GSD tools provide heads-up to potential aviation trouble spots and streamline forecast process
Screen shot of the tool's interface showing a map of the continental U.S. highlighting areas of heat that could limit air traffic flow.
August 14, 2017
This summer in the Aviation Weather Testbed (AWT), forecasters will have a GSD tool at their disposal that combines air traffic patterns with convective weather forecasts to give a heads-up to potential trouble spots. The AWT provides an opportunity for forecasters and researchers to work with new and innovative tools and techniques for aviation forecasting. The experiment runs from August 7-18 in Kansas City, Missouri.
GSD’s INtegrated Support for air Traffic Environments (INSITE) tool combines current and historical air traffic with real-time and forecast convective weather to generate a “heat map,” or an overview of areas where thunderstorms could limit air traffic flow. GSD researchers will be on hand as forecasters evaluate INSITE’s usefulness in generating the Traffic Flow Management Convective Forecast (TCF). The NWS, airlines, and the FAA use the TCF to balance traffic demand. This capability is critical because with 5,000 aircraft in the sky at any given time, weather delays cost air travelers billions of dollars each year.
AWT Participants in the Aviation Weather Center
AWT participants will also use other GSD-developed tools that streamline the process of creating digital grids of visibility and ceiling thresholds, and a “Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) formatter” that encodes the grids into TAF text products. A TAF is a concise statement of the expected meteorological conditions at an airport during a specified period (usually 24 hours), and is used by pilots, airline dispatchers, and air traffic managers.
For more information contact: Susan Cobb 303-497-5093
