Synthetic Vision Displays for in-Flight and Surface Navigation with Integrated Notam Information

Abstract

A synthetic vision display provides the pilot with data regarding terrain, obstacles and traffic. At present, information from NOtices To AirMen (NOTAMs) is available from printouts obtained before the flight, but is not integrated into the synthetic vision display. A study consisting of two experiments was conducted to examine the effect and desirability of integrating electronic NOTAMs in synthetic vision displays. One experiment was concerned with in-flight navigation, the other with navigation on the airport surface. By combining quantitative and qualitative measures, it was established that by integrating NOTAMs in the displays pilots' situation awareness and performance improved, whereas mental workload decreased. Pilots rated the desirability of the integration of NOTAMs very highly.