Description

Some automated ATM systems incorporate short term conflict alert (STCA) functions that provide two types of warnings:

• predicted, i.e. separation has not been infringed yet, but there is a high likelyhood it would be;
• violation, i.e. separation is currently being lost.

Predicted Conflict Warning (PCW) is a type of STCA warning that alerts the controller of a potential infringement of the applicable separation minima. It is activated at a pre-determined time before the estimated loss of separation thus providing the controller with an opportunity to intervene and prevent an incident. The look ahead time is normally an adjustable parameter and may vary from one system to another but the typical value is in the order of 80-120 seconds.

While PCW is always visualised in a way that attracts controller attention, some systems have different representations of potential conflicts and actual separation infringements (e.g. a predicted event is highlighted in yellow colour and an actual event is shown in red).