NASA
Results of previous analyses indicate that the throughput of en route airspace can be increased by optimizing the cruise altitude and speed of aircraft based on the distance between their origin and destination. The increase in throughput, and the corresponding reductions in fuel burn and emissions, result from aircraft ability to fly closer to the optimum altitude for their performance characteristics, and from a reduction in situations where one aircraft "gets stuck" behind another with a lower optimal cruise speed.
We are investigating and quantifying potential benefits of an optimization tool that en route air traffic controllers could use to assign aircraft to cruise altitude and speed by: a) developing a mathematical model of the air routes through Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center, one of the most congested US airspaces; b) developing a prototype optimization algorithm by enhancing an existing Mixed-Integer Linear Program within an A* Search-based Branch & Bound framework; c) conducting simulation studies based on existing data from Memphis and all adjacent centers, and potential future traffic levels; and d) evaluating the utility of developed decisiondSupport tools (for D-side controllers) by real-time, human-in-the-loop simulation studies.
Prototype tools for optimizing en route traffic flows and quantifying current inefficiencies in airspace management/use.
Georgia Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
John-Paul Clarke, Associate Professor, School of Aerospace Engineering; Director, Air Transportation Laboratory; Georgia Institute of Technology, john-paul.clarke@ae.gatech.edu
László Windhoffer, laszlo.windhoffer@faa.gov
• En Route Traffic Optimization to Reduce Environmental Impact: PARTNER Project 5 Report. John-Paul Clarke, Marcus Lowther, Liling Ren, WIlliam Singhose, Senay Solak, Adan Vela, Lawrence Wong. Report no. PARTNER-COE-2008-005. Download (.pdf 2.7M)
Air traffic delays due to congestion in the National Airspace System are a source of unnecessary cost to airlines, passengers, and air transportation-dependent businesses. Delays also have a negative environmental impact. The magnitude of air traffic delays indicates that the current air traffic control infrastructure is not capable of handing current traffic levels. In this report, we propose methods to investigate and quantify the economic and environmental benefits of optimization tools that en route air traffic controllers could use.
Project poster Download (.pdf 436K)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, 37-311, Cambridge, MA 02139