Assisted visual separation enhanced by graphical visualization

1. A method of providing visual assistance to a flight crew on an aircraft during flight, the method comprising:

generating a graphical user interface (GUI) element that displays a target aircraft symbol that represents a target aircraft, a horizontal range symbol that represents a pre-selected horizontal distance ahead of an ownship aircraft, an ownship symbol that represents an ownship aircraft, a direction symbol configured to indicate whether the distance between the ownship aircraft and target aircraft is increasing or decreasing, and a time symbol configured to indicate the estimated time that it would take for the target aircraft to reach the pre-selected horizontal distance ahead of the ownship aircraft;

positioning the ownship symbol, the horizontal range symbol, the target aircraft symbol, the direction symbol, and the time symbol on the GUI element, the positioning comprising:

positioning the ownship symbol at a stationary position on the GUI element;

positioning the horizontal range symbol at a stationary position away from the ownship symbol, using a fixed scaling factor, at a distance that is proportional to the pre-selected horizontal distance; and

positioning the target aircraft symbol at a position on the GUI element away from the ownship symbol, using the fixed scaling factor, at a distance that is proportional to the actual horizontal distance between the ownship aircraft position and the target aircraft position;

retrieving, from a traffic computer, a distance measurement that indicates the distance between the target aircraft and the ownship aircraft, a differential ground speed measurement that indicates the differential ground speed between the target aircraft and the ownship aircraft, and a time measurement that indicates the time before the target aircraft reaches the pre-selected horizontal distance;

adjusting, on the GUI element, the position of the target aircraft symbol relative to the horizontal range symbol based on the distance measurement, the direction of the direction symbol based on the differential ground speed measurement, and the value of the time symbol based on the time measurement; and

causing the GUI element and the symbols to be displayed on a cockpit display.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the direction symbol is configured to indicate whether a horizontal distance between the ownship aircraft and target aircraft is increasing or decreasing.

3. The method of claim 2 ,

wherein the direction of the direction symbol is indicative of whether the distance between the ownship aircraft and the target aircraft is increasing or decreasing.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the direction symbol is configured to graphically indicate the speed range for the differential ground speed.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the direction symbol comprises an arrow and the length of the arrow is configured to graphically indicate the speed range for the differential ground speed.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the direction symbol comprises one or more chevrons and the number of chevrons graphically indicates the speed range for the differential ground speed.

7. A graphical visualization system for providing visual assistance to a flight crew on an aircraft during flight, the system comprising a widget generation module, the widget generation module comprising one or more processors configured by programming instructions on non-transient computer readable media, the widget generation module configured to:

generate a graphical user interface (GUI) element that displays a target aircraft symbol that represents a target aircraft, a horizontal range symbol that represents a pre-selected horizontal distance ahead of an ownship aircraft, an ownship symbol that represents an ownship aircraft, a direction symbol configured to indicate whether the distance between the ownship aircraft and target aircraft is increasing or decreasing, and a time symbol configured to indicate the estimated time that it would take for the target aircraft to reach the pre-selected horizontal distance ahead of the ownship aircraft;

position the target aircraft symbol at a variable position on the GUI element away from the horizontal range symbol using a fixed scaling factor, wherein the distance between the target aircraft symbol and the horizontal range symbol is proportional to an actual horizontal distance between the target aircraft position and the pre-selected horizontal distance ahead of the ownship aircraft;

position the ownship symbol at a stationary position on the GUI element, position the horizontal range symbol at a stationary position away from the ownship symbol at a distance that is proportional to the pre-selected horizontal distance, and position the target aircraft symbol at a position on the GUI element away from the ownship symbol at a distance that is proportional to the actual horizontal distance between the ownship aircraft position and the target aircraft position;

retrieve, from the traffic computer, a distance measurement that indicates the horizontal distance between the target aircraft and the ownship aircraft, a differential ground speed measurement that indicates the differential ground speed between the target aircraft and the ownship aircraft and a time measurement that indicates the time before the target aircraft reaches the pre-selected horizontal distance;

adjust, on the GUI element, the position of the target aircraft symbol relative to the horizontal range symbol based on the distance measurement, the direction of the direction symbol based on the differential ground speed measurement, and the value of the time symbol based on the time measurement; and

cause the GUI element and the symbols to be displayed on a cockpit display.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the direction symbol is configured to indicate whether a horizontal distance between the ownship aircraft and target aircraft is increasing or decreasing.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the direction of the direction symbol is indicative of whether the distance between the ownship aircraft and the target aircraft is increasing or decreasing.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein to adjust the direction of the direction symbol, the widget generation module is configured to remove the direction symbol from the GUI element when the distance between the target aircraft and the ownship aircraft remains constant.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the direction symbol is configured to graphically indicate the speed range for the differential ground speed.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the direction symbol comprises an arrow and the length of the arrow is configured to graphically indicate the speed range for the differential ground speed.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the direction symbol comprises one or more chevrons and the number of chevrons graphically indicates the speed range for the differential ground speed.

14. An aircraft comprising:

a traffic computer;

a widget generation module, the widget generation module comprising one or more processors configured by programming instructions on non-transient computer readable media, the widget generation module configured to:

generate a graphical user interface (GUI) element that displays a target aircraft symbol that represents a target aircraft, a horizontal range symbol that represents a pre-selected horizontal distance ahead of an ownship aircraft, an ownship symbol that represents an ownship aircraft, a direction symbol configured to indicate whether the distance between the ownship aircraft and target aircraft is increasing or decreasing, and a time symbol configured to indicate the estimated time that it would take for the target aircraft to reach the pre-selected horizontal distance ahead of the ownship aircraft;

position the target aircraft symbol at a variable position on the GUI element away from the horizontal range symbol, wherein the distance between the target aircraft symbol and the horizontal range symbol is proportional to an actual horizontal distance between the target aircraft position and the pre-selected horizontal distance ahead of the ownship aircraft;

position the ownship symbol at a stationary position on the GUI element, position the horizontal range symbol at a stationary position away from the ownship symbol at a distance that is proportional to the pre-selected horizontal distance, and position the target aircraft symbol at a position on the GUI element away from the ownship symbol at a distance that is proportional to the actual horizontal distance between the ownship aircraft position and the target aircraft position;

retrieve, from the traffic computer, a distance measurement that indicates the horizontal distance between the target aircraft and the ownship aircraft, a differential ground speed measurement that indicates the differential ground speed between the target aircraft and the ownship aircraft and a time measurement that indicates the time before the target aircraft reaches the pre-selected horizontal distance;

adjust, on the GUI element, the position of the target aircraft symbol relative to the horizontal range symbol based on the distance measurement, the direction of the direction symbol based on the differential ground speed measurement, and the value of the time symbol based on the time measurement; and

a graphic server configured to cause the GUI element and the symbols to be displayed on a cockpit display.

15. The aircraft of claim 14 , wherein the direction symbol is configured to graphically indicate the speed range for the differential ground speed.

16. The aircraft of claim 15 , wherein the direction symbol comprises an arrow and the length of the arrow is configured to graphically indicate the speed range for the differential ground speed.

17. The aircraft of claim 15 , wherein the direction symbol comprises one or more chevrons and the number of chevrons graphically indicates the speed range for the differential ground speed.

18. The aircraft of claim 14 , wherein the direction symbol is configured to indicate whether a horizontal distance between the ownship aircraft and target aircraft is increasing or decreasing.

19. The aircraft of claim 14 , wherein the direction of the direction symbol is indicative of whether the distance between the ownship aircraft and the target aircraft is increasing or decreasing.

20. The aircraft of claim 14 , wherein to adjust the direction of the direction symbol, the widget generation module is configured to remove the direction symbol from the GUI element when the distance between the target aircraft and the ownship aircraft remains constant.