AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL/ACTIVE BEACON COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM KNOXVILLE SIMULATION

Abstract : This project was conducted to assess the performance of an active mode Beacon Collision Avoidance System (BCAS) operating in a moderate-density terminal Air Traffic Control (ATC) environment. The specific objectives addressed the impact of active BCAS on controllers and control procedures, the performance of new vertical speed limit (VSL) logic, the effectiveness of an alternate desensitization method, and the impact of 'no miss distance' filtering. An additional objective was to characterize and validate the active BCAS algorithm in terms of number, duration, and location of alerts and resolution effectiveness. The tests were conducted using the ATC Simulation Facility at the National Aviation Facilities Experimental Center during February and March 1979. Analysis of results indicated that an active BCAS system provided an effective aircraft separation assurance system as a backup to the ATC system and had no adverse effect on controllers or control procedures. The VSL logic modifications significantly reduced the BCAS activity for overflight traffic relative to the BCAS alarm rate in the full BCAS tests. An alternative desensitization method to range and altitude, based only on altitude, proved to be reasonably effective. The lack of horizontal miss distance information with active BCAS resulted in an increase in the positive command rate when compared to the full BCAS Knoxville results. (Author)