NOTAM Graphic Overlays Using Temporal Status Cues
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current solutions for depicting NOTAMs on aeronautical charts fail to consider temporal information, making it difficult for users to differentiate which NOTAMs are currently affecting aviation operations and which will affect operations soon, leading to potential surprises and increased time and error in flight planning.
Innovation Solution
A computing device is configured to determine the status of NOTAMs as active or inactive based on temporal data attributes, displaying graphic overlays on a graphical airspace representation to visually differentiate between active and inactive NOTAMs, including source attributes for official and company NOTAMs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If graphic overlays are displayed for all NOTAMs without considering temporal status, then complete information is provided to users, but users cannot quickly differentiate between active and inactive NOTAMs, leading to increased time and error in flight planning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color changes to graphic overlays representing NOTAMs based on their temporal status. Active NOTAMs are displayed with one color scheme while inactive or future NOTAMs are displayed with different color schemes, enabling users to quickly differentiate between currently applicable and non-applicable NOTAMs without losing any information
2Loss of information
If graphic overlays display all NOTAMs equally, then no information is lost, but users experience surprises when encountering active NOTAMs and cannot quickly parse which NOTAMs impact flight paths
Solution Approach 1:
Different color schemes are applied to graphic overlays based on NOTAM status (active vs. inactive). This visual differentiation allows users to immediately identify which NOTAMs are currently affecting aviation operations versus those that are not, eliminating surprises and improving ease of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different visual properties (colors, patterns) to different parts of the display based on the temporal status of individual NOTAMs. Each graphic overlay has localized visual characteristics that reflect its status, enabling users to quickly scan and parse NOTAM information without uniform treatment
3Device complexity
If temporal information is not considered in NOTAM display, then display complexity is reduced, but users cannot differentiate between active and inactive NOTAMs, leading to potential errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates temporal information by applying color changes to graphic overlays based on NOTAM status. This adds minimal visual complexity while significantly improving reliability by enabling users to differentiate between active and inactive NOTAMs, preventing potential errors in flight operations
Data Source
AI summary
One example provides a computing device comprising a display device, a logic subsystem, and a memory subsystem. The memory subsystem comprises instructions that are executable by the logic subsystem to display a graphical airspace representing an airspace on the display device, and obtain one or more notice to air missions (NOTAMs) related to the airspace. The instructions are further executable to, for each NOTAM of the one or more NOTAMs, display a graphic overlay on the graphical airspace. The graphic overlay has an appearance based at least upon a determined status of the NOTAM.