NASA/CR-2001-210845 The Effect of Ownship Information and NexRad Resolution on Pilot Decision Making in the Use of a Cockpit Weather Information Display Paul F. Novacek, Malcolm A. Burgess, Michael L. Heck, and Alan F. Stokes RTI International, Hampton, Virginia December 2001 The NASA STI Program Office ... in Profile Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. Collected the advancement of aeronautics and space science. The NASA Scientific and Technical papers from scientific and technical conferences, symposia, seminars, or other Information (STI) Program Office plays a key meetings sponsored or co sponsored by part in helping NASA maintain this important NASA. role. SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, The NASA STI Program Office is operated by technical, or historical information from Langley Research Center, the lead center for NASA's scientific and technical information. 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Scientific and NASA Center for AeroSpace Information technical findings by NASA sponsored 7121 Standard Drive contractors and grantees. Hanover, MD 21076 1320 NASA/CR-2001-210845 The Effect of Ownship Information and NexRad Resolution on Pilot Decision Making in the Use of a Cockpit Weather Information Display Paul F. Novacek, Malcolm A. Burgess, Michael L. Heck, and Alan F. Stokes RTI International, Hampton, Virginia National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center Prepared for Langley Research Center Hampton, Virginia 23681 2199 under Contract NAS1 99074 December 2001 Acknowledgment The authors wish to acknowledge the help of several colleagues whose contributions were key to the successful completion of this experiment. Mr. James Henion from RTI International prepared specialized software required for this simulation and operated the simulation. Mr. James Murray, Air Traffic Control consultant, developed and executed the ATC scripts used during the simulation runs. Dr. Raymon McAdaragh of the Federal Aviation Administration obtained and organized the weather documentation used by the subject pilots in the experiment. Dr. Holly Travers, of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, performed the statistical analyses of the data obtained in the experiment. Mr. Alex Viale, Masters Student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, assisted in the extensive literature search. We would like to thank Mr. Brian Haynes of Honeywell for cooperation in the modification and use of a prototype Flight Information Services Data Link display system in the simulation. We would especially like to acknowledge the contributions of the pilots. They all volunteered their time and traveling expenses. Some traveled to Hampton, Virginia from as far away as Connecticut. These individuals were magnificent in the generosity of their time, patience and piloting skills. Available from: NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI) National Technical Information Service (NTIS) 7121 Standard Drive 5285 Port Royal Road Hanover, MD 21076-1320 Springfield, VA 22161-2171 (301) 621-0390 (703) 605-6000 Table of Contents Executive Summary ......................................................................................... vii 1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Potential Issues with Datalinked Weather Displays ................................... 2 1.2 Survey of Relevant Literature .................................................................... 3 2 Participants .................................................................................................. 5 2.1 FAA Data Link Office ................................................................................. 5 2.2 NASAAWIN Project ................................................................................... 5 2.3 RTI International ........................................................................................ 5 3 Methodology ................................................................................................ 7 3.1 Experiment Design .................................................................................... 7 3.2 Pilot Selection Process .............................................................................. 9 3.3 Experimental Apparatus ........................................................................... 10 3.3.1 Pre-Flight Planning Tools ................................................................. 10 3.3.2 Flight Simulation Facility ................................................................... 10 3.3.3 Cockpit Weather Information Display ................................................ 13 4 Procedure ................................................................................................... 17 4.1 Key Phases of Experiment Procedure ..................................................... 17 4.1.1 Experiment Briefing .......................................................................... 17 4.1.2 Simulator Familiarization .................................................................. 17 4.1.3 Pre-Flight Planning ........................................................................... 17 4.1.4 Simulator Mission ............................................................................. 18 4.1.5 Post-mission De-briefing ................................................................... 19 4.2 Flight Procedures ..................................................................................... 19 4.2.1 Mission Scenario .............................................................................. 19 4.2.2 First Leg of Flight- Newport News to Richmond .............................. 21 4.2.3 Second Leg of Flight- Richmond to Wallops Island ......................... 23 5 Results ....................................................................................................... 25 5.1 Subject Pilots ........................................................................................... 25 5.2 Richmond and Wallops Island Decisions ................................................. 26 5.2.1 The Richmond Decision .................................................................... 26 5.2.2 The Wallops Island Decision ............................................................ 28 5.3 Results of Immediate Reaction Questionnaire ......................................... 31 5.4 Post-flight Weather Display Questionnaire .............................................. 35 6 Quantitative and Qualitative Assessments ............................................. 41 6.1 Subject Group Comparisons .................................................................... 41 6.2 Quantitative Assessments ....................................................................... 41 6.2.1 Effect of Ownship Position on Pilots' Decisions ................................ 42 6.2.2 Effect of NEXRAD Image Cell Size on Pilot Decisions ..................... 44 6.2.3 Rationale for Pilots' Decisions .......................................................... 47 6.2.4 Combination of Decisions from Previous and Current Experiments. 48 6.2.5 Risk Aversion, Weather Knowledge and Experience Analysis ......... 50 6.2.5.1 RichmondHierarchicalRegressionAnalysis ................................50 6.2.5.2 Wallops Island HierarchicalRegressionAnalysis.........................51 6.2.5.3 CombinedHierarchicalRegressionAnalysis................................52 6.3 QualitativeAssessments........................................................................52 6.3.1 Workload Issues..............................................................................53 6.3.1.1 Overall MissionWorkload............................................................53