4D trajectory management decision support

In international cooperation, LFV Group develops air traffic control methods that in the future will allow more predictable and environmentally friendly flights. An increasing number of aircraft have today capability to automatically follow four-dimensional (4D) trajectories, which means that the pilot can plan where, on a geometric trajectory, the aircraft should be at every time instant of the flight. How could this fairly new control technique be used to reduce environmental impact and improve passenger comfort and flight time keeping? To answer this and related questions, LFV Group develops new traffic control methods that are evaluated by extensive simulations, where both ground personnel and pilots act in their professional roles. The Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) has during 2007 studied this area, firstly to understand the issues related to airport approach control, secondly to propose areas where FOI and LFV Group jointly could advance both the control and the evaluation methodology. Without drawing any final conclusions, this document describes a selection of these development areas.