LOW ALTITUDE WIND SHEAR HAZARDS: GROUND BASED DETECTION AND COMMERCIAL AVIATION USER NEEDS

The aviation community has made great strides over the last 30 years in understanding and avoiding low altitude wind shear and gust front hazards. This success has been, in part, due to the aviation weather community's progress in detecting and distributing real time information regarding these hazards.

A brief review of the current detection systems deployed at airports in the US and other areas of the world (Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and The Netherlands) will be provided. Descriptions of individual system detection accuracy capabilities and limitations will be highlighted. Statistics compiled by the authors' since 1998 for US systems will be presented. These statistics will be segregated by type (e.g. Microbursts, Gust Fronts, Frontal Shears, etc.) time of the year and airport. The authors' eight years of statistics will be compared with accuracy measurements for US systems from other sources.

Current hazard distribution procedures in the US and other areas of the world (Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and The Netherlands) will be provided. Current hazard terminology used in the US and other areas of the world will also be included.

The current capabilities will be compared to commercial aviation needs regarding accuracy, distribution and hazard terminology. The comparisons will be based on conclusions of a Safety Action Team convened from 2004-2005 by the FAA Certificate Management Office (CMO) and Northwest Airlines operational experience.