Structural considerations and cognitive complexity in air traffic control

Abstract

The ability of air traffic controllers to deal with complex situations is a limiting factor in airspace capacity. The underlying airspace structure and other procedural elements are thought to be important factors in reducing a controller's Cognitive Complexity through the use of structure based abstractions. Because Cognitive Complexity cannot be directly observed it must be investigated indirectly. This paper discusses and presents examples of how directly observable states and controllers subjective responses can be used to indirectly probe and gain insight into how structure based abstractions are used to manage Cognitive Complexity.

Conflict Resolution and Traffic Complexity of Multiple Intersecting Flows of Aircraft

“…These studies can be put very roughly into two categories: One is related to cognitive complexity, which serves as an indication of the mental workload of controllers in response to the air traffic (e.g. [3,4,5,6]); and the other is related to intrinsic complexity, which is related to metrics characterizing the airspace and traffic of aircraft or other mobile vehicles from a systems perspective (e.g. [7,8,1,9,10,11]).…”

“…It is valuable now to consider the concept of structural abstraction, as suggested by Histon [3], which can be categorized as an element of organizational complexity under Cummings' hierarchy-and now ours. The issue of abstraction raised by Histon addresses a means of representing the essential characteristics of a system model in a more cognitively compact form that is manageable within the constraints of human memory and processing limitations.…”

“…In this work, we specifically focus on the extent to which types (or one type) of structural abstractions strike a reasonable compromise between computational complexity and organizational capacity. As suggested by Histon et al [3], the traffic complexity and workload of ATC controllers can be reduced by reorganizing the air traffic into standard flows or other structured traffic patterns.…”

Data visualization techniques for airspace flow modeling

“…Prandini et al claim that [1] flows can provide more predictable and robust estimates than watching aircraft individually. As developed in [2], [3], dominant flow patterns and traffic flow interactions constitute the basis for air traffic controllers to build their abstraction of a sector. Flow patterns can be described by many flow features [4], such as the number of flows, the major flows and their size, the number of crossing flows, etc.…”

Uncertainty management in enroute air traffic control: a field study exploring controller strategies and requirements for automation

“…Averty et al 2008;Nunes and Mogford 2003;Xu and Rantanen 2003), supported by mental abstractions to reduce traffic complexity, by grouping traffic into traffic flows, groups of interacting aircraft, critical points (e.g. Histon et al 2002), and assignment of aircraft into ''in conflict'' or ''not in conflict'' (e.g. Kirwan and Flynn 2002;Niessen and Eyferth 2001;Rantanen and Nunes 2005).…”