Work domain analysis for air traffic controller weather displays.
BACKGROUND
Adverse weather conditions have a major impact on National Airspace System (NAS) operations. They create safety hazards for pilots, constrain the usable airspace for air traffic control (ATC), and reduce the overall capacity of the NAS. A system-wide dissemination of weather information to controllers could theoretically improve safety and efficiency.


OBJECTIVE
However, it is currently unclear what weather information would be beneficial for tactical operations. Furthermore, no previous research has empirically evaluated optimal presentation designs for ATC weather displays. Ill-designed weather displays can cause safety hazards by presenting redundant information (i.e., by increasing the cognitive load) and display clutter (e.g., by interfering with the visual extraction of traffic data).


METHODS
In the present paper, we outline our use of cognitive work analysis (CWA) techniques for the assessment of weather information needs for terminal controllers.


RESULTS
Specifically, we describe how the CWA modeling tools helped us reveal instances in the terminal domain where weather information is lacking or insufficiently disseminated. We used our CWA results to drive the development of weather display concepts and to set up a high-fidelity simulation capability.


CONCLUSIONS
By means of high-fidelity simulations, we can empirically evaluate controller weather information needs in order to propose weather displays for increased aircraft safety and efficiency of terminal operations.
Ahlstrom
Ulf
U
NAS Human Factors Group, Federal Aviation Administration, William J. Hughes Technical Center, Bldg. 28, Atlantic City International Airport, Atlantic City, NJ 08405, USA. ulf.ahlstrom@faa.gov
D000060:Accidents, Aviation / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003071:Cognition; D003626:Data Display; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D012106:Research; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014887:Weather; D017132:Workplace