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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2016

Unmanned Aerial Systems Traffic Management (UTM): Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

Currently, there is no established infrastructure to enable and safely manage the widespread use of low-altitude airspace and UAS flight operations. Given this, and understanding that the FAA faces a mandate to modernize the present air traffic management system through computer automation and significantly reduce the number of air traffic controllers by FY 2020, the FAA maintains that a comprehensive, yet fully automated UAS traffic management (UTM) system for low-altitude airspace is needed. The concept of UTM is to begin by leveraging concepts from the system of roads, lanes, stop signs, rules and lights that govern vehicles on the ground today. Building on its legacy of work in air traffic management (ATM), NASA is working with industry to develop prototype technologies for a UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system that would evolve airspace integration procedures for enabling safe, efficient low-altitude flight operations that autonomously manage UAS operating in an approved low-altitude airspace environment. UTM is a cloud-based system that will autonomously manage all traffic at low altitudes to include UASs being operated beyond visual line of sight of an operator. UTM would thus enable safe and efficient flight operations by providing fully integrated traffic management services such as airspace design, corridors, dynamic geofencing, severe weather and wind avoidance, congestion management, terrain avoidance, route planning re-routing, separation management, sequencing spacing, and contingency management. UTM removes the need for human operators to continuously monitor aircraft operating in approved areas. NASA envisions concepts for two types of UTM systems. The first would be a small portable system, which could be moved between geographical areas in support of operations such as precision agriculture and public safety. The second would be a Persistent system, which would support low-altitude operations in an approved area by providing continuous automated coverage. Both would require persistent communication, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) coverage to track, ensure, and monitor conformance. UTM is creating an airspace management tool that allows the ATM system to accommodate the number of UAS that will operate in the low altitude airspace. The analogy is just because we have a car, whether its autonomous or someone is driving, does not diminish the need for a road or road signs or rules of the road.

traffic management↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Overview of Challenges to Integrating Remotely-Piloted Operations into the National Airspace System

An oral presentation summarizing key challenges to integrating remotely-piloted operations into the National Airspace System. The presentation provides an overview of NASA's Pathfinding for an Airspace with Autonomous Vehicles sub-project, recent research activities focused on enabling autonomous cargo delivery, and some of the challenges that have been learned so far from these activities.

Husni Idris↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Integrating Upper Class E Traffic Management (ETM) Operations into the National Airspace System: Use Cases and Research Questions

As new categories of vehicles are introduced in the National Airspace System, so too are novel concepts for a cooperative approach to traffic management environments. One of these new environments, Upper Class E Traffic Management (ETM), is expected to include a variety of high altitude, long endurance vehicles with a range of performance capabilities and mission profiles that operate in cooperative areas above 60,000 feet. In addition to developing the rules, architecture, and systems for operations within the ETM environment itself, it is also important to consider how ETM vehicles will integrate with traditional Air Traffic Management and interact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) as they traverse ATC-controlled airspace and transition in and out of cooperative ETM operating areas. As a first step toward future ETM demonstrations at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center’s Airspace Operations Laboratory, use cases with step-by-step procedures were developed to identify both nominal and off-nominal scenarios in which ETM operations will interact with ATC. As NASA prepares to develop a simulation platform to demonstrate ETM cooperative practices and ETM-ATC interactions, the procedures, ATC roles and responsibilities, data exchange requirements, and research questions that were identified as part of use case development will inform scenario and system architecture design. The upcoming simulation work will include initial prototype ETM-ATC coordination tools to support ATC controllers’ interactions with ETM operations. This paper will briefly discuss NASA’s upcoming ETM development work and then provide background on ETM-ATC interactions, describe each ETM-ATC interaction use case, and discuss open questions on concept, procedures, and assumptions.

ATC↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Integrating Upper Class E Traffic Management (ETM) Operations into the National Airspace System: Use Cases and Research Questions

As new categories of vehicles are introduced in the National Airspace System, so too are novel concepts for a cooperative approach to traffic management environments. One of these new environments, Upper Class E Traffic Management (ETM), is expected to include a variety of high altitude, long endurance vehicles with a range of performance capabilities and mission profiles that operate in cooperative areas above 60,000 feet. In addition to developing the rules, architecture, and systems for operations within the ETM environment itself, it is also important to consider how ETM vehicles will integrate with traditional Air Traffic Management and interact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) as they traverse ATC-controlled airspace and transition in and out of cooperative ETM operating areas. As a first step toward future ETM demonstrations at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center’s Airspace Operations Laboratory, use cases with step-by-step procedures were developed to identify both nominal and off-nominal scenarios in which ETM operations will interact with ATC. As NASA prepares to develop a simulation platform to demonstrate ETM cooperative practices and ETM-ATC interactions, the procedures, ATC roles and responsibilities, data exchange requirements, and research questions that were identified as part of use case development will inform scenario and system architecture design. The upcoming simulation work will include initial prototype ETM-ATC coordination tools to support ATC controllers’ interactions with ETM operations. This paper will briefly discuss NASA’s upcoming ETM development work and then provide background on ETM-ATC interactions, describe each ETM-ATC interaction use case, and discuss open questions on concept, procedures, and assumptions.

ATC↗
NASA NTRS2022

Intent Modeling and Conflict Probability Calculation for Operations in Upper Class E Airspace

This work presents a probabilistic operational intent model for vehicles operating in upper Class E airspace. A hybrid method is developed to calculate the intent conflict probability leveraging and extending past works on probabilistic conflict computation. Simulation results verify that the probabilistic intent model can accurately encompass the uncertain positions of each vehicle type, that are a result of wind prediction errors and vehicle performance. A comparison with past methods showed that the proposed hybrid method captures the intent conflict probability with better accuracy, especially for a larger look-ahead horizon, and computational time is reasonable for real-time applications. An example is presented to illustrate the use of the intent conflict probability in strategic planning applications.

Air traffic management↗
NASA NTRS2022

Intent Modeling and Conflict Probability Calculation for Operations in Upper Class E Airspace

This work presents a probabilistic operational intent model for vehicles operating in upper Class E airspace. A hybrid method is developed to calculate the intent conflict probability leveraging and extending past works on probabilistic conflict computation. Simulation results verify that the probabilistic intent model can accurately encompass the uncertain positions of each vehicle type, that are a result of wind prediction errors and vehicle performance. A comparison with past methods showed that the proposed hybrid method captures the intent conflict probability with better accuracy, especially for a larger look-ahead horizon, and computational time is reasonable for real-time applications. An example is presented to illustrate the use of the intent conflict probability in strategic planning applications.

Air traffic management, operational intent, confli↗
NASA NTRS2009

Feasibility of Mixed Equipage Operations in the Same Airspace

This study used a human-in-the-loop simulation to examine the feasibility of mixed equipage operations in an automated separation assurance environment under higher traffic densities. The study involved two aircraft equipage alternatives with and without data link and four traffic conditions. In all traffic conditions the unequipped traffic count was increased linearly throughout the scenario from approximately 5 to 20 aircraft. Condition One consisted solely of this unequipped traffic, while the remaining three conditions also included a constant number of equipped aircraft operating within the same airspace: 15 equipped aircraft in condition two, 30 in condition three, and 45 in condition four. If traffic load became excessive during any run, participants were instructed to refuse sector entry to inbound unequipped aircraft until sector load became manageable. Results showed a progressively higher number of unequipped aircraft turned away under the second, third, and fourth scenario conditions. Controller workload also increased progressively. Participants rated the mixed operations concept as acceptable, with some qualifications about procedures and information displays. These results showed that mixed operations might be feasible in the same airspace, if unequipped aircraft count is held to a workable level. This level will decrease with increasing complexity. The results imply that integrated airspace configuration is feasible to a limit. The results also indicate that the conflict detection and resolution automation, equipage, and traffic density are important factors that will need to be considered for airspace configuration.

Kopardekar, Parimal↗
NASA NTRS2009

Feasibility of Mixed Equipage Operations in the Same Airspace

This study used a human-in-the-loop simulation to examine the feasibility of mixed equipage operations in an automated separation assurance environment under higher traffic densities. The study involved two aircraft equipage alternatives - with and without data link- and four traffic conditions. In all traffic conditions the unequipped traffic count was increased linearly throughout the scenario from approximately 5 to 20 aircraft. Condition One consisted solely of this unequipped traffic, while the remaining three conditions also included a constant number of equipped aircraft operating within the same airspace: 15 equipped aircraft in condition two, 30 in condition three, and 45 in condition four. If traffic load became excessive during any run, participants were instructed to refuse sector entry to inbound unequipped aircraft until sector load became manageable. Results showed a progressively higher number of unequipped aircraft turned away under the second, third, and fourth scenario conditions. Controller workload also increased progressively. Participants rated the mixed operations concept as acceptable, with some qualifications about procedures and information displays. These results showed that mixed operations might be feasible in the same airspace, if unequipped aircraft count is held to a workable level. This level will decrease with increasing complexity. The results imply that integrated airspace configuration is feasible to a limit. The results also indicate that the conflict detection and resolution automation, equipage, and traffic density are important factors that will need to be considered for airspace configuration.

Kopardekar, Parimal↗
NASA NTRS2010

Concept of Operation for Tactical Separation Assurance in Super-Density Operations

The Airspace Systems Program is committed to supporting the Next Generation Air Transportation System through research and development in select areas. One such area, referred to as Super Density Operations, is conducting research to develop technologies that will safely increase the throughput in busy terminal area environments. The purpose of this document is to develop a Concept of Operations for the Tactical Separation Assurance function, one of the functions included in Super Density Operations. A functional description of the technologies required for Super Density Operations is presented followed by a more detail description of the Tactical Separation Assurance function. Two story boards are presented to illustrate the operational use of the Tactical Separation Assurance function under different situations. The last section proposes a pathway to implementing the Tactical Separation Assurance function.

Denery, Dallas G.↗
NASA NTRS2015

A Preliminary Evaluation of Supersonic Transport Category Vehicle Operations in the National Airspace System

Several public sector businesses and government agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are currently working on solving key technological barriers that must be overcome in order to realize the vision of low-boom supersonic flights conducted over land. However, once these challenges are met, the manner in which this class of aircraft is integrated in the National Airspace System may become a potential constraint due to the significant environmental, efficiency, and economic repercussions that their integration may cause. Background research was performed on historic supersonic operations in the National Airspace System, including both flight deck procedures and air traffic controller procedures. Using this information, an experiment was created to test some of these historic procedures in a current-day, emerging Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) environment and observe the interactions between commercial supersonic transport aircraft and modern-day air traffic. Data was gathered through batch simulations of supersonic commercial transport category aircraft operating in present-day traffic scenarios as a base-lining study to identify the magnitude of the integration problems and begin the exploration of new air traffic management technologies and architectures which will be needed to seamlessly integrate subsonic and supersonic transport aircraft operations. The data gathered include information about encounters between subsonic and supersonic aircraft that may occur when supersonic commercial transport aircraft are integrated into the National Airspace System, as well as flight time data. This initial investigation is being used to inform the creation and refinement of a preliminary Concept of Operations and for the subsequent development of technologies that will enable overland supersonic flight.

Underwood, Matthew C.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Real-Time Prediction of Safety Margins in the National Airspace

Underlying all operations in the National Airspace System (NAS) is the concept of safety. Safety, as defined by acceptable levels of risk, is to be maintained at all times. The real-time safety monitoring (RTSM) framework is under development to provide an automated system to quantify safety in the NAS, estimate the current level of safety, and predict the future evolution of safety and the occurrence of events that pose an increased risk to flights so that these occurrences can be managed strategically rather than mitigated reactively. This paper presents the mathematical framework, the models, and the monitoring and prediction algorithms used to achieve this. RTSM computes safety as expressed through a set of safety margins based on user-defined safety metrics, thresolds, and events. Sources of uncertainty are modeled and propagated through the predictions in order to compute the probabilistic evolution of safety and the probability of events that introduce increased risk to operations. A prototype implementation is discussed and results demonstrating feasibility are presented. The results highlight the kinds of predictions that can be computed and the fidelity that is currently achieved.

national airspace system↗
NASA NTRS2007

The Effects of Projected Future Demand Including Very Light Jet Air-Taxi Operations on U.S. National Airspace System Delays as a Function of Next Generation Air Transportation System Airspace Capacity

This paper presents the results from a study which investigates the potential effects of the growth in air traffic demand including projected Very Light Jet (VLJ) air-taxi operations adding to delays experienced by commercial passenger air transportation in the year 2025. The geographic region studied is the contiguous United States (U.S.) of America, although international air traffic to and from the U.S. is included. The main focus of this paper is to determine how much air traffic growth, including VLJ air-taxi operations will add to enroute airspace congestion and determine what additional airspace capacity will be needed to accommodate the expected demand. Terminal airspace is not modeled and increased airport capacity is assumed.

Smith, Jerry↗
NASA NTRS1997

Research Initiatives and Preliminary Results In Automation Design In Airspace Management in Free Flight

The NASA and the FAA have entered into a joint venture to explore, define, design and implement a new airspace management operating concept. The fundamental premise of that concept is that technologies and procedures need to be developed for flight deck and ground operations to improve the efficiency, the predictability, the flexibility and the safety of airspace management and operations. To that end NASA Ames has undertaken an initial development and exploration of "key concepts" in the free flight airspace management technology development. Human Factors issues in automation aiding design, coupled aiding systems between air and ground, communication protocols in distributed decision making, and analytic techniques for definition of concepts of airspace density and operator cognitive load have been undertaken. This paper reports the progress of these efforts, which are not intended to definitively solve the many evolving issues of design for future ATM systems, but to provide preliminary results to chart the parameters of performance and the topology of the analytic effort required. The preliminary research in provision of cockpit display of traffic information, dynamic density definition, distributed decision making, situation awareness models and human performance models is discussed as they focus on the theme of "design requirements".

Corker, Kevin↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Identifying Common Coordination Procedures across Extensible Traffic Management (xTM) to Integrate xTM Operations into the National Airspace System

New categories of missions and vehicle types, such as drone delivery services, on-demand air taxi, and high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) vehicles are being proposed to operate using a novel, highly automated information exchange infrastructure and a community-based, cooperative traffic management concept. Collectively, these new operations are called Extensible Traffic Management (xTM). As these xTM vehicles become more prevalent, their operations will increasingly overlap with existing conventional aircraft and with each other. In order to seamlessly co-exist with current conventional aircraft operations, new coordination procedures, tools and services will be needed to integrate xTM into the future National Airspace System (NAS). In our prior work, we have identified a set of use cases for xTM interactions with air traffic control (ATC), categorized across different xTM operations based on trigger events. Events consisted of ones such as nominal xTM vehicle transition into the ATC environment or an off-nominal emergency landing situation. In this paper, we have extended the prior work to identify commonalities in the coordination procedures across xTM, as well as differences that are specific to the individual xTM operations. The overall results showed that two types of xTM-ATC interactions were prevalent: 1) xTM vehicles transitioning between xTM and ATC operational environments; 2) xTM vehicles being allowed to continue xTM operations in areas that are normally controlled by ATC. The results also suggested that emergency and rare off-nominal events may need specialized procedures for each vehicle type. The overall results suggest that there is a pathway to define a common method of handling and integrating diverse xTM operations in the future NAS, but there need to be procedures for individualized handling of xTM vehicles in infrequent, safety-critical events.

Extensible Traffic Management (xTM)↗