Weather Integration Concept of Operations for Transforming the National Airspace System

This paper will present the core elements and direction of the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) Weather Concept of Operations. A key purpose of the concept of operations is to facilitate the integration of NGATS-relevant weather information with Air Traffic Management (ATM) decision support tools. Ultimately, the NGATS Weather Concept of Operations will guide the long-term research and development of this weather information and ATM decision support tool integration. Past practices have typically led to the development of ATM decision support tools and weather information in parallel with little to no regard for how the two should be integrated. This lack of integration has led to less than optimal operational performance of the system. The goal of ATM-Weather Integration is to identify critical NGATS-relevant weather information and develop a combined system of ATM-relevant weather services and weather-savvy automation and procedures for NGATS decision makers. This paper outlines the NGATS ATM-Weather concepts and potential user needs to achieve the goals of the Next Generation Air Transportation System.