Coupling and Complexity of Interaction of STCA Networks

This paper provides an overview on the results of an ENAV feasibility study, where we exploited an automatic safety data gathering tool to analyze the ATM system performances. In particular, it addresses the use of the EUROCONTROL tool, ASMT (Automatic Safety Monitoring Tool), as a support to monitor STCA performance. The contribution of this study is to explore how analysis methods derived from complex systems theory (i.e. network analysis) can assist in the understanding, monitoring and management of the performance of ATM systems. Our data show that a large number of STCAs do not occur in isolation, but rather that in roughly half of the cases the aircraft involved in an STCA are subsequently involved in other STCAs with other aircraft in a sort of chain (or cascade) process. In the concluding section, we reflect on open issues and areas of future research that would need to be addressed for an optimal use of Automatic Safety Data Gathering tools.