The 4-D Weather Single Authoritative Source for air traffic management

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) weather concept of operations details the requirement for a temporally and spatially consistent set of weather data to be used for air traffic management decision making in the National Airspace System (NAS). This data set is called the 4-D Weather Single Authoritative Source, or 4-D Weather SAS, and is officially defined here.

The Single Authoritative Source (SAS) is a subset of the NextGen 4-Dimensional Weather Data Cube (4-D Wx Data Cube) that supports the civil Air Navigation Service Provider's (ANSP) Air Traffic Management (ATM) decisions. By Full Operational Capability (FOC), the SAS will meet the requirements and needs of ATM decision-makers throughout the NAS.

To ensure a complete understanding and consistent application of this SAS definition, this paper will define and elaborate on other important concepts and terms that underlie the SAS, such as 4-D Weather Data Cube, Air Navigation Service Provider, and Air Traffic Management.

This paper also details the governmental multi-agency work performed to reach agreement on these definitions, which includes assistance from many private industry partners. It outlines the proposed schedule from an initial operating capability in 2013 to a fully operational SAS at the NextGen end state. In addition, the paper elaborates on the many challenges to implementation of a true SAS including examples on what a SAS should or should not be, what a SAS should or should not contain, and how the SAS should or should not be applied.