En route Descent Advisor Concerpt for Arrival Metering

Steven M. Green
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA

Robert A. Vivona
Titan Systems Corporation
Billerica, MA

Abstract

The En-route Descent Advisor (EDA) is a set of decision support 
tool (DST) capabilities for managing complex en route traffic subject 
to metering restrictions. The goal is to enable controller procedures to 
evolve from today's emphasis on sector management towards procedures 
more oriented towards trajectory management. EDA will help controllers 
transition traffic from a "Free Flight" (minimally restricted) en route 
environment into an efficiently organized arrival flow into terminal 
airspace. EDA assists controllers with high-density arrival metering 
by providing fuel-efficient metering-conformance advisories that are 
integrated with conflict detection and resolution (CD&R) capabilities. 
Results of engineering analyses indicate that EDA advisories, based on 
accurate trajectory-prediction techniques, have the potential to reduce 
the rate of conflict-probe false alarms and missed alerts by 20% and 
improve the efficiency of transition airspace operations resulting in an 
annual nation-wide benefit of $ 291 million.