Coordinated and robust aviation network resource allocation

In the United States, flight operators may schedule flights to most airports at whatever time best achieves their objectives. However, during some time periods, both at airports and in the airspace, these freely-developed schedules may become infeasible because weather or other factors reduce capacity. A plan must then be implemented to mitigate this congestion safely, efficiently, and equitably. Current planning processes treat each congested resource independently, applying various rules to increase interoperation times sufficiently to match the reduced capacity. However, several resources are occasionally congested simultaneously, and ignoring possible dependencies may yield infeasible allocations for flights using multiple resources. In this dissertation, this problem of developing coordinated flight-slot allocations for multiple congested resources is considered from several perspectives. First, a linear optimization model is developed. It is demonstrated that optimally minimizing flight arrival delays induces an increasing bias against flights using multiple resources. However, the resulting allocations reduce overall arrival delay, as compared to the infeasible independent allocations, and to current operational practice. The analytic properties of the model are used to develop a rule-based heuristic for allocating capacity that achieves comparable aggregate results. Alternatively, minimizing delay assigned at all resources is considered, and this objective is shown to mimic the flights' original schedule order. Recognizing that minimizing arrival delays is attractive because of its tangible impact on system performance, variations to the original optimization model are proposed that constrain the worst-case performance of any individual user. Several different constraints and cost-based approaches are considered, all of which are successful to varying degrees in limiting inequities. Finally, the model is reformulated to consider uncertainty in capacity. This adds considerable complexity to the formulation, and introduces practical difficulties in identifying joint probability distributions for the capacity outcomes at each resource. However, this new model is successful in developing more robust flight-slot allocations that enable quick responses to capacity variations. Each of the optimization models and heuristics presented here are tested on a realistic case study. The problem studied and the approaches employed represent an important middle ground in air traffic flow management research between single resource models and comprehensive ones

Optimizing key parameters of ground delay program with uncertain airport capacity

The Ground Delay Program (GDP) relies heavily on the capacity of the subject airport, which, due to its uncertainty, adds to the difficulty and suboptimality of GDP operation. This paper proposes a framework for the joint optimization of GDP key parameters including file time, end time, and distance. These parameters are articulated and incorporated in a GDP model, based on which an optimization problem is proposed and solved under uncertain airport capacity. Unlike existing literature, this paper explicitly calculates the optimal GDP file time, which could significantly reduce the delay times as shown in our numerical study. We also propose a joint GDP end-time-and-distance model solved with genetic algorithm. The optimization problem takes into account the GDP operational efficiency, airline and flight equity, and Air Traffic Control (ATC) risks. A simulation study with real-world data is undertaken to demonstrate the advantage of the proposed framework. It is shown that, in comparison with the current GDP in operation, the proposed solution reduces the total delay time, unnecessary ground delay, and unnecessary ground delay flights by 14.7%, 50.8%, and 48.3%, respectively. The proposed GDP strategy has the potential to effectively reduce the overall delay while maintaining the ATC safety risk within an acceptable level

Resource Allocation in Air Traffic Flow-Constrained Areas with Stochastic Termination Times

In this dissertation we address a stochastic air traffic flow management problem. This problem arises when airspace congestion is predicted, usually because of a weather disturbance, so that the number of flights passing through a volume of airspace (flow constrained area - FCA) must be reduced. We formulate an optimization model for the assignment of dispositions to flights whose preferred flight plans passed through the FCA. For each flight, the disposition can be either to depart as scheduled but via a secondary route thereby avoiding the FCA, or to use the originally intended route but to depart with a controlled (adjusted) departure time and accompanying ground delay. We model the possibility that the capacity of the FCA may increase at some future time once the weather activity clears. The model is a two-stage stochastic program that represents the time of this capacity windfall as a random variable, and determines expected costs given a second-stage decision, conditioning on that time. We also allow the initial reroutes to vary from a conservative or pessimistic approach where all reroutes avoid the weather entirely to an optimistic or hedging strategy where some or all reroute trajectories can presume that the weather will clear by the time the FCA is reached, understanding that a drastic contingency may be necessary later if this turns out not to be true. We conduct experiments allowing a range of such trajectories and draw conclusions regarding appropriate strategies

On the statistical description of the inbound air traffic over Heathrow airport

We present a model to describe the inbound air traffic over a congested hub. We show that this model gives a very accurate description of the traffic by the comparison of our theoretical distribution of the queue with the actual distribution observed over Heathrow airport. We discuss also the robustness of our model

Effects of speed reduction in climb, cruise and descent phases to generate linear holding at no extra fuel cost

Best paper Award in Trajectory Optimisation Track - ICRAT 2016Speed reduction strategies have proved to be useful to recover delay if air traffic flow management regulations are cancelled before initially planned. Considering that for short- haul flights the climb and descent phases usually account for a considerable percentage of the total trip distance, this paper extends previous works on speed reduction in cruise to the whole flight. A trajectory optimization software is used to compute the maximum airborne delay (or linear holding) that can be performed without extra fuel consumption if compared with the nominal flight. Three cases are studied: speed reduction only in cruise; speed reduction in the whole flight, but keeping the nominal cruise altitude; and speed reduction for the whole flight while also optimizing the cruise altitude to maximize delay. Three representative flights have been simulated, showing that the airborne delay increases significantly in the two last cases with nearly 3-fold time for short-haul flights and 2-fold for mid- hauls with the first case. Results also show that fuel and time are traded along different phases of flight in such a way the airborne delay is maximized while the total fuel burn is kept constant.Peer ReviewedAward-winningPostprint (published version

Cruise speed reduction for air traffic flow management

Avui dia un considerable nombre d’infraestructures del transport aeri tenen problemes de congestió. Aquesta situació es veu empitjorada amb l’increment de trànsit existent i amb la seva densitat deguda al sistema de hub i spoke utilitzat per les companyies aèries. Aquesta congestió es veu agreujada puntualment per disminucions de capacitat per causes com la meteorologia. Per mitigar aquests desequilibris, normalment són implementades mesures de gestió del flux de transit aeri (ATFM), sent el retard a l’aeroport d’origen una de les més utilitzades. Assignant retard previ a l’enlairament, el trànsit d’arribada és repartit durant un interval de temps superior i les arribades es distribueixen. Malgrat això, la predicció de quan aquestes reduccions de capacitat es solucionaran una tasca dificultosa. Això comporta que es defineixin regulacions que són més llargues del necessari i per tant, porta a la realització de retard innecessari i al desaprofitament de capacitat. La definició de trajectòries precises ofereix noves oportunitats per gestionar aquests desequilibris. Una tècnica prometedora és la utilització de variacions de velocitat durant el creuer. Generalment, es considera que volar més lent que la velocitat de màxim abast (MRC) no és eficient. En aquesta tesis es presenta una nova aproximació. Quan les aerolínies planifiquen els seus vols, consideren el cost del temps junt amb el del combustible. Per tant, és habitual seleccionar velocitats més ràpides que MRC. Així és possible volar més lent de la velocitat de MRC tot mantenint el mateix consum inicialment planificat. Aquest retard realitzat a l’aire pot ser considerat a la fase pre-tàctica per dividir el retard assignat a un vol en retard a terra i retard a l’aire durant el creuer. Amb aquesta estratègia, el retard és absorbit de manera gradual durant el vol fent servir el mateix combustible que inicialment planificat. Si la regulació es cancel•la abans del que estava planificat inicialment, els vols que estan a l’aire es troben en una situació més favorable per tal de recuperar part del retard. La present tesis es centra en l’estudi d’aquest concepte. En primer lloc, s’ha realitzat un estudi de la relació entre el combustible utilitzat i el temps de vol quan es modifica la velocitat nominal de creuer. A continuació, s’ha definit i analitzat el retard que pot ser realitzat sense incorre en un consum extra de combustible en l’absència i en la presencia de vent. També s’ha considerat i analitza la influència de triar un nivell de vol diferent del planificat inicialment i la utilització de combustible extra per tal d’obtenir major quantitat de retard. Els resultats mostren que per vols de curt i mitja distància, la quantitat de retard realitzable és d’entorn a 5 minuts, aquesta quantitat augmenta a uns 25 minuts per vols de llarg recorregut. El nivell de vol s’ha identificat com un dels paràmetres principals que afecten a la quantitat de retard que pot ser absorbit a l’aire. A continuació es presenta l’aplicació de la tècnica a regulacions d’ATFM realistes, i particularment a ground delay programs (GDP). Per tal de mostrar resultats que siguin significatius, els GDPs implementats en 2006 en el espai aeri nord-americà han sigut analitzats. Han sigut detalladament estudiats escenaris als aeroports de San Francisco, Newark i Chicago. Aquests tres aeroports van ser els que van declarar més GDPs durant el 2006 i per la seva situació geogràfica presenten trànsits amb diferents característiques. Per tal de considerar el trànsit s’ha utilitzat dades de la Federal Aviation Administration i característiques aerodinàmiques i de consum realistes provinents d’Airbus. Finalment, la tesis presenta l’efecte d’utilitzar radis d’exempció en els programes de regulació de trànsit i l’ ús de polítiques de priorització de vols diferents a la utilitzada actualment (ration-byschedule). Per concloure, s’ha realitzat una breu discussió sobre l’impacte d’aquesta estratègia en la gestió del trànsit aeri.Nowadays, many air transport infrastructures suffer from congestion. This situation is worsened by a continuous increase in traffic, and, traffic density due to hub and spoke systems. Weather is one of the main causes which leads to punctual capacity reduction. To mitigate these imbalances, air traffic flow management (ATFM) initiatives are usually undertaken, ground delay at the origin airport being one of the main ones used. By assigning delay on ground at the departure airport, the arrival traffic is spread out and the arrivals are metered at the congested infrastructure. However, forecasting when these capacity drops will be solved is usually a difficult task. This leads to unnecessarily long regulations, and therefore to the realisation of unnecessary delay and an underuse of the capacity of the infrastructures.The implementation of precise four dimension trajectories, envisaged in the near future, presents new opportunities for dealing with these capacity demand imbalances. In this context, a promising technique is the use of speed variation during the cruise. Generally, it is considered that flying slower than the maximum range speed (MRC) is neither efficient nor desirable. In this dissertation a new approach is presented. When airlines plan their flights, they consider the cost of time along with the cost of fuel. It is therefore common practice to select speeds that are faster than MRC.Thus, it is possible to fly slower than MRC while maintaining fuel consumption as initially planned. This airborne delay can be considered at a pre-tactical phase to divide the assigned air traffic flow management delay between ground and airborne delay. With this strategy, the delay is absorbed gradually during the flight using the same fuel as initially planned, but with the advantage that, if the regulation is cancelled before planned, the flights which are already airborne are in a better position to recover part of their assigned delay.This dissertation focuses on the study of this concept. Firstly, a study of the trade-off existing between fuel consumption and flight time, when modifying the nominal cruise speed, is presented. Secondly, the airborne delay that can be realised without incurring extra fuel consumption is defined and assessed in the absence and presence of wind. The influence of selecting a different flight level than initially planned, and the use of extra fuel consumption to obtain higher delay, are also considered and analysed. Results show that for short and mid-range flights around 5 minutes of airborne delay can be realised, while for longer flights this value increases up to around 25 minutes. The flight level is identified as one of the main parameters which affect the amount of airborne delay realisable.Then, the application of the suggested cruise speed reduction on realistic ATFM initiatives, and, in particular, on ground delay programs (GDP) in the United States, is presented. In order to obtain significant results, the GDPs implemented in North American airspace during 2006 are analysed. Scenarios for San Francisco International, Newark Liberty International and Chicago O'Hare International are studied in detail, as these airports were the ones where the most GDPs were implemented in 2006. In addition, due to their location, they present different traffic behaviours. In order to consider the traffic, Federal Aviation Administration data and the aerodynamics and fuel consumption characteristic form Airbus are used.Finally, the use of radius of exemption in the GPDs and the use of ration policies different from the operative ration-by-schedule, are also analysed. To conclude, a brief discussion about the impact of this speed reduction strategy on the air traffic management is presented.Hoy en día un número considerable de infraestructuras del transporte aéreo tienen problemas de congestión. Esta situación se ve empeorada por el incremento de tráfico existente y por su densidad producida por el sistema de hub y spoke utilizado por las compañías aéreas. Esta congestión se ve agravada puntualmente por disminuciones de capacidad debidas a causas como la meteorología. Para mitigar estos desequilibrios, normalmente se implementan medidas de gestión del tráfico aéreo (ATFM), siendo el retraso en el aeropuerto de origen una de las más utilizadas. Asignando retraso en tierra previo al despegue, el tráfico de llegada se distribuye durante un intervalo mayor de tiempo y se controlan las llegadas. Pese a esto, la predicción de cuando estas reducciones de capacidad se solventarán es generalmente una tarea compleja. Por esto, se suelen definir regulaciones durante un periodo de tiempo superior al necesario, comportando la asignación y realización de retraso innecesario y el desaprovechamiento de las infraestructuras. La definición de trayectorias precisas permite nuevas oportunidades para gestionar estos desequilibrios. Una técnica prometedora es el uso de variaciones de velocidad durante el crucero. Suele considerarse que volar más lento que la velocidad de máximo alcance (MRC) no es eficiente. En esta tesis se presenta una nueva aproximación. Cuando las aerolíneas planifican sus vuelos consideran el coste del tiempo junto con el del combustible. Por consiguiente, es una práctica habitual seleccionar velocidades mas rápidas que MRC. Así es posible volar mas lento que la velocidad de MRC manteniendo el mismo consumo que el inicialmente planificado. Este retraso realizable en el aire puede ser considerado en la fase pre-táctica para dividir el retraso asignado entre retraso en tierra y retraso durante el crucero. Con esta estrategia, el retraso es absorbido de manera gradual durante todo el vuelo utilizando el mismo combustible que el planificado inicialmente por la compañía. Esta estrategia presenta la ventaja de que los vuelos que están en el aire se encuentran en una situación mas favorable para recuperar parte del retraso que tenían asignado si la regulación se cancela. En primer lugar se ha realizado un estudio de la relación existente entre el combustible usado y el tiempo de vuelo cuando la velocidad de crucero es modificada. A continuación, se ha definido y analizado el retraso que se puede realizar sin repercutir en el consumo en la ausencia y en la presencia de viento. También se ha considerado la influencia de elegir un nivel de vuelo diferente al planificado y el uso de combustible extra para incrementar el retraso. Los resultados muestran que para vuelos de corto y medio alcance, la cantidad de retraso es de en torno a 5 minutos, esta cantidad aumenta a unos 25 minutos para vuelos de largo recorrido. El nivel de vuelo se ha identificado como uno de los parámetros principales que afectan a la cantidad de retraso que puede ser absorbido. Seguidamente se presenta la aplicación de esta técnica en regulaciones de ATFM realistas, y en particular de ground delay programs (GDP). Con el objetivo de mostrar resultados significativos, los GDPs definidos en 2006 en el espacio aéreo norteamericano han sido analizados. Han sido estudiados en detalle escenarios en los aeropuertos de San Francico, Newark y Chicago. Estos tres aeropuertos fueron los aeropuertos que implementaron m´as GDPs en 2006 y por su situación geográfica presentan tráficos con diferentes características. Para considerar el tráfico se han utilizado datos de la Federal Aviation Administration y características aerodinámicas y de consumo provenientes de Airbus. Finalmente, se presenta el efecto de usar radios de exención en los GDPs y el uso de políticas de priorización de vuelos diferentes a la utilizada actualmente (ration-by-schedule). Para concluir se ha realizado una breve discusión sobre el impacto de esta estrategia en la gestión del tráfico aéreo

COMPUTATIONALLY TRACTABLE STOCHASTIC INTEGER PROGRAMMING MODELS FOR AIR TRAFFIC FLOW MANAGEMENT

A primary objective of Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) is to ensure the orderly flow of aircraft through airspace, while minimizing the impact of delays and congestion on airspace users. A fundamental challenge of ATFM is the vulnerability of the airspace to changes in weather, which can lower the capacities of different regions of airspace. Considering this uncertainty along with the size of the airspace system, we arrive at a very complex problem. The development of efficient algorithms to solve ATFM problems is an important and active area of research. Responding to predictions of bad weather requires the solution of resource allocation problems that assign a combination of ground delay and route adjustments to many flights. Since there is much uncertainty associated with weather predictions, stochastic models are necessary. We address some of these problems using integer programming (IP). In general, IP models can be difficult to solve. However, if "strong" IP formulations can be found, then problems can be solved quickly by state of the art IP solvers. We start by describing a multi-period stochastic integer program for the single airport stochastic dynamic ground holding problem. We then show that the linear programming relaxation yields integer optimal solutions. This is a fairly unusual property for IP formulations that can significantly reduce the complexity of the corresponding problems. The proof is achieved by defining a new class of matrices with the Monge property and showing that the formulation presented belongs to this class. To further improve computation times, we develop alternative compact formulations. These formulations are extended to show that they can also be used to model different concepts of equity and fairness as well as efficiency. We explore simple rationing methods and other heuristics for these problems both to provide fast solution times, but also because these methods can embody inherent notions of fairness. The initial models address problems that seek to restrict flow into a single airport. These are extended to problems where stochastic weather affects en route traffic. Strong formulations and efficient solutions are obtained for these problems as well

Space-based tests of gravity with laser ranging

Existing capabilities in laser ranging, optical interferometry and metrology, in combination with precision frequency standards, atom-based quantum sensors, and drag-free technologies, are critical for the space-based tests of fundamental physics; as a result, of the recent progress in these disciplines, the entire area is poised for major advances. Thus, accurate ranging to the Moon and Mars will provide significant improvements in several gravity tests, namely the equivalence principle, geodetic precession, PPN parameters $\beta$ and $\gamma$, and possible variation of the gravitational constant $G$. Other tests will become possible with development of an optical architecture that would allow proceeding from meter to centimeter to millimeter range accuracies on interplanetary distances. Motivated by anticipated accuracy gains, we discuss the recent renaissance in lunar laser ranging and consider future relativistic gravity experiments with precision laser ranging over interplanetary distances.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. To appear in the proceedings of the International Workshop "From Quantum to Cosmos: Fundamental Physics Research in Space", 21-24 May 2006, Warrenton, Virginia, USA http://physics.jpl.nasa.gov/quantum-to-cosmos

MODELS AND SOLUTION ALGORITHMS FOR EQUITABLE RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN AIR TRAFFIC FLOW MANAGEMENT

Population growth and economic development lead to increasing demand for travel and pose mobility challenges on capacity-limited air traffic networks. The U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) has been operated near the capacity, and air traffic congestion is expected to remain as a top concern for the related system operators, passengers and airlines. This dissertation develops a number of model reformulations and efficient solution algorithms to address resource allocation problems in air traffic flow management, while explicitly accounting for equitable objectives in order to encourage further collaborations by different stakeholders. This dissertation first develops a bi-criteria optimization model to offload excess demand from different competing airlines in the congested airspace when the predicted traffic demand is higher than available capacity. Computationally efficient network flow models with side constraints are developed and extensively tested using datasets obtained from the Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS) database (now known as the Traffic Flow Management System). Representative Pareto-optimal tradeoff frontiers are consequently generated to allow decision-makers to identify best-compromising solutions based on relative weights and systematical considerations of both efficiency and equity. This dissertation further models and solves an integrated flight re-routing problem on an airspace network. Given a network of airspace sectors with a set of waypoint entries and a set of flights belonging to different air carriers, the optimization model aims to minimize the total flight travel time subject to a set of flight routing equity, operational and safety requirements. A time-dependent network flow programming formulation is proposed with stochastic sector capacities and rerouting equity for each air carrier as side constraints. A Lagrangian relaxation based method is used to dualize these constraints and decompose the original complex problem into a sequence of single flight rerouting/scheduling problems. Finally, within a multi-objective utility maximization framework, the dissertation proposes several practically useful heuristic algorithms for the long-term airport slot assignment problem. Alternative models are constructed to decompose the complex model into a series of hourly assignment sub-problems. A new paired assignment heuristic algorithm is developed to adapt the round robin scheduling principle for improving fairness measures across different airlines. Computational results are presented to show the strength of each proposed modeling approach

Enhanced Demand and Capacity Balancing based on Alternative Trajectory Options and Traffic Volume Hotspot Detection

Nowadays, regulations in Europe are applied at traffic volume (TV) level consisting in a reference location, i.e. a sector or an airport, and in some traffic flows, which act as directional traffic filters. This paper presents an enhanced demand and capacity balance (EDCB) formulation based on constrained capacities at traffic volume level. In addition, this approach considers alternative trajectories in order to capture the user driven preferences under the trajectory based operations scope. In fact, these alternative trajectories are assumed to be generated by the airspace users for those flights that cross regulated traffic volumes, where the demand is above the capacity. For every regulated trajectory the network manager requests two additional alternative trajectories to the airspace users, one for avoiding the regulated traffic volumes laterally and another for avoiding it vertically. This paper considers that the network manager allows more flexibility for the new alternative trajectories by removing restrictions in the Route Availability Document (RAD). All the regulated trajectories (and their alternatives) are considered together by the EDCB model in order to perform a centralised optimisation minimising the the cost deviation with respect to the initial traffic situation, considering fuel consumption, route charges and cost of delay. The EDCB model, based on Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP), manages to balance the network applying ground delay, using alternative trajectories or both. A full day scenario over the ECAC area is simulated. The regulated traffic volumes are identified using historical data (based on 28th July of 2016) and the results show that the EDCB could reduce the minutes of delay by 70%. The cost of the regulations is reduced by 11.7%, due to the reduction of the delay, but also because of the savings in terms of fuel and route charges derived from alternative trajectories