Airspace Capacity Estimation Based on Theoretical Models

Abstract

The safety of air traffic is based on the safety of technological systems used as well as the adequacy and applicability of regulations, but it also depends strongly on the appropriate behaviour (expertise, qualification, situational ability to act etc.) of human experts involved in the management and operation of air traffic. The role of human factors, the modelling of human error and the exploration of methods to eliminate it are important areas of research. In this paper we present two methods to estimate airspace capacity based on optimal workload in Air Traffic Control (ATC). The first one is based on neural networks, while the other uses a geometric approach. The presented methods are adaptations of already existing methods and our aim is applying them to the airspace of Hungary. We describe the way of defining the optimal set of parameters and its validation and analyse the possibility of general application.