Examination of three-dimensional radar display in supporting integrated approach traffic incorporating Continuous Climb Operations

• Main Author: Tan, Darren Zhi Long
• Other Authors: Olga Sourina
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Air navigation; DRNTU::Engineering::Industrial engineering::Human factors engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/75740
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With the growing importance of air travel in today’s society, the number of flights plying air routes around the world is expected to rise. Consequently, Air Traffic Controllers (ATCos) will need to maintain high levels of performance and safety under increasing workload. To date, three Dimensional (3D) displays and more recently, 3D displays integrated with two dimensional (2D) displays have been studied as tools to improve performance in ATCos. These setups offer the controller the physical visualisation of the vertical dimension absent in traditional 2D displays, potentially removing the need to develop a mental picture. However, little has been done to integrate these studies with novel Air Traffic Management (ATM) techniques such as Continuous Climb Operations (CCO). With its focus of an optimal continuous climb profile, CCO is embraced as an innovative method of combining fuel savings, noise reduction and environmental benefits in one package, paving its use as the preferred climb technique in future air traffic operations. Considering that these two factors will work hand in hand in future Air Traffic Control (ATC) scenarios, the use of the 2D-3D display setup in approach traffic incorporating CCO deserves further examination. The study discovered that with the use of the 2D-3D setup, controllers perceived an improvement in their performance levels while conducting air traffic in the approach region incorporating CCO. This improvement is substantiated by a decrease in radio telephony time under low-density traffic. However, large increases in workload highlight the burden faced by controllers in the simultaneous manipulation of two displays. As a result, it is recommended that further studies should be conducted with a single 3D display in order to mitigate the increase in workload levels.