An Overview of the 2023 Aviation Weather Testbed Experiment

Each year the Aviation Weather Testbed (AWT) holds an experiment where forecasters and partners from across the aviation weather enterprise are brought together to evaluate new products and forecasting techniques aimed at improving safety in the National Airspace System. This year's experiment took place in May, and explored three unique themes: (1) an evaluation of 3D cloud forecasts from the Rapid Refresh Forecast System, (2) utilizing Hazard Services for issuing aviation hazard advisories and warnings, and (3) a look at the utilization and interpretation of probabilistic guidance for aviation hazards.

The AWT was thrilled to bring in meteorologists from all six regions of the National Weather Service (NWS) and the Aviation Weather Center, representing Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs), Center Weather Service Units (CWSUs), and all three Meteorological Watch Offices. Additionally, developers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) and the NWS Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL) were in attendance to help support and collect feedback from the various focus areas, or themes, throughout the week.

In addition to the week-long experiment, the AWT staff took part in a joint session with the concurrent Friends and Partners in Aviation Weather meeting happening in the same building. With the help of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aviation Weather Demonstration and Evaluation Services (AWDE), a group of social scientists and meteorologists that focus on user interpretation of aviation specific products, the AWT staff held focus group discussions to gain user insight on AWT-developed products including those that use non-deterministic methods to communicate aviation hazards.

This presentation will discuss the experiment design and activities, as well as highlight some of the results.