The influence of aircraft proximity data on the subjective mental workload of controllers in the air traffic control task

This paper outlines an investigation of the impact of aircraft proximity and relationship data on the subjective mental workload of air traffic controllers. Aircraft relationships were categorized into one of 81 different categories, and these relationships were then used to predict subjective mental workload values las reported by the participants). The results indicated that this methodology could predict subjective mental workload to an accuracy of 73%, with post-hoc analysis improving this prediction rate to 93%. These results are discussed with respect to their contribution to an understanding of the drivers of mental workload in Air Traffic Control.