Future AWC Collaborative Capabilities to Support Day 1 Planning in the National Airspace System

NOAA Aviation Weather Center (AWC) has evolved its operations to an element-based forecast paradigm to allow forecasters to focus on a single aviation hazard for Graphical AIRMET and non-convective SIGMET issuance. This has allowed for a more streamlined operational environment and a number of new tools and services are being developed to continue to enhance aviation products issued by AWC. A new non-convective SIGMET collaboration tool has been developed and is currently being evaluated as a way to better collaborate with partner Center Weather Service Units on the issuances of severe aviation hazards. In addition, enhanced partnerships with CWSUs has resulted in the production of IDSS products for special events that affect air traffic in the National Airspace System. Several recent examples include the Austin Grand Prix, the NCAA Final Four, and Super Bowl LII. Finally, AWC has been working on concepts to provide a Day 1 outlook for the threat of severe turbulence or significant mountain wave activity. This product mimics other Day 1 guidance products issued by other National Centers for Environmental Prediction. A prototype graphic was demonstrated in the 2018 Aviation Weather Testbed Summer Experiment. This concept could be easily extended to other significant aviation hazards, such as icing. An overview of these new tools and products will be presented herein.