SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL AEROSPACE REPORTS

A Biweekly Publication of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
VOLUME 44, ISSUE 6 - MARCH 24, 2006

03 AIR TRANSPORTATION AND SAFETY
Includes passenger and cargo air transport operations; airport ground operations; flight safety and hazards; and aircraft accidents. Systems and hardware specific to ground operations of aircraft and to airport construction are covered in 09 Research and Support Facilities (Air). Air traffic control is covered in 04 Aircraft Communications and Navigation. For related information see also 16 Space Transportation and Safety and 85 Technology Utilization and Surface Transportation.

20060007899 Transportation Security Administration, Washington, DC, USA

Training of Perceptual Processes in X-Ray Security Screening: Long-Term Research Report

Rubinstein, J.; Oct. 2003; 36 pp.; In English Report No.(s): PB2006-101637; DHS/TSA/TSL-06/10; No Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A03, Hardcopy

This report includes a review of the results of experiments conducted by researchers at the University of Central Florida under a TSA research grant. This research supports the Transportation Security Laboratory's Human Factors Long-Term Research program. The purpose of this research is to develop a theoretical understanding of the cognitive processes involved in the various security tasks. The research described in this report is most relevant to the X-ray screener search task. The first experiment examined the validity of training stimuli devised from X-ray images generated at theWilliam J. Hughes Technical Center. A majority of these stimuli were modified using Adobe Photoshop post-processing techniques to devise test images consisting of overlapping and non-overlapping targets and distracters. The results showed significant differences across the test item categories which validated the stimuli as created by the UCF researchers. The second and third experiments examined the impact of clutter and target-distracter similarity in the training environment. Results indicated incremental improvements in detection accuracy when training manipulations are varied. Specifically, it appears that training and exposure to stimuli improves trainees' ability to correctly clear bags that do not contain threats or suspicious items. A group of trainees that was trained for only 20 minutes with difficult distracters in cluttered bags did not reduce their false-positive rate by almost 50 percent, when compared to untrained study participants. In addition, the groups trained with distracters that were highly similar to the targets produced the greatest performance improvements. These results, as well as this area of research, have important implications for the improvement of X-ray screener training. NTIS

Education; Personnel; Security; X Rays

20060008656 Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC USA

Potential Cost Savings Ideas for FAA and Users

Jun. 04, 1997; 28 pp.; In English Report No.(s): PB2006-102275; No Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A03, Hardcopy

The intent of this paper is to catalogue potential cost-savings ideas which impact both the FAA and the aviation community. These ideas have come from various sources including MITRE, Coopers & Lybrand (C&L), FAAstudies, General Accounting Office (GAO), user groups, and the insights of individual staff members. Some of these ideas are currently being implemented by the FAA to various degrees but might be expedited if certain implementation problems can be overcome, including additional capital investment funds. Savings are separated into two categories: those impacting the FAAs operating and maintenance costs, and those cost-saving ideas that reduce the operating costs of airlines and other users. Our approach is to lay out the cost-savings ideas and associated issues, describe the impacts on FAA and the aviation community, state the time frame in which savings might be achieved (near term being up to 2002, mid term being 2003 to 2007 and far term being 2008 and beyond), describe up-front investments required, and show projected savings (either annually or the total through 2002). NTIS

Cost Reduction; Catalogs (Publications); Civil Aviation; Airline Operations

20060008673 Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC, USA

FAA Aerospace Forecasts: Fiscal Years 2006-2017

January 2004; 98 pp.; In English Report No.(s): PB2006-106910; No Copyright; Avail.: National Technical Information Service (NTIS)

The 2006 forecast for commercial aviation anticipates small gains, but in the longer run, the industry is expected to grow significantly. System capacity - the overall yardstick for how busy aviation is both domestically and internationally - will increase just 0.9 percent this year, as legacy carriers cut back on flights. Capacity in international markets will rise 5.9 percent. Domestically, capacity is expected to shrink 0.7 percent, triggered by cutbacks made by legacy carriers in their fleets. This creates a ripple in regional carrier capacity, which get feed from the legacy carriers. Regional carrier capacity had grown by as much as 20 percent per year since 2003. This year, the growth will be about 4.5 percent. Likewise, revenue passenger miles will increase just 0.2 percent. Enplanements will shrink 0.2 percent. The size of domestic aircraft will decline this year by 1.4 seats. Legacy carriers continue to replace their wide-body and larger aircraft with smaller, narrow-body planes. Additionally, demand for 70-90 seat aircraft will continue to increase, which furthers the decline in the overall number of seats per aircraft. Conversely, passenger trip length will increase this year by almost 3 miles. General aviation is expected to receive a boost from relatively inexpensive twin-engine microjets, which may redefine on-demand air taxi service. Next year, 100 microjets will join the fleet, growing to 400-500 per year through 2017. The number of general aviation hours flown will also increase by 3.2 percent per year through 2017. The FAA continues to be optimistic about the future. Since 2000, the industry has been battered with 9/11, the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and record high fuel prices. An important yardstick, though, remains the number of passengers that traveled. Last year, that number was a record 739 million, up from 690 million the previous year. U.S. commercial aviation remains on track to carry one billion passengers by 2015. In addition, international traffic is growing almost 2 percent faster than domestic traffic. The remaining formidable hurdle for the commercial aviation industry as a whole will be the price of oil. In the long run, inexpensive tickets, a strong national economy, and increasing demand for seats aboard aircraft should bode well for the industry and consumers. NTIS

Aerospace Systems; Economic Analysis; Forecasting

20060008943 NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA

Progress in Development of an Airborne Turbulence Detection System

Hamilton, David W.; Proctor, Fred H.; [2006]; 9 pp.; In English; 12th Conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology, 29 Jan. - 2 Feb. 2006, Atlanta, GA, USA; Original contains color and black and white illustrations Contract(s)/Grant(s): WBS 866-02-07.07 Report No.(s): Paper-6.5; No Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A02, Hardcopy

Aircraft encounters with turbulence are the leading cause of in-flight injuries (Tyrvanas 2003) and have occasionally resulted in passenger and crew fatalities. Most of these injuries are caused by sudden and unexpected encounters with severe turbulence in and around convective activity (Kaplan et al 2005). To alleviate this problem, the Turbulence Prediction and Warning Systems (TPAWS) element of NASA s Aviation Safety program has investigated technologies to detect and warn of hazardous in-flight turbulence. This effort has required the numerical modeling of atmospheric convection: 1) for characterizing convectively induced turbulence (CIT) environments, 2) for defining turbulence hazard metrics, and 3) as a means of providing realistic three-dimensional data sets that can be used to test and evaluate turbulence detection sensors. The data sets are being made available to industry and the FAA for certification of future airborne turbulence-detection systems (ATDS) with warning capability. Early in the TPAWS project, a radar-based ATDS was installed and flight tested on NASA s research aircraft, a B-757. This ATDS utilized new algorithms and hazard metrics that were developed for use with existing airborne predictive windshear radars, thus avoiding the installation of new hardware. This system was designed to detect and warn of hazardous CIT even in regions with weak radar reflectivity (i.e. 5-15 dBz). Results from an initial flight test of the ATDS were discussed in Hamilton and Proctor (2002a; 2002b). In companion papers (Proctor et al 2002a; 2002b), a numerical simulation of the most significant encounter from that flight test was presented. Since the presentation of these papers a second flight test has been conducted providing additional cases for examination. In this paper, we will present results from NASA s flight test and a numerical model simulation of a turbulence environment encountered on 30 April 2002. Progress leading towards FAA certification of industry built ATDS will also be discussed. Derived from text

Turbulence; Warning Systems; Prediction Analysis Techniques; Flight Safety; Airborne Radar; Aircraft Safety; Aerial Reconnaissance; Detection

Source: NASA