Activities of the Federal Aviation Administration's Aviation Weather Research Program

Weather is a major cause of aircraft accidents and incidents and the single largest contributor to air traffic system delays. Through improvements in the knowledge of current weather conditions and reliable forecasts, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can improve aviation safety, increase system capacity, and enhance flight planning and fuel efficiency. The FAA has established an Aviation Weather Research Program (AWRP) to address specific requirements for weather support to aviation by providing the capability to generate more accurate and accessible weather observations, warnings, and forecasts and also by increasing the scientific understanding of atmospheric processes that spawn aviation weather hazards. The goal of AWRP is to provide meteorological research that leads to the satisfaction of specific aviation weather requirements. AWRP research areas include inflight icing, Doppler weather radar, ground deicing, turbulence, convective weather, numerical modeling, ceiling/visibility, and terrain-induced turbulence. This paper describes the activities and technological developments of the Aviation Weather Research Program in the FAA.