The FAA's Aviation Weather Research Program (AWRP), as directed by the Air Traffic Organization's Operations Planning Service Unit's (ATO-P) Aviation Weather Group (AWG), continues to sponsor and lead innovative and pertinent applied weather research to improve National Airspace System (NAS) performance while supporting the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) vision. AWRP, through the critical support of several national laboratories, other government agencies, and universities, has been successful transitioning convective forecast, icing, turbulence and other products into NAS operations via several FAA or National Weather Service display and integration platforms.

AWRP will continue to sponsor important weather research during the transition to NextGen, but needs to begin a gradual transition from the current “state of the atmosphere” research to weather translation and integration initiatives. AWRP will also sponsor research to develop capabilities which meet select short and mid-term weather requirements as opportunities arise.

This presentation will review the successes of AWRP, highlight current projects and initiatives, discuss ideas for future direction and look at ways to keep AWRP relevant in the challenging budget environment which exists today.