Abstract

Over the past 40 years, the application of automation to the U.S. air traffic control (ATC) system has grown enormously to meet significant increases in air traffic volume. The next ten years will witness a dramatic overhaul of computer hardware and software in enroute and terminal facilities to accommodate future growth in air traffic activities. From a human factors perspective, notable changes are the new controller workstations or sector-suites which will provide such new features as adjustable consoles, graphic situation displays, and electronic flight strips. This modernization will provide the basis for introducing automated functions that will transition the controller from tactical control to strategic traffic management. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recognizes the importance of an effective human-system interface to successful operations (Kloster and Zellweger, 1987). Because various phases of test and evaluation are just around the corner for these new system upgrades, questions arise concerning what aspects of the human-system component must be addressed to verify system safety and efficiency. Such questions are not trivial. They strike at the heart of the "omnipresent criterion problem " (Christensen, 1958), that is, the difficulty of defining criterion measures for verifying and validating complex systems. This paper first discusses the criterion problem, focusing on the unique constraints within ATC. The central argument is that before criteria and measures can be specified, humancentered issues associated with ATC technology upgrades must be carefully determined. An approach is discussed for disclosing such issues drawing on techniques and philosophies from traditional human factors engineering, cognitive systems engineering, and ethnography. The approach is illustrated for the Center Terminal Automation System (CTAS), a set of automation tools, currently under development and evaluation by NASA-Ames in partnership with the FAA. CTAS will assist air traffic personnel in managing arrival traffic flow in the center and terminal environments.

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