Modeling of air traffic arrival operations through agent-based simulation

This paper reports on the development and validation of an agent based simulation model of air traffic control arrival operations. The simulation model includes modeling of both the structure and procedures of air traffic operations. It is thus suitable for evaluating the impacts of shifts in those structures and procedures. Three key operational metrics are introduced which are sensitive to the internal workings of air traffic arrival operations. The simulation model is validated by demonstrating agreement in those key metrics between the simulation and a set of baseline arrival operations radar data. After the simulation model has been shown to reproduce actual operations, select details of the simulation can be altered to incorporate proposed operational changes. The impact of the changes on the computer simulation will offer a prediction of how the operational changes will affect actual operations.