Experimental Evaluation of a Coplanar Airborne Separation Display

Two experiments, an active conflict resolution task and a passive situation awareness assessment, were conducted that compared two versions of a constraint-based coplanar airborne separation assistance display. A baseline display showed a maneuver space based on 2-D projections of traffic and performance constraints. A second augmented display also incorporated cutting planes that take the dimension orthogonal to the projection into account, thereby providing a more precise visualization of traffic constraints. Results showed that although pilots performed well with either display, the augmented display scored consistently better in terms of performance, efficiency of conflict resolutions, the amount of errors in the initial resolutions, and the level of situation awareness compared with the baseline display. On the other hand, more losses of separation were found with the augmented display, as pilots tried to maximize the maneuvering efficiency according to the precision with which constraints were visualized.