(Aug 23, 2006)

The 3-D Cockpit Situational Display (CSD) with the automated flight conflict look ahead probe capability was featured in Avionic Magazine article "See and Avoid in IMC" by Victor Riley. Published in the July 2006 edition, the CSD, coupled with other NASA technologies mentioned in the article, would increase capacity for shifting responsibility for flight conflict management from a single air traffic controller to multiple pilots, assisted by the automation technologies. Using the CSD, pilots can look ahead 20 minutes into the future and visualize in 3-D flight path conflicts with the automated conflict probe. The pilot is able to graphically modify these visualizations and assess the impact of the proposed changes.  Studies conducted at NASA Ames have demonstrated that pilots using the CSD can detect and resolve conflicts more accurately than without such assistance. It was also found that without the CSD, pilots who believed that they had successfully resolved a conflict were not aware that the proposed change had actually created another conflict. The CSD includes terrain and weather visualization capabilities.