Summary
In this paper, we describe a major new FAA initiative, the Corridor Integrated Weather System (CIWS), to improve convective weather decision support for congested en route airspace and the terminals within that airspace through use of a large, heterogeneous network of weather sensing radars as well as many additional sensors. The objective of the CIWS concept exploration is to determine the improvements in NAS performance that could be achieved by providing en route controllers, en route and major terminal traffic flow managers, and airline dispatch with accurate, fully automated high update-rate information on current and near term (0-2 hour) storm locations, severity and vertical structure so that they can achieve more efficient tactical use of the airspace. These "tactical" traffic flow management products will complement the longer-term (2-6 hr) forecasts that are also needed for flight planning and strategic traffic flow management. Since balancing the en route traffic flows in the presence of time varying impacts on sector capacities by convective weather is essential if delays are to be reduced, an important element of the CIWS initiative is interfacing to and, in some cases providing, air traffic flow management (TFM) and airline dispatch decision support tools (DSTs)