Relative Position Indicator for merging mixed RNAV and vectored arrival traffic

The adoption of arrival Area Navigation (RNAV) procedures has been slow partly due to the challenge to controllers of merging RNAV and traditionally vectored arrivals to the same runway without either providing additional spacing or vectoring the arrivals off the RNAV procedure, reducing the benefits of the RNAV procedure. This paper studies two Relative Position Indicator (RPI) concepts, one distance-based and the other trajectory-based, for managing mixed RNAV and vectored arrival traffic, as an way to enable increased adoption of RNAV arrival procedures. The paper presents an analysis of the efficiency of the RPI concepts under a variety of traffic and airspace geometry situations, measured in terms of the percentage of flights that would require vectoring to maintain separation at points where arrival routes merge.