Beyond traffic depiction: conformally integrating the conflict space to support Level 3 situation awareness

The research described in this paper explores the addition of conformally integrated traffic probes into an egocentric Synthetic Vision (SV) Primary Flight Display (PFD). The underlying thought is that, although the traffic that is predicted to cause a future loss of separation may not lie within the field of view of the display, the location where the loss of separation is predicted to occur always will. Hence, rather than focusing on the depiction of traffic, which contributes to level 2 Situation Awareness (SA), the concept pursues spatially integrated depiction of the airspace where a loss of separation is predicted. This provides readily actionable conflict information, relieving pilots from the traffic position and conflict estimation task and contributing to level 3 SA. The paper describes the integration of the data from the traffic probe into an SV PFD. The advantages of the concept will be illustrated using several traffic conflict scenarios, including an overtaking scenario involving unmanned aircraft. Given that unmanned aircraft may be markedly slower than manned aircraft which operate within the same airspace, a spatially integrated depiction of airspace where a future loss of separation is predicted, can help to preserve safety in classes of airspace that accommodate both manned and unmanned aircraft. Additionally, examples are provided illustrating how traffic probes can support pilots in monitoring the conformance of traffic to the priority rules of 14 CFR 91.113.© (2010) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.