A study of SPACR ghost dynamics applied to RNAV routes in the terminal area

A particular suite of tools for automation support for aircraft controllers is called spacing of performance-based arrivals on converging routes (SPACR) where there is a controller decision aide called converging route display aid (CRDA). In the past, certain extensions to CRDA have been investigated. Many of these extensions have resulted in unstable or undesirable dynamics of the "ghost" targets such as jumping and hesitation. This paper defines alternative functional extensions to target aircraft detection and ghost projection that is useful for area navigation (RNAV) routes and provide the results of analyses performed to determine the effectiveness of such extensions. In particular we show that if the aircraft conform closely to the RNAV route the "ghost" targets behave in a manner that should be acceptable to controllers, based upon past controller feedback. We also show under what conditions the dynamics of the "ghost" targets behave badly.