Extended Abstract (12K)1.10
Aviation and Weather—A New Initiative in Germany
Thomas Hauf, Univ. of Hannover, Hanover, Germany; and U. Schumann and H. Leykauf
Weather impact on aviation is generally thought to be less important than other influences resulting mainly from air traffic management constraints. The increase of air traffic in recent years and the fact that the major hubs in Germany such as Frankfurt and Düsseldorf operate near or even over their nominal capacity, however, made the air traffic more and more susceptible to adverse weather. The major threats affecting the operation efficiency of airports and the traffic in the terminal area are thunderstorms, poor visibility, ice and snow, and wind direction changes. A recent study by Hauf and Sasse (this conference) documented for the first time quantitatively the impact of thunderstorms on the landing traffic at Frankfurt airport which is on the order of 1000 delay minutes per event. Here we report from a newly founded initiative "Flugverkehr und Wetter" (Aviation and Weather) led by the University of Hannover, the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen and the German Weather Service (DWD), Offenbach. The objective of the initiative is (1) to foster research and development activities on aviation meteorology in Germany, (2) to provide an organisational platform for such activities, and (3) to increase the communication between research organisations, airports, airlines, pilots , air traffic management and meteorologists. A first workshop was held in Langen in 2001. As the next step a memorandum, respectively status report on the situation of aviation meteorology in Germany is prepared. An overview of these activities is presented and future plans are outlined.
Session 1, Overview
Monday, 13 May 2002, 9:00 AM-11:45 AM
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