National Convective Weather Forecast airline dispatcher assessment

Thunderstorms are a cause of national airspace delays during the summer season. Thunderstorm phenomena such as lightning, turbulence, hail, icing, and poor visibility require airspace users to provide a wide margin of separation between these phenomena and aircraft operations. In an attempt to reduce the delays and hazards to aviation, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Weather Research Program (AWRP) has sponsored research and development activities aimed at providing timely and accurate detection and forecasts of convective weather. Utilizing AWRP funding, the Research Applications Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR/RAP) has developed the National Convective Weather Forecast (NCWF). The NCWF provides graphical information for the enroute environment regarding the current and short-term forecast location of thunderstorm activity. The NCWF combines NEXRAD mosaic information along with cloud-to-ground lightning data to produce a convective detection field as well as 1- and 2-hour forecasts of convective weather. The FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC) Communication/Navigation/Surveillance Engineering and Test Division, Weather Branch (ACT-320) conducted an assessment of the NCWF during the 1999 convective season. The assessment involved aircraft dispatch personnel at Delta and Comair airlines, working in their respective operational environments. The assessment focused on the value, perceived benefit, and performance of the NCWF for airline dispatch use, in addition to collecting information on enhancements made by NCAR/RAP from previous versions of the NCWF. ACT-320 personnel collected user feedback through a variety of means including questionnaires, interviews, operational observations, and Internet-based user logs. Results of the assessment indicated the NCWF was useful to airline dispatch operations, however, assessment identified enhancements would further increase the utility of the product.