The Impact of Workload on Heart Rate and Blood Pressure in En-Route and Tower Air Traffic Control

Abstract

This paper reports three studies on the application of ambulatory monitoring in air traffic control (ATC). The aim of the first study was to explore a set of psychophysiological measures with respect to ATC workload sensitivity and feasibility at the workplace. Nearly all physiological measures showed the expected changes during work. Significant positive correlations were found between cardiovascular responses and the number of aircraft under control, especially heavy, fast, climbing, and descending aircraft. The following en-route (Study 2) and tower (Study 3) simulations identified the relative impact of air traffic features. Heart rate, systolic blood pressure, self-reported concentration, and upset were significantly higher in the simulations with 12 aircraft continuously under control compared to only 6. A high versus low number of potential conflicts between aircraft in the en-route setting (Study 2) also caused significant increases of heart rate, systolic blood pressure, self-reported concentration, and upset. On the basis of these results, a new workload model for air traffic controllers was suggested and implemented.