PER-006: Rafael Dominguez — Airborne Operations Analyst

Andi Lamprecht ·2026-05-11· 16 min read· Draft

Draft UERQ-TXT-36 Authority Application

“The tactical picture is only as reliable as the technician behind the console. My job is to make sure every blip on this screen is classified, correlated, and accounted for — before anyone has to ask.”

1. Identity

2. Professional Context

Responsibilities

• Monitors the live Common Operating Picture (COP) continuously during the operational shift, maintaining visual scan of all active tracks, authorized volumes, and sensor coverage indicators.
• Classifies and sanitizes COP data: confirms track-to-authorization correlation, flags mismatches, assigns classification tags (authorized-conforming, authorized-non-conforming, unidentified/non-cooperative), and merges correlated traffic information from multiple sensor sources. [UERQ-SYS-1641, UERQ-SYS-1649]
• Triages incoming non-conformance alerts and operational event notifications by severity level. Performs initial threat assessment on Critical and Warning events before escalating to the Airspace Manager (Jessica Cooper, PER-004) for decision. [UERQ-SYS-1840]
• Feeds structured assessments to supervisors: when Rafael identifies a potential issue, he packages the relevant data (track position, deviation magnitude, trend, proximity to restricted areas, trust score) into a structured assessment for Jessica to act on.
• Receives and correlates field reports from Field Awareness Officers (Jason Trask, PER-002) with COP tracks, bridging the gap between visual sightings in the field and the system’s digital picture.
• Maintains the shift log: records all events, classifications, escalations, and decisions for handoff to the next shift and for post-incident audit.

Team & Reporting

• Reports to the Airspace Manager (Jessica Cooper, PER-004) during shift operations. Jessica makes the authorization decisions; Rafael provides the assessed information.
• Works alongside 2 other Tactical Controllers on the shift team, each covering a designated geographic sector of the COP.
• Coordinates with Field Awareness Officers (Jason Trask, PER-002) who provide ground-truth visual sightings via TAK/radio.
• Works alongside 1 Traffic Data Analyst who monitors provider health, data quality scores, and fusion pipeline performance.

Operational Environment

• Primary: Tactical Operations Center (TOC) — dual-monitor workstation. Display 1: COP map view with track overlays, conformance status, and sector filter. Display 2: Event/alert feed, shift log, and track detail panel. The environment can range from a purpose-built control center to a repurposed office space or a containerized forward operating location.
• Works in shifts: 12-hour rotation (6:00 AM – 6:00 PM day shift, with night shift for 24/7 operations). The continuous watch floor presence is the defining characteristic of this role.
• Environmental: noise-managed but not silent — multiple analysts at adjacent workstations, radio traffic, occasional phone calls. Critical alerts must cut through ambient noise with distinct audible tones.

Technical Proficiency

• Highly proficient with real-time map-based surveillance displays, track management tools, and multi-layer geographic overlays. Prior experience with radar scopes, ADS-B displays, or military COP systems is common.
• Comfortable with real-time data streaming, geographic filtering, and track correlation interfaces.
• Not a software developer. Cannot write queries or scripts. Expects the system to present pre-correlated, pre-classified data with clear visual coding.
• Familiar with aviation terminology, airspace classification, track fusion concepts, and sensor phenomenology (understands why MLAT tracks behave differently from ADS-B or Remote ID tracks).

Decision Authority

• Can independently classify tracks on the COP (assign classification tags, confirm/reject automated correlations).
• Can independently triage alert severity and prioritize the event queue for the shift.
• Cannot approve, deny, rescind, or modify flight authorizations — that authority rests with the Airspace Manager (Jessica, PER-004). [UERQ-SYS-1836: Incident Monitors shall not have permission to approve, deny, or modify authorizations.]
• Cannot modify rules, jurisdiction boundaries, or delegation configurations.
• Can escalate to Jessica for any authorization-level decision. Can escalate directly to the Unit Sergeant or incident commander for law enforcement response when Jessica is unavailable.
• Must document all classification decisions and escalations in the shift log for audit.

Regulatory Context

• No FAA pilot certificate required (Rafael is not an operator).
• Subject to state audit of COP classification decisions and escalation timeliness.
• Must complete ATOMx COP Analyst certification (40 hours) before independent watch floor duty.
• Annual recurrency on: track classification procedures, non-conformance response protocols, multi-sensor data interpretation, and shift handoff procedures.

3. Goals

Life Goals

• Advance to Airspace Manager (Jessica’s role) within 3–5 years.
• Build expertise in multi-sensor data fusion and tactical UAS situational awareness that translates to federal or international air traffic management roles.
• Be recognized as the most reliable analyst on the watch floor — the one whose classifications and assessments Jessica trusts without second-guessing.

Experience Goals

• Feel confident that every track on the COP is accounted for: classified, correlated, and either conforming or flagged. No unknowns that he has to wonder about.
• Not feel overwhelmed by the volume of alerts and tracks. The system should surface what needs his attention, not force him to scan every pixel of the map continuously.
• Feel that his classification work matters: when he tags a track as non-conforming or escalates an unidentified vehicle, the system records it, Jessica acts on it, and the audit trail credits his assessment.
• Not be exhausted by monotony. The interface should support sustained vigilance over a 12-hour shift without inducing alert fatigue or cognitive overload.

End Goals

• Classify every new track on the COP within 60 seconds of its appearance: correlated-authorized, correlated-non-conforming, or unidentified.
• Triage incoming Critical severity alerts within 15 seconds and have a structured assessment ready for Jessica within 30 seconds. [UERQ-SYS-1841]
• Maintain a complete, auditable shift log with zero gaps — every event, classification, and escalation recorded with timestamp.
• Hand off the shift to the next analyst within 10 minutes, with a clear summary of active tracks, open events, pending escalations, and sensor health.
• Detect and flag data quality issues (stale tracks, trust score anomalies, sensor dropouts) before they affect operational decisions. [UERQ-SYS-1638, UERQ-SYS-1664]

4. Frustrations & Pain Points

Current Pain Points

• Manual vigilance is exhausting: scanning the COP continuously for 12 hours with no intelligent prioritization of what deserves attention vs. what is routine. Every track looks the same until Rafael clicks on it. Alert fatigue is a constant threat.
• No automated track-to-authorization correlation: Rafael must manually cross-reference each new track against the authorization list to determine if it belongs. This is the single largest time sink and the most error-prone step in his workflow.
• All alerts arrive at the same visual and audible level. A minor altitude deviation (10 feet outside boundary, self-correcting) generates the same alarm as a complete geofence breach heading toward a military installation. Rafael cannot prioritize without manually reading each alert’s detail. [UERQ-SYS-1840 addresses this gap.]
• No structured escalation workflow: when Rafael identifies an issue that requires Jessica’s decision, he verbally calls across the TOC or walks to her station. There is no system-supported escalation path that packages his assessment and routes it to the decision-maker with context.
• Shift handoff is manual and error-prone: Rafael writes a summary document and verbally briefs the incoming analyst. There is no system-generated shift report capturing all events, classifications, and open items.

Workarounds

• Maintains a personal sticky-note system on his monitor bezel to track which tracks he has already classified, because the COP does not visually distinguish classified from unclassified tracks.
• Uses a personal timer to force himself to do a full COP scan every 5 minutes, because the system does not prompt periodic comprehensive review.
• Has created a personal alert classification spreadsheet to triage events before escalating to Jessica, because the system provides no severity differentiation.
• Dictates shift handoff notes into a voice recorder during the last 30 minutes of shift, then transcribes them for the incoming analyst.

Unmet Needs

• Automated track-to-authorization correlation with visual status coding on the COP: green (authorized-conforming), yellow (authorized-non-conforming), red (unidentified/non-cooperative), gray (lost track / stale data). [UERQ-SYS-1641, UERQ-SYS-1813]
• Severity-tiered alerting with distinct visual and audible signatures per severity level: Critical (immediate audible + screen flash), Warning (persistent banner), Informational (queue). [UERQ-SYS-1840]
• A structured in-system escalation path: one-click to package a track assessment and route it to the Airspace Manager with all relevant data pre-populated.
• An automated shift handoff report that captures all events, classifications, escalations, open items, sensor health, and active tracks for the incoming analyst.
• Smart scan assistance: system-suggested attention areas based on track density, proximity to restricted zones, and time since last classification review.

5. Safety & Operational Context

Safety-Critical Decisions

• Track classification: authorized vs. unidentified. Rafael’s classification of a track determines the system’s and Jessica’s response. Classifying a genuinely hostile drone as “correlated-authorized” means no escalation. Classifying a legitimate flight as “unidentified” triggers unnecessary law enforcement response. [UERQ-SYS-1641, UERQ-SYS-1649]
• Alert triage severity assessment. When multiple alerts fire simultaneously, Rafael decides which gets Jessica’s attention first. A wrong prioritization (routing a minor deviation before a genuine geofence breach) delays response to the real threat. [UERQ-SYS-1840]
• Data quality flag: real vs. artifact. When a track exhibits anomalous behavior (sudden position jump, impossible velocity), Rafael must determine whether this is a genuine aircraft maneuver or a sensor/fusion artifact. Flagging a real event as a data artifact suppresses escalation. [UERQ-SYS-1638, UERQ-SYS-1671]
• Correlation of field reports with COP tracks. When Jason Trask (PER-002) reports a visual drone sighting, Rafael must determine whether it matches an existing track on the COP. A false negative (declaring “no match” when a match exists) creates a phantom unidentified vehicle alert; a false positive (matching to the wrong track) masks a real unidentified vehicle.

Time Pressure

Information Needs During Stress

Failure Tolerance

• Sensor dropout / provider disconnect: If a sensor goes offline, Rafael needs immediate indication of which geographic area has lost coverage. A COP that shows an empty area because the sensor is down must be visually distinct from a COP that shows an empty area because no aircraft are there. The difference between “no data” and “no activity” is critical for security assessment. [UERQ-SYS-1734, UERQ-SYS-1664]
• Fusion pipeline degradation: If tracks become intermittent or positions become uncertain, Rafael needs staleness indicators on affected tracks. He must not make classification decisions based on stale data without knowing it is stale. [UERQ-SYS-1813(e), UERQ-SYS-1806]
• COP application failure: If the COP application crashes or freezes, Rafael falls back to verbal coordination with Jessica and radio contact with field teams. Session recovery must restore his COP view (including sector filter, classification state, and alert queue) without re-authentication or data reload. The system should auto-save classification work in progress.
• Alert system failure: If the event notification system fails, Rafael must be notified that he is no longer receiving alerts and must shift to manual scan mode. A silent alert system failure is the worst-case scenario: Rafael believes he would be alerted to problems, but the alerting pipeline is broken. [UERQ-SYS-1663]

Consequence of Error

Training & Certification

• No FAA pilot certificate required.
• State requires ATOMx COP Analyst certification (40 hours): track classification procedures, multi-sensor data interpretation, alert triage protocols, shift handoff procedures, and COP application operation.
• Annual recurrency: non-conformance alert response, data quality assessment, multi-sensor correlation, and shift endurance management (fatigue mitigation techniques).
• Quarterly tabletop exercises simulating high-density traffic, multi-alert cascades, and sensor failure scenarios.
• Familiar with aviation terminology, airspace classification, track fusion concepts, and sensor characteristics. Expects standard aviation display conventions (track symbology, velocity vectors, altitude readouts).

6. Key Scenarios

Scenarios are documented as individual pages under the Key Scenarios section.

7. System Interaction Profile

Session Pattern

Data Volume

• Monitors 10–25 concurrent tracks in his sector during peak hours (subset of the 20–60 system-wide tracked by Jessica).
• Processes 15–40 event notifications per shift across all severity levels.
• Consumes real-time fused track updates at 1 Hz per active track. [UERQ-SYS-1817]
• Generates 30–80 classification entries and 5–15 escalation packages per shift.
• Needs access to 2 hours of track replay for real-time correlation review (not historical investigation — that is Jessica’s domain).

Notification Needs

Collaboration Needs

• Escalates assessed events to the Airspace Manager (Jessica, PER-004) via structured in-system escalation. Rafael does not make authorization decisions.
• Receives and correlates field reports from Field Awareness Officers (Jason, PER-002) via radio and TAK integration.
• Coordinates with adjacent-sector Tactical Controllers for tracks crossing sector boundaries.
• Coordinates with the Traffic Data Analyst for sensor and data quality issues.
• Does NOT interact with operators or authorities outside the TOC. Does NOT have access to authorization approval/denial functions. [UERQ-SYS-1836]

8. Traceability

9. Revision History