Traffic Counts

Function presentation

This display gives the number of flights for a given Traffic Type.
Flights may be selected on different query criteria for given time period and interval.
The flights are selected on :

  • The time over the reference location for a traffic Volume and a Point.
  • The take off time for the Aircraft Operator, the Departure Aerodrome and Aerodrome Set.
  • The arrival time for the Arrival Aerodrome and Aerodrome Set.
  • The entry time for the Airspace.

Opening the window

From the Application / ATFCM menu, select the option Traffic / Traffic Counts.
Immediate shortcut to bypass menu selection : <Ctrl> + <Shift> + <F6>.

A new empty Traffic Counts window will be opened with the following defaults :

  • Traffic Date : current or last queried traffic date is proposed (relative to current UTC date) depending on selected user preference (CHMI / ATFCM application / General / Dates and times / Default date proposed for query).
  • WEF time : proposed based on the Default query period assignment using your user adjustable preferences.
  • UNT time : proposed based on the displayed WEF and the Default query period assignment.
  • Where : last element type used with this query. This selection is based on the system property CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Last Used Reference Location Type.
  • Is : based on the "Where" selection, the drop-down box will propose the most recent query data elements you have queried before with success.
  • Count Type : last selection used with your last similar query. This selection is based on the system property CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Last Used Count Rate.
  • Traffic Type (TL - TD - RD) : last selection used with your last similar query. This selection is based on the system property CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Last Used Type. See next section Preparing to query for an explanation of these codes.
  • Duration : Only available when Occupancy Type is selected. Last selection used with your last similar query. This selection is based on the system property CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Last Used Occupancy Duration.


When Aerodrome or Aerodrome Set is selected, the related category controls (Cat : Global (Glob), Departure (Dep) or Arrival (Arr)) are proposed. Global button comes preselected.
When Point is selected, the Maximum (
MAX) and Minimum (MNM) Flight Level (FL) controls are proposed. They are initialised with the extreme values (990 for MAX and 000 for MNM).
On initial display, the focus is set on the first mandatory query control with no default value: the Is input control.

Preparing to query

The observed period may be adjusted as follow :

  • The traffic Date may be adjusted to one of the proposed values. Common ATFCM Tactical / Pre-Tactical dates behaviour is implemented.
  • The proposed default WEF and UNT times may be overwritten.
  • Any valid time value from 00:00 to 23:59 included may be entered in the WEF and/or the UNT entry boxes. This input must respect the HH:MM format.
  • Drop-down list may be used to select pre-formatted time on a 20 minutes step base.


The period resulting from the input will be validated taking into account the system property CHMI / ATFCM application / General / Dates and times / Query over
midnight.
If query over two days is not authorised, the WEF time must be smaller than the
UNT time, except if both times are set to 00:00, which corresponds to a full day query.
The Default query period assignment will be used.
The Where parameter may be adjusted to one of the following values :

  • Traffic Volume
  • Aerodrome
  • Aerodrome Set
  • Airspace
  • Point
  • Aircraft Operator


The identifier corresponding to the selected Where shall be keyed in the associated Is entry box or selected from the drop-down list (when a previous query was successful).
When Aerodrome or Aerodrome Set is selected, the related category (Cat) must be checked (Global, Departure or Arrival).
When Point is selected, the Maximum (MAX) and Minimum (MNM) Flight Levels (FL) may be overwritten to reduce or enlarge selected altitude range.
A valid integer value (maximum of 3 digits) entered in the Maximum (MAX) box, will be rounded as follow:

  • 0 remains 0.
  • Input between 1 and 30 is rounded up to the nearest multiple of 10.
  • Input between 31 and 290 is rounded up to the nearest multiple of 5.
  • Input between 291 and 990 is rounded up to the nearest multiple of 10.
  • Above 990 is forced to 990.


A valid integer value (maximum of 3 digits) entered in the Minimum (MNM) box, will be rounded as follow:

  • Input between 0 and 34 is rounded down to the nearest multiple of 10.
  • Input between 35 and 294 is rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5.
  • Input between 295 and 999 is rounded down to the nearest multiple of 10.


Following Count Types may be available depending on the selected Where criteria :

  • Entry Hour/20 Min : Entry hourly counts are given every 20 minutes step.
  • Entry Hour/10 Min : Entry hourly counts are given every 10 minutes step.
  • Entry Hour : Entry hourly counts are given every 60 minutes step.
  • Entry 20 Min : Entry 20 minutes counts are given every 20 minutes step.
  • Occupancy : Occupancy counts are given at the beginning of every minute.


Entry counts are available for all possible Where entries.
Occupancy Type is only available for Airspace, Traffic Volume based on an Airspace and Aircraft Operator.
In the case of Occupancy Type, the returned counts contains :

  • either all flights being in the selected airspace during the selected Duration.
  • or all flights being on fly during the given Duration.


The different Traffic Types can be checked or unchecked :

  • TL : Traffic Load
  • TD : Traffic Demand
  • RD : Regulated Demand


Duration is only available when Occupancy Type is selected:

  • The possible value are 1 to 20 minutes


Any combination of these Traffic Types may be requested.
At least one Traffic Type must be checked on issuing the query.
Select the Proposal radio button on the button bar to include the proposed flights in the retrieved counts. Otherwise the counts will be based on the normal flights only.
The Send button will send the query to the CFMU system.
This window may be closed before any query is issued.
The Reset action common functionality is implemented for this function. All query criteria except Normal/Proposal selection are considered for activating the Reset action.

Displaying the query results

Common Display

The window title contains the following information :

  • The selected Where with the associated identifier.
  • The selected Count Type (Occupancy or Entry).
  • The selected Count Rate between parenthesis.
  • The time stamp when the information was retrieved from the CFMU system.
  • The optional keyword (Prop) indicates that the displayed data are including the flight "Proposals".
  • The optional keyword (Poll) indicates that the Polling function is active for this window.
  • The optional >> sign indicates that the covered time period will shift on refresh.


The header box contains the selected query criteria :

  • The observed period (Traffic date, WEF and UNT times)
  • The queried reference type and identifier with the additional parameters, if any.
  • The main Where selection criteria (Traffic Volume, Aerodrome or Set with the associated Category, Airspace, Point with associated Flight Level Range (FL), Aircraft Operator),
  • The selected Count Type (Entry / Occupancy) and Count rate (elapse / step).
  • The combination of Traffic Types retrieved locally (TL, TD, RD).
  • The Duration if the count Type is Occupancy.


A split bar separates the query fields from the query results. It includes on the left, a small arrow button (Up/Down) to Hide/Show the query part.
The query part may be hidden automatically on displaying the query results, depending on the user adjustable preference CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Hide query on reply.
Underneath the split bar that separates the query fields from the query results there are three data presentation buttons; they allow the user to select one of the following display types:

  • Graph : bar chart representation of the counts.
  • Table : tabular presentation of the different count values.
  • Regulation : detailed list of all regulations affecting these counts.


The Graph display is shown initially.
When the user chooses to change the display type then the active window will use the data previously retrieved.
When the query results are displayed, the focus is set on the Graph, the Table or the Regulation list, depending on the selected type.
The first bar of the Graph, the first cell of the Table or the first line of the list is then selected.

Graph display

On the top of the graph, a group of three toggle buttons allows to select the traffic type(s) to be included in the graph :

  • TL : Traffic Load.
  • TD : Traffic Demand.
  • RD : Regulated Demand.


Each button is activated when the corresponding Traffic type has been successfully retrieved from the CFMU systems.
All retrieved Traffic types are displayed initially.
Each traffic type is rendered differently on the graph. From the first Traffic Type displayed to the last, the brightness of the different colour used is reduced. This is done to ease the recognition of each bar based on the Traffic Type.
The graph contains a series of vertical bars representing the number of flights according to the count Type requested.
Each vertical bar is composed of a series of stacked coloured blocs representing the following flight sub-totals:

  • ATC activated
  • TACT activated with no FSA expected
  • RPL + PFD + IFPL
  • TACT activated with FSA expected
  • Suspended


The above sequence is used by default from bottom to the top of the bar.
Some of these blocs might be absent if the corresponding sub-total is 0.
Dedicated user preferences may be adjusted for the piling up sequence (CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Count piling up order) and the colour associated to each sub-total (i.e. CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Suspended count colour).

The count value represents the number of flights over the next 20 or 60 minutes for Entry counts or at the beginning of each minute for Occupancy counts depending on the count Type selected during query preparation.
The count value is shown every 20 or 60 minutes for Entry counts or every 1 minute for Occupancy counts depending on the initial choice made during the query preparation.
The capacity value is drawn as line on the graph, if 60 minutes counts have been requested.
To avoid confusion, hourly capacity is not shown on the graph when 20 minutes counts are displayed.
The colour of the capacity line is identified by the user adjustable preference CHMI / ATFCM application / General / Graph / Capacity colour.
Below the graph,

  • A stripe indicates that a regulation has been implemented for this Traffic Volume. The colour of this stripe is identified by the user adjustable preference CHMI / CHMI / ATFCM application / General / Graph / Regulation colour.
  • Another stripe shows that a rerouting has been implemented for this traffic volume. The colour of this stripe is identified by the user adjustable preference CHMI / CHMI / ATFCM application / General / Graph / Reroute colour.


On the graph itself, a thin line shows the period when a regulation is active and the corresponding flight rate. The colour of this line is identified by the user adjustable preference CHMI / CHMI / ATFCM application / General / Graph / Regulation colour.
The vertical axis indicates the number of flights.
The horizontal axis indicates the time periods.

Table display

The tabular representation provides :

  • The different time slices covered by the count query.
  • The Hourly Capacity for the corresponding time slice.
  • An indicator when the slice is subject to a Regulation (CASA Slots allocation).
  • An indicator when the slice is subject to a Rerouting measure.
  • The different count values.


Following break down is given for the count values :

  • The total count values for the different requested Traffic Types.
  • For each Traffic Type, the sub-total count values are listed for the different count categories.


These count categories are listed in following sequence :

  • ATC activated
  • TACT activated with no FSA expected
  • RPL + PFD + IFPL
  • TACT activated with FSA expected
  • Suspended

Regulation display

A counter identifies the number of Regulation entries.
The main listbox of the window shows the list of Regulations affecting the selected count data.
One Regulation may appear on several detail lines, if several periods and rates are applicable.
Each detailed Regulation line contains :

  • The Regulation identifier. (REG ID)
  • An indicator for regulations cancelled before their termination (Cancel).
  • The With Effect From day and time (WEF).
  • The Until day and time (UNT).
  • The corresponding rate applied (Rate).

User interactions

Common

The Normal / Proposal button may be adjusted before issuing a new query.
This window allows to modify a previous query selection and to issue a new request.
On query modification, the Reset action is enabled.
To display / hide the query part, click respectively the Down / Up arrow on the left underneath the split bar.
The user adjustable preference CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Hide query on reply allows to hide automatically or not the query data part on display of valid reply count data.
To update the display, click on the Send button on the button bar or select the Action / Send menu option. This will issue exactly the same query to obtain an up to date list.
The Previous / Next period function may be used to issue the same query but for the previous or the next period in time.
The Polling function may be activated to start automatic refresh processing on this window.
The Period Shifting function may be activated to start automatic period shifting on subsequent refresh of this window.
The Invalidate function may be activated for this window. Just check or uncheck the user preference CHMI / ATFCM application / General / Dates and times / Activate invalidate functionality.
To print Traffic Counts data, first retrieve the data in the window and select the desired display type (Graph, table, regulation). Adjust possibly the displayed period, scale and other details. When ready, click on the Print button or select the File / Print menu option.
To export the retrieved count details, click on the Export button or select the Action / Export menu option.
Increasing / reducing the window height will impact the size of the main display control (graph, table or list).
Increasing / reducing the window width will impact the size of the main display control (graph, table or list). Regulation list counter moves with the edge.

Graph display

It is possible to toggle on/off any combination of the Traffic Type buttons to display the corresponding count bars on the graph.
Following dedicated user preferences may be adjusted using the Preferences dialog for the piling up sequence and the colour associated to each sub-total:

  • CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Count piling up order
  • CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Suspended count colour
  • CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Tact with FSA count colour
  • CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / RPL / PFD / IFPL count colour
  • CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / Tact without FSA count colour
  • CHMI / ATFCM application / Traffic / Traffic counts / ATC Activated count colour


Clicking on a bar puts the focus on the graph and sets the bar as selected item.
When the focus is on the graph, the left and right arrows on the keyboard moves selection from one bar to the other.
The right mouse button pops up a contextual menu for the selected bar.
The bottom scroll bar within the graph pane is available only when the scope of the shown period is reduced or enlarged.
Another scroll bar may appear at the bottom of the Traffic Counts component when the window is too small to see all contents; it will disappear again when all of the windows contents are visible.
Underneath the split bar that separates the Query fields from the query results several buttons may be displayed. When the graph presentation button on the right side of the pane is selected, then graph related buttons appear on the left of the pane to allow the user to adjust the following graph characteristics:

  • To enlarge the scope of the vertical axis : click on the two vertical arrows pointing to each other with an horizontal line in the middle.
  • To reduce the scope of the vertical axis : click on the two vertical arrows pointing away from each other with an horizontal line in the middle.
  • To display / hide a grid on the graph : click on the toggle button with a table representation.
  • To enlarge the scope of the shown period : click on the two horizontal arrows pointing to each other with an vertical line in the middle.
  • To reduce the scope of the shown period : click on the two horizontal arrows pointing away from each other with an vertical line in the middle.

Table display

Clicking on a cell puts the focus on the table and select the clicked bar.
When the focus is on a cell with a count, the left/right and up/down arrows on the keyboard moves selection from one cell to the other.
The right mouse button pops up a contextual menu for the selected cell.

Regulation display

To display a sub-selection of the retrieved Regulation list, click on the Filter button on the button bar or select the Action / Filter menu option and adjust the desired filtering criteria.
To modify the Sort sequence of the Regulation list, click on column headers corresponding to your desired sort criteria.
When a line is selected in the list, the right mouse button pops up a contextual menu for the selected Regulation.

Contextual actions

Graph display

When a bar is selected on the graph, the right mouse button pops up a contextual menu for the corresponding period.
This popup menu offers sub-menu parts related to the selected item in the higher-level popup menu.
The higher-level popup menu displays :

  • The time slice corresponding to the selected bar.
  • The Hourly Capacity for the period of the selected bar.
  • The different Traffic Types retrieved with the count value corresponding to the selected period. Each Traffic Type line gives access to a popup sub-menu.


Each popup sub-menu may contains the following entries :

  • The break down of the count value per sub-category.
  • Flight List to query the list of flights for the selected Traffic Type with the same Reference Location as the initial Count query. Requested period is the one identified by the selected bar.
  • Flow Counts to query the same Traffic Type counts per Flow for the selected Traffic Volume. This option is only available from Traffic Volume Counts display. The query period used is the same as the one displayed on top of the window.


The transferred period may be affected by user preferences related to Default query period identification.

Table display

When a count cell is selected on the table, the right mouse button pops up a contextual menu for the corresponding period.
This popup menu lists the possible actions for the selected cell.
Following options may be available in the popup menu :

  • The time slice corresponding to the selected cell is displayed.
  • Flight List to query list of flights for the selected Traffic Type with the same Reference Location as the initial Count query. Requested period is the one identified by the selected bar.
  • Flow Counts to query the same Traffic type counts per Flow for the selected Traffic Volume. This option is only available from Traffic Volume Counts display. The query period used is the same as the one displayed on top of the window.


The transferred period may be affected by user preferences related to Default query period identification.

Regulation display

When a regulation line is selected on the list, the right mouse button pops up a contextual menu.
This popup menu lists the possible actions for the selected regulation.
Following options may be available in the popup menu :

  • Flight List : displays the Provisional Slot Allocation List (Traffic Load) for the selected regulation and its activation period starting either with the current time or the start time of the regulation.
  • Regulation Description : displays detailed information for the selected regulation.
  • Regulation Delays : displays the delays for the selected regulation and its activation period.


For the Regulation Delays and the Regulation Flight List the transferred period may be affected by user preferences related to Default query period identification.