Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram for Airplane Traffic

Empirical Findings

Journal Article (2024)
Author(s)

VL Knoop (TU Delft - Traffic Systems Engineering)

Joost Ellerbroek (TU Delft - Control & Simulation)

Mark ter Heide (Student TU Delft)

S. P. Hoogendoorn (TU Delft - Traffic Systems Engineering)

Research Group
Traffic Systems Engineering
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981241265683
More Info
expand_more
Publication Year
2024
Language
English
Research Group
Traffic Systems Engineering
Bibliographical Note
Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public. @en
Issue number
2
Volume number
2679
Pages (from-to)
960-970
Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Abstract

For car traffic it was found that a more crowded area leads to a lower speed and a lower arrival rate. The relation between crowdedness and speed (or arrival rate) can be expressed in a network fundamental diagram, or macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD). Similar concepts have been shown for pedestrian and train traffic. In this paper, we extend the concept to three spatial dimensions. While simulations have explored some concepts, we present for the first time empirical results of the relation between the crowdedness in the air and the performance of the “network.” We base our results on several months of data of airplanes around Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Similar to car traffic, we observe a reduction in speeds as the number of airplanes in the area increases. However, even at the highest observed densities, we do not see a reduction in flows. This is because of active and intensive management (based on departure/landing possibilities), comparable to perimeter control in traffic, as well as a minimum airplane speed. This paper introduces an interesting concept of applying a MFD to three-dimensional (3D) spaces. We also show to what extent the performance reduction is caused by speed reduction and to what extent it is caused by less efficient routes. The MFD concept can eventually be used to also manage 3D airspaces for applications with less strict microscopic air traffic management than the current management around airports.

Files

Knoop-et-al-2024-macroscopic-f... (pdf)
(pdf | 2.76 Mb)
- Embargo expired in 24-02-2025
License info not available