Design Considerations for IAP Charts Approach Course Track and Communication Frequencies

Final Report March 1990 - January 1991PDFTech ReportD0T-VNTSC-FAA-91-11DOT/FAA/RD-91/19FAA/ARD-210MapsChartsInstrument landing systemsDiagramsVisual presentationsAirplanesUnited States. Federal Aviation AdministrationDisario, RobertHuntley, M. Stephen, Jr.John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITYNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Human FactorsVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference CenterThis report describes two experiments evaluating format changes on instrument approachplates (IAPs). The study used a simple chart reading task to assess informationtransfer in IAPs.The first experiment addressed different methods of displaying approach course information. Three methods were evaluated: font size, bold type, and reverse video. Bold typehad a negligible effect on chart reading performance. Both boxing and reverse videoimproved the speed with which items could be found and or identified on the chart. Theuse of font size as a method for presenting information was clear; a larger font size, 12point, was more effective for presenting the inbound heading, than a smaller, 9 pointsize.The second experiment examined the effectiveness of four different layouts for displayingradio frequencies. Three of the four layouts were similar to those found in existingcharts published by NOAA, Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc. and the Canadian Department of Energy,Mines and Resources. The fourth layout was a two column layout, not currently found onexisting charts. The two layouts analogous to the formats used by NOAA and JeppesenSanderson, Inc. resulted in similar performance. Performance in the two column layoutand boxed layout was superior to performance in the NOAA and Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc.formats