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This presentation discusses what Trajectory Options Set (TOS) are and how they are used in the ATD-2 Multi-Airport field demonstration in the North Texas area. The use cases and benefits of this technology are summarized.
High-level overview of capability and evaluation of a NASA ATD-2 prototype system that enables Flight Operators and Air Traffic Management to manage reroute of departures in Dallas, TX.
The Collaborative Trajectory Options Program (CTOP) is a Traffic Management Initiative (TMI) intended to control the air traffic flow rates at multiple specified Flow Constrained Areas (FCAs), where demand exceeds capacity. CTOP allows flight operators to submit the desired Trajectory Options Set (TOS) for each affected flight with associated Relative Trajectory Cost (RTC) for each option. CTOP then creates a feasible schedule that complies with capacity constraints by assigning affected flights with routes and departure delays in such a way as to minimize the total cost while maintaining equity across flight operators. The current version of CTOP implements a Ration-by-Schedule (RBS) scheme, which assigns the best available options to flights based on a First-Scheduled-First-Served heuristic. In the present study, an alternative flight scheduling approach is developed based on linear optimization. Results suggest that such an approach can significantly reduce flight delays, in the deterministic case, while maintaining equity as defined using a Max-Min fairness scheme.
The Collaborative Trajectory Options Program (CTOP) is a Traffic Management Initiative (TMI) intended to control the air traffic flow rates at multiple specified Flow Constrained Areas (FCAs), where demand exceeds capacity. CTOP allows flight operators to submit the desired Trajectory Options Set (TOS) for each affected flight with associated Relative Trajectory Cost (RTC) for each option. CTOP then creates a feasible schedule that complies with capacity constraints by assigning affected flights with routes and departure delays in such a way as to minimize the total cost while maintaining equity across flight operators. The current version of CTOP implements a Ration-by-Schedule (RBS) scheme, which assigns the best available options to flights based on a First-Scheduled-First-Served heuristic. In the present study, an alternative flight scheduling approach is developed based on linear optimization. Results suggest that such an approach can significantly reduce flight delays, in the deterministic case, while maintaining equity as defined using a Max-Min fairness scheme.
This paper describes NASA’s Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) Phase 3 prototype capability that is being tested in the North Texas region through summer 2021. For the first time, a shared Decision Support Tool (DST) provides opportunities for participating Flight Operators (FOs) and Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) to coordinate using a Trajectory Option Set (TOS). When the metroplex airspace is impacted by demand/capacity imbalances, TOS enables departure flights to be rerouted to alternative departure routes with less surface delay.
This video recorded presentation is about the NASA’s Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) Phase 3 prototype capability that is being tested in the North Texas region through summer 2021. For the first time, a shared Decision Support Tool (DST) provides opportunities for participating Flight Operators (FOs) and Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) to coordinate using a Trajectory Option Set (TOS). When the metroplex airspace is impacted by demand/capacity imbalances, TOS enables departure flights to be rerouted to alternative departure routes with less surface delay.
This presentation was originally given to ATD-2 industry partners at the Surface CDM (Collaborative Decision Making) Team (SCT) & Flow Evaluation Team (FET) meeting at NTX on 2/20/2020. The briefing presented lessons learned from Stormy 19, an overview of how terminal restrictions are handled by the ATD-2 system, and additional Trajectory Option Sets (TOS) route filtering capabilities planned for Stormy 20.
This presentation was originally given to ATD-2 field demo partners on 10/2/2019. The briefing presented a review of the Trajectory Option Sets (TOS) process, key enhancements completed for Stormy 19, and potential future capabilities for the ATD-2 system.
A concept that enables advanced airborne reroute operations is proposed, built on NextGen capabilities called Airborne Reroute (ABRR) and Trajectory Option Set (TOS). The concept introduces new third-party services / tools for the airline dispatchers to generate airline-preferred trajectories in response to convective weather events. The airborne TOS routes are sent to the traffic flow managers, who can evaluate the feasibility of the trajectory options with the help of their own third-party services / tools which have been built for this concept. A virtual demonstration study was conducted to elicit feedback from air traffic and airline subject-matter-experts. The feedback was generally positive, both in the benefits of the concept and the feasibility / need for the new tools to enable the concept but their feedback was mixed on the feasibility of the new tools to be third-party services instead of being integrated into their core tools. Nevertheless, this concept explores and demonstrates an evolutionary pathway toward a service-oriented future that shifts the responsibilities and the capabilities of air traffic operations from the air traffic service providers to the airline industry and third-party vendors.
The newly developed Trajectory Option Set (TOS), a preference-weighted set of alternative routes submitted by flight operators, is a capability in the U.S. traffic flow management system that enables automated trajectory negotiation between flight operators and Air Navigation Service Providers. The objective of this paper is to describe and demonstrate an approach for automatically generating pre-departure and airborne TOSs that have a high probability of operational acceptance. The approach uses hierarchical clustering of historical route data to identify route candidates. The probability of operational acceptance is then estimated using predictors trained on historical flight plan amendment data using supervised machine learning algorithms, allowing the routes with highest probability of operational acceptance to be selected for the TOS. Features used describe historical route usage, difference in flight time and downstream demand to capacity imbalance. A random forest was found to be the best performing algorithm for learning operational acceptability, with a model accuracy of 0.96. The approach is demonstrated for an historical pre-departure flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport.
The newly developed Trajectory Option Set (TOS), a preference-weighted set of alternative routes submitted by flight operators, is a capability in the U.S. traffic flow management system that enables automated trajectory negotiation between flight operators and Air Navigation Service Providers. The objective of this paper is to describe and demonstrate an approach for automatically generating pre-departure and airborne TOSs that have a high probability of operational acceptance. The approach uses hierarchical clustering of historical route data to identify route candidates. The probability of operational acceptance is then estimated using predictors trained on historical flight plan amendment data using supervised machine learning algorithms, allowing the routes with highest probability of operational acceptance to be selected for the TOS. Features used describe historical route usage, difference in flight time and downstream demand to capacity imbalance. A random forest was found to be the best performing algorithm for learning operational acceptability, with a model accuracy of 0.96. The approach is demonstrated for an historical pre-departure flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport.
This presentation provides a summary of August 2017 Newark airport simulation, with focus on impact of varying Trajectory Options Set (TOS) "participation levels" (i.e., the percentage of flights that submit TOSs), as well as the results from March 2018 LaGuardia simulation with Flow Evaluation Team, which focused on benefits to individual carriers of participation. During the study, we demonstrated that both the participating and non-participating airlines benefited when TOSs but that the participating airlines benefited most and the improvement seen by participants was greatest when overall participation was lower.
Collaborative Digital Departure Reroute (CDDR) enables the reroute of flights using a flight operator proposed set of alternative route options, referred to as Trajectory Option Set (TOS), in order to reduce delay on the airport's surface and in the Metroplex environment. The reroute functionality is enabled through NASA's Digital Information Platform (DIP). TOS candidate flights are defined as flights with an alternative route with delay savings greater than the flight operator defined relative trajectory cost. This paper analyzes the TOS candidate flights at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (KDFW) in the North Texas Metroplex to gain insight into which candidate flights are higher quality through a scoring method. This insight will inform refinements to help CDDR focus on high quality reroute opportunities. Binary classification models for predicting the flight operator's submission of candidate flights are also explored in this paper.
Collaborative Digital Departure Reroute (CDDR) enables the reroute of flights using a flight operator proposed set of alternative route options, referred to as Trajectory Option Set (TOS), in order to reduce delay on the airport's surface and in the Metroplex environment. The reroute functionality is enabled through NASA's Digital Information Platform (DIP). TOS candidate flights are defined as flights with an alternative route with delay savings greater than the flight operator defined relative trajectory cost. This paper analyzes the TOS candidate flights at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (KDFW) in the North Texas Metroplex to gain insight into which candidate flights are higher quality through a scoring method. This insight will inform refinements to help CDDR focus on high quality reroute opportunities. Binary classification models for predicting the flight operator's submission of candidate flights are also explored in this paper.
Integrated Demand Management (IDM), is a NASA developed Traffic Flow Management (TFM) concept that uses Collaborative Trajectory Options Program (CTOP) to precondition traffic flows into the Time Based Flow Management (TBFM) region, helping traffic planners manage imbalances between demand and capacity in the National Airspace (NAS). A workshop held at NASA was conducted to demonstrate how individual airlines can be impacted by using Trajectory Options Sets (TOS) during IDM operations. A primary concern that was specifically addressed in a part-task Human-in-the-Loop simulation was who received the greater benefit, TOS participating or non-TOS participating airlines? The results showed that TOS participating airlines received greater benefit in terms of ground delay, number of reroute options, and additional flight time, than non-TOS participating airlines. However, this result was dependent on the number and location of flights. Therefore, it was advantageous for airlines to equip TOS. In addition, we found that non-TOS participating airlines also benefitted from other airlines participating in TOS, because the total system-wide ground delay was reduced as more TOS were introduced into the system. The evidence suggests that the benefits were distributed fairly, and there were no unfair disadvantages for airlines who did not equip TOS.
This presentation presents an overview of ATD-2 Phase 3 with a focus on the Trajectory Option Sets (TOS) capabilities.
The Collaborative Trajectory Options Program (CTOP) is a new NextGen function that resides within the FAA’s Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS) software. CTOP was designed to be used in the United States’ national airspace to control the distribution of air traffic demand, both temporally and geographically, through a set of Flow Constrained Areas (FCAs). Each FCA is assigned capacity values that represent an estimated upper limit of manageable demand, and CTOP controls to that capacity by using Expect Departure Clearance Time (EDCT) air traffic control clearances, and/or rerouting flights to an alternate FCA or out of the CTOP completely. CTOP’s decisions about which control options best meet system and user needs are based on the Trajectory Options Set (TOS) submitted by airline operators for each flight. The FCA Balancing Algorithm (FBA) described in this document is a proposed decision support capability that generates CTOP capacity entries for FCAs controlling traffic to a common downstream constraint. The FBA provides an equitable distribution of impact, and addresses the added complexity of assigning FCA capacity values for this specific type of use case, greatly simplifying the FAA air traffic manager’s task.
This document serves as a user manual for the ATD-2 Metroplex Planner (version 6.1.2) for use by the Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), airport Air Traffic Control Tower, and airline Flight Operators. It describes the elements of the Metroplex Planner interface and provides step-by-step instructions for using the tool. In addition to live flight information, traffic management information, and demand/delay predictions, the Metroplex Planner supports Trajectory Option Set (TOS) rerouting. The Metroplex Planner is a component of the NASA Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) sub-project.