|
|
|
|
|
The PHARE Demonstration 2+ project was run by the National Air Traffic Services Ltd. (NATS) as an internal operational clarification project for PHARE Demonstration 3, designed to gain a more thorough understanding of arrival management concepts and interactions between controller positions, than had been possible during the PHARE Demonstration 2 trial.
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
Further details of PHARE Demonstration 2 |
| |
|
Further details of PHARE Demonstration 3 |
|
|
|
Specifically, the aim of the project was to use the PHARE Demonstration 2 PHARE Advanced Tools, primarily the Arrival Manager, with further development to achieve full functionality in the terminal area. Additional enhancements included: staffed en route sectors; missed approaches; holds and arrival rates approaching runway capacity. These enhancements were to be evaluated through the ‘PHARE Demonstration 2+ trial’, a real-time simulation on the NATS Research Facility.
The PHARE Demonstration 2+ trial took place in September and early October 1997 at the Air Traffic Management Development Centre, Hurn. The NATS Research Facility was configured to simulate as closely as possible Frankfurt approach and the surrounding airspace. The approach sectors were staffed by one arrival sequence planner, one pickup controller and one feeder controller, the en route sector by one planning controller and one tactical controller. Ten London Area and Terminal Control Centre controllers participated in the trial.
Development of the PHARE Demonstration 2+ trial platform and both the baseline and advanced concepts of operation within the agreed timescales was a significant challenge. Because some system and concept problems remained unresolved at the start of the PHARE Demonstration 2+ trial, a second baseline was introduced, in which the system remained the same but paper flight strips were incorporated to record information instead of the aircraft labels. The aim of the PHARE Demonstration 2+ trial was therefore adjusted accordingly to compare controller workload, airspace capacity, quality of service system usability, between a baseline with paper flight strips and one without. In addition the workload, airspace capacity, quality of service and system usability associated with an advanced concept incorporating an arrival manager were examined. In both cases this was achieved through the collection and subsequent analysis of both subjective and objective data.
The experiments concluded that the workload experienced by controllers when working without paper flight strips was greater than that experienced when working with a system representative of current day operations. Thus the main recommendation for PHARE Demonstration 3 was that any baseline used must be fully representative of current day operations, both in terms of the system, concept and staffing levels if meaningful comparisons are to be made with any advanced concept. In addition, in any advanced system, the roles and responsibilities defined, coupled with the computer assistance tools provided, must provide the controller with the ability to potentially increase capacity, whilst maintaining a safe and expeditious flow of traffic.
|
|
|
|
|
