NOAA Progress toward Development and Deployment of the NextGen 4 Dimensional Weather Data Cube

The 4-D Weather Data Cube is a critical part of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Approximately 70% of air traffic delays are attributable to weather impacting the American economy in excess of $40B annually. Of these delays, approximately two thirds could be prevented with greater access to improved weather information. The 4-D Weather Data Cube will provide better access to more accurate weather data for seamless and timely access to environmental data critical for all air traffic management decision makers and aircraft operators.

This paper describes the scope, objectives, schedule and progress made towards building the 4-D Weather Data Cube. The 4-D Weather Data Cube is a multi-agency Federal-Industry partnership that will be a virtual 4-D weather data base containing the necessary weather state information for aviation decision making. The near-term focus is the achievement of an Initial Operation Capability in 2013. However, there are long-term R&D activities that are needed to meet NextGen requirements.