by directing the attention toward the intended aircraft. Even if two or more aircraft make an announcement simultaneously, the controller is able to parse which aircraft are actively communicating, reducing workload, and enhancing the controller's SA and performance (Terelak & Pinska, 2010).

The current study tested the effects of the flight number flash feature on participants' SA and response time to recognize and identify the communicating aircraft. Several off-nominal events were introduced (e.g., call sign confusion, stuck microphone) into the scenario. By implementing this technology, conducting systematic performance assessments, and promoting research initiatives, the Air Traffic Control community can continually improve controllers' and pilots' performance and SA while ensuring the utmost safety of airspace operations.
Event Type
Lecture
TimeThursday, September 12th3pm - 3:20pm MST
LocationFLW Salon A
Tracks
Aerospace Systems