“…The flow patterns were represented by a function consisting of the relative velocities between the objects of interest and the aircraft. The effects of these flow patterns and other optical variables on the perception of self-motion have subsequently been studied extensively (e.g., Owen and Freeman, 1986;Owen, Warren, Jensen, Mangold and Hettinger, 1981;Owen, Wolpert and Warren, 1984;Owen, Hettinger, Pallos and Fogt, 1985;Owen and Warren, 1987). The variables investigated include the optical flow rate (flight velocity divided by instantaneous altitude); optical acceleration (product of flight velocity and descent rate divided by the square of the difference between the initial altitude and altitude to be descended to); optical density (instantaneous altitude divided by ground texture size); and optical splay (rate of descent divided by altitude).…”