System and method for rendering aircraft traffic on a vertical situation display

A flight deck display element for a host aircraft is used to render a dynamic vertical situation display (VSD). The VSD includes a graphical representation of the host aircraft, graphical representations of one or more neighboring aircraft, and a graphical representation of a conflict zone surrounding the graphical representation of the host aircraft. The graphical representations of the neighboring aircraft are positioned on the VSD in a manner that indicates the respective altitudes of the neighboring aircraft relative to the host aircraft. They are also positioned on the VSD in a manner that indicates the respective lateral separation of the neighboring aircraft relative to the host aircraft.