A mathematical model of glide-slope perception in the visual approach to landing

A mathematical model of glide-slope perception is presented for the visual approach to landing when there is a visually impoverished scene. The perceptual process has been modeled as the weighted average of the geometric relations in the scene that provide glide-slope information, with weights being adjusted during the approach to minimize the uncertainty in glide-slope perception. The model suggests that the optimum combination of relations providing glide-slope information is dependent on the range from the runway threshold and that there is a relation between the handling qualities of aircraft or flight simulators and the adjustment of the weights.