Design of an ATC Tool for Conflict Detection Based on Machine Learning Techniques

Given the ongoing interest in the application of Machine Learning (ML) techniques, the development of new Air Traffic Control (ATC) tools is paramount for the improvement of the management of the air transport system. This article develops an ATC tool based on ML techniques for conflict detection. The methodology develops a data-driven approach that predicts separation infringements between aircraft within airspace. The methodology exploits two different ML algorithms: classification and regression. Classification algorithms denote aircraft pairs as a Situation of Interest (SI), i.e., when two aircraft are predicted to cross with a separation lower than 10 Nautical Miles (NM) and 1000 feet. Regression algorithms predict the minimum separation expected between an aircraft pair. This data-driven approach extracts ADS-B trajectories from the OpenSky Network. In addition, the historical ADS-B trajectories work as 4D trajectory predictions to be used as inputs for the database. Conflict and SI are simulated by performing temporary modifications to ensure that the aircraft pierces into the airspace in the same time period. The methodology is applied to Switzerland's airspace. The results show that the ML algorithms could perform conflict prediction with high-accuracy metrics: 99% for SI classification and 1.5 NM for RMSE.