Lynne Martin - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Lynne Martin

Air traffic management simulations conducted in the Airspace Operations Laboratory at NASA Ames R... more Air traffic management simulations conducted in the Airspace Operations Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center have addressed the integration of trajectory-based arrival-management automation, controller tools, and Flight- Deck Interval Management avionics to enable Continuous Descent Operations (CDOs) during periods of sustained high traffic demand. The simulations are devoted to maturing the integrated system for field demonstration, and refining the controller tools, clearance phraseology, and procedures specified in the associated concept of operations. The results indicate a variety of factors impact the concept's safety and viability from a controller's perspective, including en-route preconditioning of arrival flows, useable clearance phraseology, and the characteristics of airspace, routes, and traffic-management methods in use at a particular site. Clear understanding of automation behavior and required shifts in roles and responsibilities is important for controll...

A recent human-in-the-loop simulation in the Airspace Operations Laboratory (AOL) at NASA's A... more A recent human-in-the-loop simulation in the Airspace Operations Laboratory (AOL) at NASA's Ames Research Center investigated the robustness of Controller-Managed Spacing (CMS) operations. CMS refers to AOL-developed controller tools and procedures for enabling arrivals to conduct efficient Optimized Profile Descents with sustained high throughput. The simulation provided a rich data set for examining how a traffic management supervisor and terminal-area controller participants used the CMS tools and coordinated to respond to off-nominal events. This paper proposes quantitative measures for characterizing the participants responses. Case studies of go-around events, replicated during the simulation, provide insights into the strategies employed and the role the CMS tools played in supporting them.

Teams have traditionally performed Air Traffic Control (ATC) in the United States (US) en route a... more Teams have traditionally performed Air Traffic Control (ATC) in the United States (US) en route airspace environment. The ‘front line’ teams are composed of two people who control a sector. These dyads divide duties, with the radar-controller (R-side) having primary responsibility for observing the radar screen and exercising ATC through radio communication with flight crews. The radar-associate (D-side) has primary responsibility for managing flight progress strips and serving as a strategic aide to the radar controller. Each member of the team has many other duties, including coordination with adjacent sectors and maintenance of common situation awareness. Both are responsible for safe, orderly, and expeditious flight progress of traffic in and around their area of responsibility.

Communications in Computer and Information Science, 2017

In an air traffic environment, task demand is dynamic. However, previous research has largely con... more In an air traffic environment, task demand is dynamic. However, previous research has largely considered the association of task demand and controller performance using conditions of stable task demand. Further, there is a comparatively restricted understanding of the influence of task demand transitions on workload and performance in association with different types and levels of automation that are available to controllers. This study used an air traffic control simulation to investigate the influence of task demand transitions, and two conditions of automation, on workload and efficiency-related performance. Findings showed that both the direction of the task demand variation and the amount of automation influenced the relationship between workload and performance. Findings are discussed in relation to capacity and arousal theories. Further research is needed to enhance understanding of demand transition and workload history effects on operator experience and performance, in both air traffic control and other safety-critical domains.

2017 IEEE/AIAA 36th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), 2017

NASA's UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project concluded its second flight demonstration activity in... more NASA's UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project concluded its second flight demonstration activity in late October 2016. This activity demonstrated the capabilities and functionality incorporated into its Technical Capability Level 2 (TCL 2) concept, which envisions future operations that are low density, capable of being performed over sparsely populated areas, and allow for a concurrent mix of longer duration, beyond visual-line-of-sight flights and shorter flights within visual-lineof-sight (VLOS). To incorporate these features into a flight demonstration, a scenario-based approach was taken to address different aspects of the TCL 2 environment and to meet defined objectives. This paper will describe elements of how the flight activity was conducted and present analyses regarding UTM operations, system messages, and alerting as they pertained to meeting the demonstration objectives and shedding light on research questions and lessons learned.

IFAC-PapersOnLine, 2016

To determine the capabilities and limitations of human operators and automation in separation ass... more To determine the capabilities and limitations of human operators and automation in separation assurance roles, the second of three Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) part-task studies investigated air traffic controllers' ability to detect and resolve conflicts under varying task sets, traffic densities, and run lengths. Operations remained within a single sector, staffed by a single controller, and explored, among other things, the controller's responsibility for conflict resolution with or without their involvement in the conflict detection task. Furthermore, these conditions were examined across two different traffic densities; 1x (current-day traffic) and a 20% increase above current-day traffic levels (1.2x). Analyses herein offer an examination of the conflict resolution strategies employed by controllers. In particular, data in the form of elapsed time between conflict detection and conflict resolution are used to assess if, and how, the controllers' involvement in the conflict detection task affected the way in which they resolved traffic conflicts.

14th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, 2014

The Airspace Operations Laboratory at NASA Ames conducts research to provide a better understandi... more The Airspace Operations Laboratory at NASA Ames conducts research to provide a better understanding of roles, responsibilities, and requirements for human operators and automation in future air traffic management (ATM) systems. The research encompasses developing, evaluating, and integrating operational concepts and technologies for near-, mid-, and far-term air traffic operations. Current research threads include efficient arrival operations, function allocation in separation assurance and efficient airspace and trajectory management. The AOL has developed powerful air traffic simulation capabilities, most notably the Multi Aircraft Control System (MACS) that is used for many air traffic control simulations at NASA and its partners in government, academia and industry. Several additional NASA technologies have been integrated with the AOL's primary simulation capabilities where appropriate. Using this environment, large and small-scale system-level evaluations can be conducted to help make near-term improvements and transition NASA technologies to the FAA, such as the technologies developed under NASA's Air Traffic Management Demonstration-1 (ATD-1). The AOL's rapid prototyping and flexible simulation capabilities have proven a highly effective environment to progress the initiation of trajectory-based operations and support the mid-term implementation of NextGen. Fundamental questions about accuracy requirements have been investigated as well as realworld problems on how to improve operations in some of the most complex airspaces in the US. This includes using advanced trajectory-based operations and prototype tools for coordinating arrivals to converging runways at Newark airport and coordinating departures and arrivals in the San Francisco and the New York metro areas. Looking beyond NextGen, the AOL has started exploring hybrid human/automation control strategies as well as highly autonomous operations in the air traffic control domain. Initial results indicate improved capacity, low operator workload, good situation awareness and acceptability for controllers teaming with autonomous air traffic systems. While much research and development needs to be conducted to make such concepts a reality, these approaches have the potential to truly transform the airspace system towards increased mobility, safe and efficient growth in global operations and enabling many of the new vehicles and operations that are expected over the next decades. This paper describes how the AOL currently contributes to the ongoing air transportation transformation.

HCI-Aero …, 2006

A suite of integrated ground side tools is presented that enables trajectory based air traffic co... more A suite of integrated ground side tools is presented that enables trajectory based air traffic control operations on individual sectors and multi sector planning positions. With these tools controllers and traffic planners can assess complex traffic problems and easily ...

2018 IEEE/AIAA 37th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), 2018

NASA is currently engaged in research to safely enable large-scale commercial applications of sma... more NASA is currently engaged in research to safely enable large-scale commercial applications of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in low altitude airspace. This research effort, referred to as UAS Traffic Management (UTM), encompasses the concepts and technologies needed to accommodate the projected demand of UAS operating in the national airspace. One aspect related to the successful implementation of UTM in the future is public acceptance. UTM transparency will heavily influence this acceptance, and a public portal will provide much of that transparency through ease of access to information about the operations-mainly why and where such operations are taking place. Related concerns to the public are individual privacy, security, and accountability of the operators. Providing the aforementioned information about operations can mitigate these concerns, but a balance will have to be achieved between the need for transparency from the public and the privacy of the operators. The proper balance and the needs of the various UTM stakeholders with regard to information access is being explored through the development and testing of a public portal alongside NASA's development and flight testing of the UTM system. Additionally, various approaches to the display of information and user interfaces were surveyed through the development of different instantiations of a public portal by multiple UTM industry partners across different test sites.

Emergency decision making - A wider decision framework?

An effort is made to establish a common framework of decision-classification across domains that ... more An effort is made to establish a common framework of decision-classification across domains that place similar psychological demands on the decisionmaker in an emergency. Attention is given to the description of such decisionmaking by the Hammond (1988) task-...

The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 2001

Developments in crew resource management (CRM) have progressed from the introduction of training ... more Developments in crew resource management (CRM) have progressed from the introduction of training programs to the evaluation of CRM skills, particularly for multicrew cockpits. European regulators responsible for flight operations and flight crew licensing (Joint Aviation Authorities, 1996, 1997) are introducing requirements for the training and assessment of pilots' nontechnical skills. This article reports a review of the literature and a survey of current practice in the development and use of behavioral marker systems for training and assessing nontechnical CRM skills in international and domestic (UK) airlines. In general, there appears to be a wide range of practice in the design and implementation of behavioral markers systems within CRM programs. Emerging issues relating to content validity of marker systems and rater reliability are likely to become the focus of both researchers' and pilots' interest. Initial efforts to assess the value and impact of crew resource management (CRM) have consisted of standard training evaluation techniques based on pilots' opinions of the quality and relevance of the programs, in the United States (Gregorich & Wil

2020 AIAA/IEEE 39th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), 2020

New decision support tools were introduced at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) as pa... more New decision support tools were introduced at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) as part of NASA's Air Traffic Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) project. ATD-2 is based on concepts which enable integrated arrival, departures, and surface (IADS) operations in a metroplex environment. Metrics on environmental benefits from ATD-2's surface metering at CLT have shown impressive reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Questions have remained on 1) the human factors impact of these new ATD-2 tools and surface metering and 2) the users' perceptions of how these tools affect operations. To address these questions, post-bank surveys were designed for the four types of users of the new tools at CLT: Ramp Controllers, Ramp Managers, Tower Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs) and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) TMCs. These surveys were administered during five-day blocks at three different times. Three types of banks were compared: No ATD-2 tool use, ATD-2 tool use, and ATD-2 use plus surface metering. Results indicate that higher workload or decreased situation awareness was not significantly associated with ATD-2 tool use more than no ATD-2 tool use-in fact for many users the opposite was true. Also, acceptability and operational efficiency measures indicate that the users did not perceive that banks with ATD-2 tools were significantly less acceptable or less efficient than banks without ATD-2 tools.

Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing

The purpose of this paper is to report on a human factors evaluation of ground control station de... more The purpose of this paper is to report on a human factors evaluation of ground control station design concepts for interacting with an unmanned traffic management system. The data collected for this paper comes from recent field tests for NASA's Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) project, and covers the following topics; workload, situation awareness, as well as flight crew communication, coordination, and procedures. The goal of this evaluation was to determine if the various software implementations for interacting with the UTM system can be described and classified into design concepts to provide guidance for the development of future UTM interfaces. We begin with a brief description of NASA's UTM project, followed by a description of the test range configuration related to a second development phase. We identified (post hoc) two classes in which the ground control stations could be grouped. This grouping was based on level of display integration. The analysis was exploratory and informal. It was conducted to compare ground stations across those two classes and against the aforementioned topics. Overall, subjective ratings showed no differences with respect to workload and communication, but ratings for situation awareness and effectiveness of the procedures favored integration of displays.

Using Neural Networks to Explore Air Traffic Controller Workload

When a new system, concept, or tool is proposed in the aviation domain, one concern is the impact... more When a new system, concept, or tool is proposed in the aviation domain, one concern is the impact that this will have on operator workload. As an experience, workload is difficult to measure in a way that will allow comparison of proposed systems with those already in existence. Chatterji and Sridhar (200 1) suggested a method by which airspace parameters can be translated into workload ratings, using a neural network. This approach was employed, and modified to accept input from a non-real time airspace simulation model. The following sections describe the preparations and testing work that will enable comparison of a future airspace concept with a current day baseline in terms of workload levels. Measuring Workload Workload is notoriously hard to measure. In air traffic control (ATC), workload is related to the number of aircraft

Advances in Human Aspects of Aviation

A human-in-the-loop simulation investigated the robustness of a schedule-based terminal-area air ... more A human-in-the-loop simulation investigated the robustness of a schedule-based terminal-area air traffic management concept, and its supporting controller tools, to off-nominal events-events that led to situations in which runway arrival schedules required adjustments and controllers could no longer use speed control alone to impose the necessary delays. The main research question was exploratory: to assess whether controllers could safely resolve and control the traffic during off-nominal events. A focus was the role of the supervisor-how he managed the schedules, how he assisted the controllers, what strategies he used, and which combinations of tools he used. Observations and questionnaire responses revealed supervisor strategies for resolving events followed a similar pattern: a standard approach specific to each type of event often resolved to a smooth conclusion. However, due to the range of factors influencing the event (e.g., environmental conditions, aircraft density on the schedule, etc.), sometimes the plan required revision and actions had a wide-ranging effect.

Parallel runway operations have been found to increase capacity within the National Airspace but ... more Parallel runway operations have been found to increase capacity within the National Airspace but poor visibility conditions reduce the use of these operations [1]. Previous research examined the concepts and procedures related to parallel runways; however, there has been no investigation of the procedures associated with the strategic and tactical pairing of aircraft for these operations. This study developed and examined the pilot and controller procedures and information requirements for creating aircraft pairs for parallel runway operations. The goal was to achieve aircraft pairing with a temporal separation of 15s (+/10s error) at a “coupling” point that was about 12 nmi from the runway threshold. Two variables were explored for the pilot participants: two levels of flight deck automation (current-day flight deck automation and auto speed control future automation) as well as two flight deck displays that assisted in pilot conformance monitoring. The controllers were also provid...

Development of the NOTECHS (non-technical skills) system for assessing pilots' CRM skills

… issues in human …, 2005

Development of the NOTECHS (non-technical skills) system for assessing pilots9 CRM skills Rhona F... more Development of the NOTECHS (non-technical skills) system for assessing pilots9 CRM skills Rhona Flin, Lynne Martin, Klaus-Martin Goeters, Hans-Jurgen Hermann, Rene Amalberti, Claude Valot and Herman Nijhuis Abstract Crew Resource Management (CRM) courses are ...

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and Europe's Single European Sky ATM Rese... more The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and Europe's Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) concepts require an increased use of trajectory-based operations, including extensive strategic air traffic control clearances. The clearances can be lengthy and complex, which necessitates data link communications to allow for message permanence and integration into the autoflight systems (i.e., "autoload" capability). This paper examines the use of flight deck data link communications for strategic and tactical clearance usage in the terminal area. A human-in-the-loop simulation was conducted using a high-fidelity flight deck simulator, with ten commercial flight crews as participants. Data were collected from six flight scenarios in the San Francisco terminal airspace. The variables of interest were ATC message modality (voice v. data link), temporal aspect of the message (tactical v. strategic) and message length. Dependent variables were message response times, communication clarifications, communication-related errors, and pilot workload. Response time results were longer in data link compared to voice, a finding that has been consistently revealed in a number of other simulations [1]. In addition, strategic clearances and longer messages resulted in a greater number of clarifications and errors, suggesting an increase in uncertainty of message interpretation for the flight crews when compared to tactical clearances. The implications for strategic and compound clearance usage in NextGen and SESAR are discussed.

Developing a decision support interface for surface domain air traffic controllers

Proceedings of the …, 2007

The effects of advanced automation tools on the air traffic control tower environment were assess... more The effects of advanced automation tools on the air traffic control tower environment were assessed through a real-time simulation study. One focus of the study was the impact that advanced tools would have on controllers' roles and work patterns. Participants ...