A Computerized Analysis of ATC Tracking Data for an Operational Evaluation of CDTI/ADS-B Technology

In 1999, the Cargo Airlines Association and the Federal Aviation Administration conducted an operational evaluation of Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) and Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast technologies at the Airborne Express Airpark in Wilmington, Ohio. Thirteen aircraft of various types flew multiple flight patterns during the morning and the afternoon of a single day and were assigned to either a CDTI or baseline (no CDTI) condition. New computerized analysis techniques were developed to examine routinely recorded air traffic control flight data. This paper describes those techniques in detail, as well as the results of the analysis. Methods such as those described here will be increasingly important as new technologies are developed and evaluated operationally.