The Architecture Design and Validation of the Air Traffic Operations and Management Simulator ( ATOMS )

Rapid advances in air traffic management (ATM) worldwide pose several challenges and opportunities to the Australian air traffic system. Due to the uniqueness of the Australian air traffic operation and airspace design, such changes can engender significant safety and economic benefits. However, these advanced ATM concepts need to be modeled and evaluated in the Australian context prior to field testing. High fidelity air traffic simulators which can model advanced ATM concepts are currently the prerogative of a few research organizations (FAA, NASA, and EUROCONTROL) and research data is limited to their specific needs. This paper describes the design, architecture, functionality and applications of a high fidelity air traffic simulation system developed at the Artificial Life & Adaptive Robotics Laboratory (ALAR) at the University of New South Wales, ADFA campus in Canberra. The objective of the Air Traffic Operations and Management Simulator (ATOMS) is to provide a high fidelity simulation and experimentation environment for new ATM concepts. The simulation system can model both present day centralized air traffic operations as well as future Free Flight. We have used client-server architecture for modular design and easy integration of various air traffic sub systems. The simulation system contains the run-time simulation engine together with ATC and Pilot’s interfaces, airspace databases and advanced ATM concepts.