Work domain analysis for air traffic controller weather displays.

Area of Science:

• Aviation human factors
• Air traffic management systems
• Cognitive engineering

Background:

• Adverse weather significantly impacts National Airspace System (NAS) operations, posing safety risks and reducing capacity.
• Current weather information dissemination for air traffic controllers (ATCs) may not fully support tactical operations.
• Poorly designed ATC weather displays can increase cognitive load and visual clutter, potentially compromising safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine beneficial weather information for tactical air traffic control operations.
• To empirically evaluate optimal design for ATC weather displays.
• To address the lack of research on effective weather display design for ATCs.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) techniques to assess weather information requirements for terminal controllers.
• Employed CWA modeling tools to identify gaps in weather information dissemination.
• Developed weather display concepts based on CWA findings and established high-fidelity simulation capabilities.

Main Results:

• Identified specific instances within the terminal domain where weather information is lacking or inadequately disseminated.
• Leveraged CWA results to inform the design of novel weather display concepts.
• Established a high-fidelity simulation environment for empirical evaluation of weather display effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• High-fidelity simulations enable empirical evaluation of controller weather information needs.
• Proposed weather displays can enhance aircraft safety and operational efficiency in terminal areas.
• This research provides a foundation for developing improved weather information systems for air traffic control.