Standard-Compliant User Interface Design for Sustainable Aviation on Electronic Flight Bags

Abstract

In the face of climate change and growing air traffic in Europe, the significance of sustainable aviation is steadily increasing. The rising urbanization demands a reduction in ground noise pollution, some of which is caused by departing and arriving aircraft. The Low Noise Augmentation System (LNAS) developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is an example of reducing fuel consumption and reducing noise during the approach with the possibilities a currently used aircraft has, without any modifications. An interactive display on the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) guides the pilots through an energy optimized landing approach. Design and usability are still ongoing research to achieve eco-friendly aviation. Equally to landing approaches, takeoff optimizations in terms of reduced noise and fuel consumption can be achieved by guiding the pilot using an EFB application. Using this application, an optimization beyond the possibilities of a pilot can be calculated and recommended. However, no User Interface (UI) design concept has been implemented and validated for presenting the key elements of noise, fuel or energyefficient information. This work proposes a way to communicate optimal flight paths regarding fuel consumption and ground noise using the EFB. For that, a demonstrator was developed; it includes an intuitive input and selection mechanism as well as a visualized output, like decision tables and visualized trajectories. The design is based on current active specifications, like ARINC 661, Touch Device Specification, EFB specification, and general flight display concept. As LNAS Takeoff is an optional tool for pilots to use, I expect that a concept should be implemented that offers a better user experience through ease of use, reduced effort and improved decision-making, leads to more frequent use and allows for noise and fuel consumption reductions as part of eco-friendly aviation. A study was conducted with pilots to evaluate the proposed design decisions and the workload associated with the UI. The results have to be addressed further in realworld conditions.