Transition Airspace Resource Management

Similar to how the FAA's Terminal Flight Data Manager will bring runway use configuration support to a large number of airports in the National Airspace System, there exists a need to support how controllers use capacity constrained arrival and departure fixes. This project will develop and validate the Transition Airspace Resource Manager (TARM) concept. The goal of TARM is to increase the efficiency with which capacity-limited transition fixes connecting the enroute and terminal airspaces are used in both clear and disruptive weather conditions, by proactively suggesting reroutes to balance arrival and departure demand across available fixes, relative to capacity, and temporarily reallocating fixes between arrivals and departures when extreme demand or weather conditions warrant. TARM uses stochastic weather and capacity forecasts. The TARM concept represents an important step toward Trajectory Based Operations by integrating a traffic management decision with individual flight trajectories, and applying a TBO paradigm in which arrival and departure flights are separated by trajectory rather than procedural airspace regions.

The proposed SBIR will complete work that is highly beneficial to NASA by being directly relevant to future NASA Integrated Arrival Departure Surface (IADS) research, without overlapping ongoing work. NASA has contributed remarkable advances in arrival and departure traffic management technologies. NASA's advanced arrival management technologies, Terminal Sequencing and Spacing (TSAS) and Flight Deck Interval Management (FIM), assume aircraft fix assignments are known. Similarly, NASA's ATD-2 departure management research, based on NASA's previous PDRC and TDS technology, assumes the fixes as well as the assignments of flights to those fixes are static. The TARM concept addresses an opportunity to reallocate fixes and reassign flights to available fixes prior to NASA's existing arrival and departure solutions scheduling flights. In this way, this TARM research could be applied to extend NASA's current IADS work, delivering the next generation of IADS capabilities into the NASA-FAA ATM technology pipeline.

The primary application for this work beyond advancing NASA's IADS research goals is with the FAA. Our goal is for NASA to transfer a validated concept and TARM prototype to the FAA so that the capability may be included in future TBFM and TFDM releases. The operational need is substantial and current method - manual intervention by controllers - is inconsistent and reactive, not providing the possible benefits. The TARM capability is needed and wanted by the FAA. TARM's ability to efficiently update trajectory assignments through transition airspace based on current conditions will also prove essential under TBO. Mosaic ATM is also considering offering a cloud-hosted, service-based product to flight operators. The service would forecast fix capacities and demand, and advise when a re-route using an alternate fix would be beneficial to that flight, or to the operator if the operator represents the majority of the demand at the fix.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 2) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.