Design and Evaluation of a Visual Interface for an En Route Air Traffic Control Merging Task

Abstract

In the past decades, air traffic growth has resulted in increasingly complex situations. In order to guarantee safety and efficiency is maintained, new automation tools and interfaces must be developed. In collaboration with the Netherlands Air Navigation Service Provider, the Inbound Traffic Support System interface was developed. This display reveals the constraints of a merging task for an area controller within the South Sector of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The interface aims to visualize the possible solutions of a merging task, such that the impact of decisions can be foreseen. By showing the affordances of the work domain, the display keeps the Air Traffic Controller as the active decision maker rather than issuing advisories. Two professional area controllers examined the proposed display and expressed interest in the additional elements, but also voiced concerns about display clutter. In an experiment the effects of the Inbound Traffic Support System interface were examined for semi-professional participants. When using the display, participants could better estimate whether an aircraft was going to adhere to the altitude restriction. A decreasing trend in the number of control commands for difficult scenarios was found. Possibly, because participants had a better understanding of the situation, and fewer control adjustments had to made. Moreover, a difference in performance between the participants was observed. Some participants made use of the tools as was intended, whereas others seemed at times to be rather overwhelmed with the information. It appears that by revealing the solution space, the interface forces the user to think about a control strategy at an earlier stage.