TARGETS is a tool that offers a unique combination of capabilities for the design, analysis, and operational assessment of procedures and airspace. Developed by The MITRE Corporation¿s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) under sponsorship of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the tool is being used at several facilities and multiple regions within the United States to design arrival and departure procedures. The visualization features of TARGETS and its readily accessible design data elements enable specialists to rapidly and easily develop procedures. The integrated design capabilities of TARGETS enable quick assessment of alternative design concepts, leading to robust solutions that satisfy operational needs and constraints. Using TARGETS significantly reduces the time to capture requirements and expedites the overall design process. TARGETS seamlessly integrates with standard office applications making it easy to prepare presentations or document procedure design. The data output of TARGETS is easily formatted to support operational, certification and charting needs. Features of TARGETS include: ¿ Integration of essential capabilities into a single desktop application, featuring multi-platform compatibility, and an easy-to-learn user-tested interface ¿ Java-based software with object oriented design that runs on a variety of platforms, including most desktop PC systems. Platform requirements are within the normal range of office automation systems. No CAD/CAM engine is required ¿ Easy capture of route design information in project files, for dissemination to geographically dispersed stakeholders ¿ Data export capabilities that include flat files, seamless exchange with standard office applications, auto-population of regulatory forms and electronic data exchange using web services ¿ Plug-in architecture, which enforces modularity and extensibility
GIS Capabilities Procedure stakeholders need a way of merging airspace geographic information (waypoints, navaids, routes, etc.) with flight path information based upon aircraft performance. The functionality of TARGETS includes a geographic information system (GIS) tailored to: procedure design, flyability assessment, protected airspace surface generation, obstacle assessment, noise assessment, seamless data exchange with centralized databases and other applications, and simulation of the operational environment. The TARGETS GIS functionality combines layers of information relevant to procedure development and airspace analysis. Fundamental data sources are navigation and airspace data. This data includes navaids, fixes, Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARs), Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs), Special Aircraft and Aircrew Authorization Required (SAAAR) procedures, airways, runways, airports, radars, radios, Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), Special Use Airspace (SUA), sector boundaries, terminal airspace, and holding patterns. TARGETS can also read and display image data including geo-referenced sectional charts in the form of jpeg or tiff files and their associated auxiliary files containing geographic referencing information. The charts can be loaded in TARGETS as background. Also, TARGETS can import and display controller video maps and ESRI shape files containing geographic information. Image and map data is for visualization of the topography, terrain, and urban areas. TARGETS supports the import and display of many image formats. Users may manipulate the image by changing the center, size, and orientation. This allows the user to visually align images that are not geo-referenced with other geographic data. For geo-referenced files such as sectional charts, TARGETS will align the image geographically. Detailed community and census data are needed when assessing noise impact for procedures. The community data is available in the form of Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) system data and the population density data is obtained from the Census Bureau. Recorded radar tracks are needed for designing overlay procedures, creating before and after operational assessment scenarios, and for performing before and after noise assessment. Recorded track data is obtained from the Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS), Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System, Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS), and the en route ATC HOST computer system. ARTS data does not include runway assignment, aircraft type, city-pair information or Area Navigation (RNAV) equipage. The latter two can be obtained from ETMS data. Runway assignment is deduced from the ARTS data and tables are used to map aircraft identification (ID) to aircraft type and type to equipage. Since a lot of different data is brought together for visualization, TARGETS provides the user the ability to manipulate the displayed data through layering, color customization, line styles, and transparency. The ability to apply filters to the data helps users manage information overload and clutter. TARGETS supports filters based upon altitude for airspace, radar tracks, obstacles, and simulation profiles. Procedure Design RNAV procedure design must consider the ARINC coding of a procedure, which impacts the flight profile of the aircraft. It is essential that air traffic controllers understand the intended flight path of an RNAV equipped aircraft cleared for a procedure. TARGETS ensures a valid ARINC coding sequence, which allows air traffic controllers and other stakeholders to focus on meeting their operational needs rather than on knowing all the details of proper ARINC coding. TARGETS enables stakeholders to work collaboratively to examine the many constraints that apply to a procedure. Modern tools put a vast array of data at the designer¿s fingertips, thereby enabling a much quicker and higher quality design. Many constraints that could not be addressed until late in the development process can be checked much earlier, in a fraction of the time. The workload is reduced significantly and changes are completed with a few keystrokes or mouse clicks. TARGETS includes a procedure editing capability that allows users to combine elements needed to create new RNAV procedures. With a graphical point-and-click interface, the user can place waypoints that define the two-dimensional path for enroute transitions, common routes, and runway transitions. After placing the waypoints, the textual procedure editing capability allows the user to specify altitude and speed constraints. These can be specified only at points where needed and can be either at-or-above, at-or-below, or at. Through the editor, the user can change ARINC leg types (all are defaulted to track-to-fix [TF] except for the first point on a transition which are initial fix [IF] legs). If the user changes to a different leg type, the editor will only allow the user to build a valid ARINC sequence. The user will also be prompted for any additional parameters needed for different leg types such as courses or altitudes. TARGETS also has rules that restrict the different leg types that can be used to develop a procedure. A preference option will allow only the five leg types used by the FAA for RNAV STAR, SID, RNP SAAAR development. The procedure editor in TARGETS allows users to combine routes, runway transitions, en route transitions, and common routes to create new procedures. Users can specify altitude constraints, speed constraints, and ARINC path terminators and associated parameters. The user can edit the entire procedure or only selected transitions. Appropriate FAA forms can be auto-populated and a distribution package generated that contains the forms, graphics, and flyability results. Information that previously took days to generate can now be done in hours! Data Exchange  No single application can perform all functions for all users. To allow users to leverage the strengths of different airspace and procedure tools, data exchange among tools is crucial. Data exchange is supported in TARGETS via ASCII data files, XML files, and Web services. Data file exchange is supported between TARGETS and the Total Airspace and Airport Modeler (TAAM), the Sector Design and Analysis Tool (SDAT), RNAV Pro, and MapInfo. Web service data exchange is used for the FAA¿s Flyability Service and their various database query services. For example, airspace designers use TARGETS to design RNAV routes and TAAM to simulate detailed operational impacts of the designs. To facilitate TARGETS-TAAM interoperability, TARGETS enables route designs to be saved in file formats that can be read directly by TAAM.
Quality Assurance Multiple navigation databases can be imported for use in TARGETS. These include the National Flight Data Center (NFDC), Flight Management System (FMS) databases from avionics manufacturers, Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File (DAFIF), ARINC 424 National Flight Database (NFD), and the AVN Information Services (AVNIS) web service. The user can query all of the databases or set a priority for querying the databases. Items that are in common to the databases are checked for consistency with differing items highlighted. Elements such as navaids, fixes, STARs, SIDs and approaches are also displayed for a visual check. Consistency checks across different versions of the same database can also be done by loading multiple versions of the database. Discrepancy reports and edit logs are kept to track changes. A batch mode is available to compare the entire contents of databases. Flyability Assessment Flyability assessment is an integral part of the design process. Early identification of flyability problems reduces the risk of encountering flyability issues later when a proposed route is flown in a costly high fidelity simulator or when the route undergoes flight checks during certification. Features of the flyability capability include: ¿ Simple assignment of speeds and altitudes to waypoints
¿ User definable altitude dependent aircraft performance
¿ Wind that can be defined as a globally applied vertical profile or as an along-track wind component
¿ Identification of problem segments to ensure easy modification of routes when required Surfaces The path flown by an aircraft differs from the ideal or desired path due to a variety of errors such as the navigation system error (NSE) and flight technical error (FTE). Given those errors, there is an airspace surface that is checked to protect for collision with either man-made or terrain obstacles. The size and shape of the surface depends upon the type of procedure. RNAV surfaces are referred to as ¿linear¿ surfaces, which means that the surface description contains no circular arcs and can taper. An example of a RNAV surface is a trapezoid with different size bases. Required Navigation Performance (RNP) surfaces can contain circular arcs and have fewer tapers. Differences between these two types of surfaces can be significant when performing an obstacle assessment. The TARGETS user can easily add RNAV and/or RNP containment surfaces to STARs, SIDs and approaches. When the user chooses to add containment surfaces, TARGETS automatically draws them according to FAA rules. TARGETS also recomputes and redraws containment surfaces when a procedure design is changed (e.g., a waypoint is moved). From a TARGETS user¿s perspective, STAR/SID surfaces are treated similarly. The user first creates the path and then adds the surface. Approaches and SIDs are similar because of the sloped surfaces and close relationship to the runway. To simplify surface generation for procedures, TARGETS provides the user with the minimum required parameters, which are set to default values. The steps for surface creation in TARGETS for a STAR and SID are different than for an approach. Approaches are built from the runway back (final, intermediate, and initial segments) and forward from the runway for the missed approach. An approach is a mixture of level and sloped surfaces. After the user has created a STAR procedure, TARGETS allows the user to easily add an RNAV surface created with the default value of a half-width of 2 nm for the primary surface (resulting in 3 nm for the half-width of the secondary surface) based upon the FAA orders. If the procedure is modified, the surface will automatically recalculate to properly match the procedure. Both an RNAV and RNP surface can be displayed at the same time, which allows the user to see the impact on airspace usage, especially for turns. Obstacle Assessment TARGETS supports the import of terrain data, which is required for Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) coverage assessment and obstacle assessment. This data is available at different resolutions with finer resolution data only available to the military. The TARGETS application supports different resolutions of the data and two different formats: digital terrain elevation data (DTED) and digital elevation model (DEM) data. Man-made obstacles must also be included when checking protection areas for obstacle penetration. TARGETS can import DOF, UDDF, DVOF, and AVNIS obstacles as well as allow the user to create user defined obstacles. Environmental Assessment Detailed community and census data is needed when assessing procedures for noise impact. The community data is available in the form of the TIGER system data and the population density data from the Census Bureau. These data files are preprocessed and converted to ESRI shape files for use in TARGETS. Any new or modified procedure must be assessed for environmental impact. Noise assessment is initiated by the ATC Facility, Regional Air Traffic Division (ATD), airports or the Flight Procedures Office (FPO) during the procedure design. The responsibility for this review varies across regions.  FAA Orders, Aviation Flight Standards (AFS), and Aviation System Standards (AVN) memoranda assign various organizations the responsibility for performing the preliminary environmental review. Depending on which guidance is followed, the Regional Environmental Specialist, the ATC facility, the airport, or the FPO begins this review to determine the extent of the potential environmental impact (minimal versus significant), and/or whether the procedure could be highly controversial. Possible outcomes of the preliminary review include the proposed procedure being classified as a Categorical Exclusion (CE), or a determination that the proposed procedure requires an Environmental Assessment (EA). An EA may conclude with a Finding of No Significant Impacts (FONSI), or a determination that the procedure requires an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Historically, RNAV procedures that overlay existing non-RNAV procedures have been classified as CEs; however, when non-overlay procedures are designed, there is a high probability that either an EA or EIS will be required.
Facilities proposing new types of procedures will require some feedback on how the noise footprint changes. The Air Traffic Noise Screening (ATNS) tool provides guidance on whether an airspace change above 3,000 ft may have noise impacts and the Integrated Noise Model (INM) allows users to quantitatively assess noise changes when necessary. Using GIS visualization, track data processing, and simulation capabilities, the TARGETS application embeds INM screening capabilities into the early phase of the procedure design process. It is important that as many constraints are accounted for earlier in the development as possible to prevent significant rework and increased time for implementation and publication. For Air Traffic users to see the impact in the noise footprint for a new RNAV procedure, TARGETS makes it easy for the user to identify a group of tracks and perform before and after noise calculations for a defined geographic area. The dispersion of the tracks along with a mapping of the aircraft IDs to engine types are done for the user. Algorithms have been developed which automatically create a backbone structure based upon the spatial average of the selected tracks along with a spatial dispersion. Algorithms and tables have been developed for mapping aircraft IDs (this is the information found in ARTS data) to aircraft type and then to specific engines with their associated noise characteristics. New flight paths are generated within TARGETS based on the ARINC 424 coding and any imposed ATC speed or altitude constraints. TARGETS creates all the needed input files required by the INM computation engine. The output generated by the noise computation engine is used by TARGETS to create visual products that indicate areas of significant noise change. CNS Coverage Assessment If sector boundaries are changed, it is important to check whether there is adequate radio and radar coverage for the airspace. CNS coverage computed by TARGETS is based upon a line-of-sight model that takes into account atmospheric refraction and terrain blockage. The range of each CNS element is set to the standard service volume defined by the FAA. In cases where the standard service volume coverage is not adequate, an extended service volume (ESV) analysis can be done to determine if there would be adequate coverage using the ESV of selected navaids. The procedure developer is provided a visual, macroscopic CNS coverage assessment. The user defines a coverage group, which consists of the CNS elements to use. The user can add or subtract from a coverage group and can select from different coverage products. There are mean sea level (MSL) and above ground level (AGL) products. The user can set a particular altitude, and then check the coverage at that fixed altitude with all the elements in the coverage group. The user can select three navaids from the coverage group and assess the impact of an outage. Another product provides the user with a coverage count at different altitudes. For a procedure, there is a product that provides the coverage at different altitudes within the protected airspace or containment surface for that procedure. At a particular altitude, the user can see which navaids contribute to the coverage. Operational Assessment An operational assessment of a procedure is needed to assess dynamic issues such as mixed equipage, controller workload, sequencing, and merging. To assess the operational impact of new procedures, there must be a mechanism for assigning aircraft to fly the procedure on the desired transition and at the desired waypoint, for taking them off the procedure, and for rejoining the procedure. There are two ways a user can interact with aircraft in the simulation; through control lines and by direct selection of an aircraft. A control line is a straight line that can be placed at any location in the airspace. A user can define multiple control lines. When aircraft cross the control line, they are given commands, such as ¿join the procedure,¿ which the user selects when defining the controlling line. There are several filtering options that can be applied to the aircraft crossing a control line, which limit the action to only aircraft meeting the filter criteria. Control lines can be hidden so the display will match what the controller actually sees. Metrics collection and scenario building are two tools needed for performing an operational assessment. TARGETS provides a powerful and portable platform for performing simplified human-in-the-loop experiments. Multiple TARGETS on different computers may be networked into a single simulation, allowing participants to play the roles of pilots and air traffic controllers. Microsoft Flight Simulator and the Aerosim FMS Simulator may be easily networked with the central TARGETS simulation, allowing for complex, human -in-the-loop scenarios. This capability has been used successfully to examine mixed equipage and evaluate operational concepts prior to proceeding to a high-fidelity human-in-the-loop simulation. Scenario Building The scenario building capability allows the user to build traffic samples with variation in terms of equipage levels, gaps, aircraft type, and separation to support the systematic and parametric evaluation of operational issues under different equipage mix levels and demand conditions. The user can select from probability distributions that include uniform, normal, and Poisson. Metrics Collection When developing new procedures and assessing their operational impact prior to their implementation into the National Airspace System (NAS), quantification of potential benefits is desirable. Collection of metric data is done using the extended functionality of a control line. In addition to aircraft state information, the metrics collection line records information about where the line is placed (latitude and longitude of the endpoints of the line) and its identity (line 1, line 2, etc.). This allows the user to perform metric collection at a number of points of interest in their airspace. For terminal airspace, metrics collection can be done: at the TRACON entry fixes to confirm the flow rates; before and after merge points; at the hand-off points between feeder and final controllers; on the final approach; and at the runway threshold. The metrics line will compute aircraft separation for leading or following aircraft. The user can also create dependencies between metrics lines where data is collected only if an aircraft crossed the first line. This capability is used to examine aircraft separation when they are staggered on approach to parallel runways. The aircraft identification and state information are written to data files for additional post-simulation analysis. Plugin Architecture The plug-in architecture of TARGETS accommodates specialized functions that are of interest only to certain users. A plug-in is a particular set of functionality that may be optionally added to enhance TARGETS capabilities. The plug-in architecture enforces modularity of the software and avoids user interface complexity. Users are not distracted by extraneous menu choices and buttons because they can tailor TARGETS to include only the plug-ins that they need. TARGETS plug-ins address a range of functionality including: importing and exporting unique data formats; importing and displaying terrain elevation data; and facilitating data exchange with other tools. TAAM Plug-in The TAAM plug-in enables users to design RNAV SIDs and STARs in TARGETS, then export them to TAAM for further analysis and modeling. This capability enables significant time savings by avoiding the complex process of building RNAV routes in TAAM. TARGETS¿ less complex user interface and simulation capability makes it easy for controllers to playback and validate the airspace model built in TAAM. Conversely, controllers can use TARGETS to capture operational constraints during a facilitated discussion that reduces the time for TAAM modelers to build a high quality airspace model. TAAM does not have a database of navaids or fixes. The plug-in allows database records for fixes and navaids from TARGETS to be exported to TAAM. Terminal RNAV Procedure Design Course The MITRE Aviation Institute (MAI) offers training on TARGETS as well as on terminal RNAV procedure design and the implementation process through hands-on laboratory exercises combined with detailed case studies of actual RNAV procedures. The MAI also provides professional development opportunities to the global aviation community and helps to cultivate an industry-wide, collaborative culture via interactive, hands-on courses in key areas. Visit the MAI website at www.mitremai.org, or call 703.983.6799, to obtain more information about the MAI¿s terminal RNAV procedure design course. For More Information Contact: The MITRE Corporation
7515 Colshire Drive
McLean, VA 22102-7508
703.983.6053
www.mitrecaasd.org
Date Posted:
August 9, 2008
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