Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) Highlights - Fiscal Year 2013
The PDRC software is transferred to the FAA. (l to r) Pam Whitley, FAA; Jaiwon Shin, NASA; David Grizzle, FAA. (Image Credit: NASA / Maria Werries)
The Aviation Systems Division once again completed technology transfer to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). On August 6, 2013, a ceremony, held at FAA headquarters in Washington, DC, commemorated the formal transfer of the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC). PDRC enables surface decision support systems to be connected to the Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) in order to provide more accurate OFF-time predictions and improve the efficiency of departures as they merge into en-route streams to internal airports and adjacent Centers. The NASA North Texas Research Station (NTX) led this research and development effort and demonstrated the ability to improve off-time compliance to 83% (from current-day levels of 54%). PDRC also has the potential to improve metering schedules for over 20% of arriving aircraft at today's TMA-metered airports. NASA was represented at the Washington handoff ceremony by Shawn Engelland (chief engineer for PDRC), William Chan (System Modeling and Simulation Branch Chief) and Tom Davis (Aviation Systems Division Chief) as well as Ames Research Center's Deputy Director, Mr. Lew Braxton, and Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, Dr. Jaiwon Shin. The FAA was represented by Mr. David Grizzle, the FAA's Chief Operating Officer and Ms. Pam Whitley, the FAA's Assistant Administrator for NextGen (acting). The following week, the PDRC research transition was recognized by NASA Administrator, Mr. Charles Bolden, in a keynote address at the AIAA Aviation 2013 conference.
A few of the members from the NASA/FAA Research Transition Team who worked on PDRC and who were able to be at the transfer meeting. (Image Credit: NASA / Maria Werries)
The technology transfer capped two years of field evaluations of the PDRC concept at the Fort Worth (Texas) Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC, or Center) and the Dallas/Fort Worth Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) and towers, where FAA staff used PDRC to schedule actual operational departures subject to traffic management restrictions. The final phase of field evaluations took place November 2012-January 2013. During this field evaluation, the NASA research team validated the PDRC concept, assessed core system performance, and evaluated enhancements that provide tower controllers with greater insight into en route traffic conditions.
