A distributed simulation model of air traffic in the national airspace system

The study of air transportation systems is a prime opportunity for the application of simulation modeling. The complexity and highly interdependent nature of the national air transportation system makes it difficult to study, even through simulation. As a result, models of this system are typically large and require long run times. This paper reports on a model designed to apply the emerging technology of parallel/distributed computing to facilitate the rapid analysis of national-scope air transportation systems. The model makes extensive use of the SPEEDES distributed simulation support software developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by Dr. Jeff Steinman.