The Challenges of Air Traffic Control Graphics for the Advanced Automatic System

In 1981 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) developed a comprehensive plan to improve air traffic control and airway navigation facilities and services. The centerpiece and most complex element of this plan is the Advanced Automation System (AAS).

The National Ocean Service will supply thousands of crucial digital aeronautical charts to support the AAS. Each month several gigabytes of data must be captured, manipulated, and formatted for delivery to the FAA. However, the cartographic generalization of data will present the greatest challenge. The creation and delivery of such vast numbers of high quality charts in digital form on the rigid schedule required by the FAA is an unprecedented task.