FAA weather systems will play an important role in the modernization of the National Airspace System (NAS). The primary goal of the NAS architecture is to incorporate the needs and requirements of NAS users and serve as a 'roadmap' to attaining "Free Flight". Free Flight is the safe and efficient operational capability under instrument flight rules in which pilots have the freedom to select their path and speed in real time. Air Traffic restrictions are only imposed to ensure separation, preclude exceeding airport capacity, and ensure safety of flight. Achieving Free Flight requires the development and dissemination of high quality, short range-predictions of aviation-impacting weather to NAS service providers and users. Consequently, FAA weather systems will be part of an integrated architecture that will ensure all NAS users view the same depiction of hazardous weather, thus "common situational awareness" can be realized which enhances the collaborative decision-making process.
In weather, the most dramatic improvement of the NAS Modernization is in the area of weather processors. Within the NAS architecture, two systems will function as "weather servers"-WARP (Weather and Radar Processor) and ITWS (Integrated Terminal Weather System). WARP will primarily be used in the en route domain by the Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) meteorologist. In the terminal domain, ITWS serves non-meteorologist users (e.g., traffic managers and controllers).
As weather servers, WARP and ITWS will 'ingest' computer model output, acquire and process data from other sensors such as NEXRAD, TDWR (Terminal Doppler Weather Radar), ASOS, and receive additional products from the NWS (TAFs, satellite data, etc.). These "servers" will then generate tailored weather products for NAS users and alert controllers/meteorologists to the potential for adverse weather. WARP will also produce NEXRAD mosaics for display to the CWSU meteorologist and to en route controllers. ITWS will enable terminal controllers to more effectively sequence aircraft. They will also forward aviation forecasts in a gridded form for processing by NAS automation systems. By incorporating algorithms funded through the FAA's Aviation Weather Research program, WARP and ITWS will generate more frequent and accurate products, thereby mitigating the impact of adverse weather on the NAS. Additionally, they will utilize NAS communications infrastructure improvements to ensure near-simultaneous dissemination of aviation-impacting weather throughout the NAS.
With the advent of new NAS automation systems, additional requirements for enhanced weather data have emerged. The FAA has worked with NWS to incorporate these requirements into improved, higher-resolution weather models. However, existing NAS communications systems are unable to move the enormous volume of model output quickly. Therefore, the FAA worked with NWS/NCEP, during the development of the FAA Bulk Weather Telecommunications Gateway (FBWTG), to facilitate the movement of model data. FBWTG is a key element in the weather architecture as it enables the high-speed transmission of large amounts of high resolution, gridded weather forecasts between the NWS and the NAS. Its implementation will improve "common situational awareness", as it will serve as the communications delivery vehicle of a single source of NAS weather data.
The 8th Conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology