In this context, COTTON has addressed the optimisation of Capacity Management processes incorporating trajectory uncertainty into an advanced model for demand and capacity balancing considering all the Capacity Management planning phases, and integrating complexity and workload algorithms more suitable to the most innovative aspects of the SESAR 2020 solutions– Dynamic Airspace Configuration (DAC) and Flight Centric ATC (FCA) –.
To achieve its objectives, COTTON has assessed the suitability of the available complexity metrics to support DAC, FCA, and integrated DAC/FCA CM process. From the result of this assessment, COTTON has selected three candidate complexity metrics, namely Solution Space, Cognitive Complexity and Geometrical Complexity. It has evolved their mathematical formulation; and developed complexity-based methods to assess capacity in DAC and FCA.
COTTON proposes a complementary use of these three enhanced complexity metrics to build COTTON Complexity Assessment, which is flexible enough to support each CM sub-process; with the due granularity to address the specificities of DAC and FCA airspaces; and effective at each planning phase.
The development and integration of COTTON Complexity Assessment within the CM processes constitutes COTTON Enhanced Capacity Management, whose potential benefits are assessed in COTTON validation.
The impact of COTTON proposed solutions on the most relevant Key Performance Areas (KPAs) has been evaluated by means of Fast Time Simulations to test not only DAC and FCA solutions in isolation but also potential alternatives for their safe integration. The validation envisages three fast time simulations focused on the evaluation of the COTTON Enhanced CM Feasibility, Capacity, Cost-efficiency, Safety and Human Performance. Specifically, it focuses on the enhancements of COTTON Complexity Assessment brought to FCA short term planning phase (one hour till the execution time); DAC short-term planning phase (day of operations up to 20 minutes before execution time) and Integrated DAC/FCA medium-term planning phase (six to one days before operations).
COTTON methodology is (depicted in Figure attached) follows the following steps:
• Firstly, COTTON identified limitations of complexity and workload metrics in DAC and FCA taking into account uncertainty prediction models.
• Afterwards, the project assessed the effects of the identified limitations to derive the requirements that complexity predictions should comply with in order to be useful in a TBO environment where Capacity Management processes are in place.
• Complexity assessment methodologies and metrics in line with the requirements previously outlined were developed.
• Once the improved complexity methodologies and metrics were available, they were integrated in DAC and FCA demand and capacity models.
• DAC and FCA improved demand and capacity models were validated through Fast Time Simulation exercises. They evaluated the appropriateness of new algorithms for DAC and FCA incorporating uncertainty in the processes of airspace organisation and segment allocation.
• In addition to the validation results, Real time experiments for integration of Human Factors were performed to guided the improvement of the complexity methodologies.
• Finally, the integration of the DAC and FCA improved DCB models was assessed and the integrated Capacity Management function (whose achievement was articulated through Milestone M5) was validated.
