Integrated Airport Capacity Model

Decision support for ATFM planning processes

The Integrated Airport Capacity Model (IACM) provides probabilistic decision support for Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) planning processes. IACM computes and displays probabilistic airport capacity forecasts that take weather constraints into account. This is achieved by integrating various types of weather data (i.e. ceiling, visibility, wind and convective activity), translation models converting deterministic weather data into probabilistic distributions and weather-to-capacity translation models.

Analysis shows that more accurate Airport Acceptance Rates (AAR), produced by IACM, can substantially reduce airborne delay, ground holding and wasted capacity for the Ground Delay Programs (GDP). IACM can also provide a number of less quantifiable, but still relevant, benefits, specifically, an improved and readily accessible source of shared information on the estimated capacities of airports. IACM includes important uncertainty information associated with these capacity estimates, which are crucial for decision makers. With these properties, IACM will enable improved decision making, more timely access to AAR data and a more consistent view of the National Airspace System (NAS) status.