Compact Configuration of Aircraft Flows at Intersections

This paper proposes a compact configuration of aircraft flows at intersections. The goal is to achieve a higher capacity of the airspace, allowing more aircraft to safely fly through a fixed region. Intersections of aircraft flows can be considered as basic building blocks for air traffic networks, and traffic networks can be designed through finding optimal arrangements of intersections whose conflict zones do not overlap. A conflict zone is defined as a minimal circular area centered at the intersection of two flows, which allows aircraft approaching the intersections to resolve conflict completely within the conflict zone. This paper derives the relationship between the size of a conflict zone and the intersection angle of the two flows. Such a relationship guides the choice of the most compact configuration for intersecting aircraft flows. An example involving multiple converging flows of aircraft demonstrates the efficiency of the proposed configuration of intersections. The result of conflict resolution shows a greatly reduced traffic complexity. Therefore, our study provides a potential solution to increase airspace capacity.