The Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET®) has expanded its Professional Development Series (PDS) training strategy to the aviation hazards forecast arena. COMET sponsors, composed of the National Weather Service (NWS), Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA), and the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC), have formed a Science Applications Team (SAT) for aviation. The SAT has identified in-flight icing hazards as a high priority topic in terms of training needs. The first aviation PDS, Forecasting Aviation Icing, is composed of several training components that directly address specific tasks aviation forecasters need to perform in the diagnosis and forecasting of in-flight icing.
The first COMET Web-based in-flight icing training module, published in February 1998, was geared toward military and NWS aviation forecasters. This training component provides basic background knowledge on the physics of icing and a wealth of information on identifying and diagnosing atmospheric conditions conducive to in-flight icing. The site takes advantage of the Web's versatility in providing widespread access, interactive exercises, and the ability to update with new material, as it becomes available.
A second and more current effort incorporates the use of both Web and CD technology to provide an interactive case-study-based learning environment designed to simulate the aviation forecast process as it relates to in-flight icing and provide additional experience with various forecast tools. To facilitate this, data from two extensive case studies are available on a CD while Web-based guidance and interactions have been developed to interact with the CD-based data. The melding of the two technologies allows for the advantages of both to be realized. These include rapid data viewing from the CD without the bandwidth restrictions inherent to the Web, adaptation of Web-based exercises to the available data, and the ability to change and/or expand the Web-based exercises relatively efficiently and quickly.
Subsequent topics that the SAT have identified include ceiling, visibility, fog, and low-cloud forecasting. Development efforts in these topic areas will continue to explore both CD and Internet technologies and capabilities to enhance on-site aviation forecaster professional development
The 8th Conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology