SOW_7_17_2024.pdf

Background

The Investment Planning and Analysis (IP&A) Organization (AFI-1) provides a broad range of services that support major acquisition decisions. IP&A consists of a multi-dimensional staff of approximately 50 operations research analysts, financial analysts and economists; these analysts are both Federal government employees and contractors. Working with program offices, systems engineering organizations and operational units viable business cases are developed for investments required to maintain the current infrastructure and move FAA into the NextGen era.

One of the core functions within these business cases is analyzing aircraft operations. To accomplish this task, AFI-300 requires a tool suite of operational air traffic modeling and simulation tools.

Description of Services/Supplies

Task 1

The Operations Research group requires a general-purpose trajectory and target simulator that provides a realistic analytical tool for evaluating the operational impacts of ATC/ATM systems.

The primary output generated by this tool should be flight trajectory tracks. The tool should allow the user to set model parameters that control the statistical distribution functions from which the population of track segments is drawn. These variables are segment speed, segment length, Gaussian transverse deviation, segment altitude, start and end location of the trajectory, number of segments in a trajectory and start time. The tool should be properly documented, including installation requirements/instructions and a user manual.

The tool should provide the following required (prime) capabilities:

• Predict potential aircraft-to-aircraft conflicts based on any kind of flight trajectory and/or aircraft-to-airspace conflicts (i.e. Special Use Airspace).

• Model a “fast-time/real-time” situation display process based on historical data that shows flight progress against a map containing user-controlled geographic information, including airspace structures.

• Adjust and optimize flight trajectories. Produce flight trajectory data for theoretical

“what-if” scenarios.

• Develop post-mortem analysis application that can be used to assess events that occur within a flight.

• Develop multiple measures that allow analysts to evaluate the actual trajectory-based flight tracks of user-specified city pairs.

• Post processing capability that adjusts the raw trajectories by eliminating incomplete and bad trajectories, redundant points, and spikes. The post processor should be able to calculate points to/from airport’s runway thresholds.

• Provide the ability to view overlaid trajectories from multiple days during a given time-of-day within the same screen view.

• Ability to easily gather aggregate flight trajectory data for multiple days and ingest such data into commercially available statistical analysis tools.

• Visibility into the underlying assumptions, formulas, and algorithms used within the model and simulations with the additional ability to make changes without having to rely exclusively on the software vendor.

In addition, the tool should provide as many as possible of the following secondary capabilities:

• Ability to change tracks and see potential conflicts.

• Ability to build/adapt routes, e.g. move FIX 4 nm to the South and view impact on metrics for aircraft flying the same FIX transitioning to DFW.

• Ability to see actual flight tracks and related information for any specified period of time and location.

• The trajectory data must include, time and distance, which can be adjusted and segmented, e.g. retrieve the actual time and distance flown in a TRACON (approximately

40-mile circle) for both landing and takeoff.

• Ability to color code/filter tracks by altitude or groups of altitudes.

• Ability to see distance between successive aircraft crossing a fix.

• Include itinerant tracks e.g. departures, overflights going to different airports with ability to see effect of arrivals on airport of interest.

• Ability to selectively grab a set of tracks for analysis.

• Ability to create separate experiments (i.e. scenarios with given initialization parameters);

save those experiments; and re-run them later.

• Ability to export to KMZ and KML file extensions for Google Earth or other GIS software.

• Capability to export track information or analysis results into Excel (or CSV format) for every radar hit e.g. time, speed, altitude, latitude/longitude.

• Ability to import local adaptation/airspace which constrains the trajectory in terminal airspace.

• Provide wind field info (winds aloft at various flight levels or millibar levels, grid points and forecast time points) i.e. Import/specify winds aloft at specific altitudes.

• Provide aviation flight trajectory data that will be ingestible by the tool. Prefer 5 years of historical data.

• Capability to preprocess FAA trajectory data into appropriate format for import into the tool. Import capability must include domestic and oceanic trajectory data.

Task 2

As requested, provide up to two training classes for up to 10 individuals each on the use of the model. Training classes should be local to the Washington, D.C. metro area, with online access for trainees unable to attend in person.

Task 3

As requested, provide technical expertise in the setting up and use of the model and analysis of the results.

How Evaluated

Contract will be awarded on a best value basis using the technical proposal, model demonstration and price.

• Each vendor will be required to submit a technical proposal not to exceed 3 pages on how its general purpose trajectory model will meet the primary and secondary requirements.

The proposal must include a list of which primary and secondary capabilities, listed under

Task 1 above, that the vendor’s model provides.

• Each vendor will be invited to provide a demonstration of its model and capabilities.

During this demonstration, some or all of the following questions may be posed to the vendors. There may also be additional questions.

1. Does the vendor provide software that we can run ourselves to do our own analysis? Clarify whether you, the vendor, provides consulting services for which the modeling software is primarily geared towards (i.e. is the tool built for the purpose of being coupled with consulting services?) OR is the software tool sold mostly as a standalone for which we can call the vendor for support and be able to see the underlying methodology behind the software algorithms but not be dependent on vendor consulting services?

2. Can the tool be used to analyze the TRACON airspace? If so, is it limited to evaluation at the TRACON level?

3. What are the specific metrics and measures available in the model (e.g. excess distance of flights, and fuel burn, etc.)? Provide an organized list and not just an exhaustive list of random metrics.

4. Can the tool be used to perform experimentation for actual, and what if scenarios, for traffic, weather, communications, surveillance, etc.?

a. Can the tool use actual tracks, simulated, or both?

b. Can the tool be used to grow operations in out (future) years? Essentially, can it create additional traffic and trajectories to reflect growth in operations?

5. Can the model be updated to add new and upcoming technology like commercial space, UAS (unmanned), etc.? What are the costs of such updates? You may provide an estimate if no actuals are available.

6. We are interested in the usability of the software, how hard is it to setup, use, and adapt? Show this in the demonstration.

a. How long does it take an analyst to get proficient in the model or simulation?

b. Do you offer training on the tools and if so what does it cost?

7. Cost (software, training, and support). What are all the direct and associated costs of procuring this software?

8. Is there a specific data source type the model accepts or does the model accept data in many formats? List the acceptable formats for data ingestion and output.

a. Does the model require a set of pre and post processors to get results in a format to be analyzed? Are these included in the software price you provided?

b. Are the bulk results in a format that can be easily parsed using standard database query languages?

9. Can you provide some examples of studies where the model has been used to support aviation programs and explain how the results of the studies influenced the program?

10. Can your simulation adequately model “procedural control” and “oceanic air space”? Provide examples.

• Price o For model license o For 2 training classes for up to 10 students each o For hourly technical support using the model and analyzing its results