METROSIM: Metroplex-Wide Flight Planning and Optimization

MetroSim is a Metroplex-based arrival, departure, and surface optimization. Linking with both the NASA-developed Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) tool as well as the NASA-developed System Oriented Runway Management (SORM) tool, MetroSim allows airport planners, traffic flow management experts, airline dispatchers, air traffic controllers, and pilots to reduce the uncertainty in operations planning, recover quickly from disruptive events, maintain high throughput even in adverse weather conditions, and handle the uncertainties associated with weather forecasts. To accomplish all these goals simultaneously, the MetroSim architecture contains a collection of different tools, some of which are simulations, some of which are physics-based computations, and some of which are mathematical optimization calculations. These tools all interoperate in a distributed computational environment to provide real-time airport planning and optimization at the Metroplex level for all operations—arrivals, departures, and surface movements. The type of each tool is chosen to be the best and fastest at what it is required to compute.

NASA researchers will find the tool useful for exploration of new concepts. The MetroSim scheduler will allow them to experiment with different concepts of operations for interval management, fuel management, arrival route structure, and even rule changes and reduced wake vortex separation standards. NASA can also use the tool as a driver for traffic in human-in-the-loop simulations, allowing researchers to concentrate on the salient aspects of the controller interaction without worrying about the background traffic that must be present to emulate a real scenario. Finally, NASA can integrate MetroSim with its Traffic Management Advisor (TMA), allowing full flight optimization from the enroute through the terminal area.

Other Government. We anticipate that MetroSim will eventually be tested in "shadow mode" in a backroom of a TRACON. In this mode, live traffic feeds will be fed to MetroSim and its response will be recorded, compared to what actually happened, and an assessment of the best path forward will be made. This application falls in the domain of the Federal Aviation Administration. Commercial. MetroSim can be used by airlines as a route planning tool, allowing them to experiment with different arrival and departure route choices on their flight plans, determine the interaction with other flights into and out of the Metroplex, and determine the approximate fuel burn for their choices. With this tool, dispatchers and other operators can better manage their operations.

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