Extended Abstract (260K)9.4
Remote detection and real-time alerting for in-cloud turbulence
Jason A. Craig, NCAR, Boulder, CO; and J. K. Williams, G. Blackburn, S. Linden, and R. Stone
Under direction and funding from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NCAR has developed the NEXRAD Turbulence Detection Algorithm (NTDA) to remotely detect in-cloud turbulence using ground-based Doppler radar data. The NTDA, which produces polar radar grids of eddy dissipation rate (EDR) and associated confidence, is part of the NEXRAD Open Radar Product Generator (ORPG) Build 10 upgrade scheduled for deployment in summer 2008. In summer 2007, the NTDA was run on real-time data from 83 NEXRADs in an operational demonstration system at NCAR, with the data mosaicked every 5 minutes into a high-resolution 3D Cartesian grid covering most of the CONUS east of the Rockies. To evaluate the usefulness of the NTDA product, United Airlines Line Check Airmen (LCAs) received customized ASCII messages depicting plan views and vertical cross sections of in-cloud turbulence along their flight paths via the cockpit ACARS printer. These messages were automatically generated based on aircraft route and position information obtained from the Aircraft Situation Display to Industry (ASDI) data feed and were uplinked directly to the cockpits of LCAs who had registered their flights through an NCAR website. Pilots subsequently reviewed their flights' turbulence messages and provided feedback on their accuracy and utility via a web page. The NTDA in-cloud turbulence mosaics were also made available to airline dispatch and Central Weather Service Unit users via a Java web display. This paper presents an overview of the NTDA and the operational demonstration; establishes the NTDA's utility based on pilot feedback, case studies, and statistical comparisons with automated in situ EDR reports; and describes the planned integration of NTDA data into to a new comprehensive, rapid-update version of the nationwide Graphical Turbulence Guidance product in support of the Joint Planning and Development Office's NextGen aviation weather vision.
Session 9, Turbulence and Wind Shear Part I
Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 4:00 PM-5:30 PM, 226-227
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