Publications
Wind prediction to support reduced wake separation standards for closely spaced parallel runway departures
Summary
Summary
Wake vortices are a by-product of lift generated by aircraft. The vortices from the wings and other lift surfaces such as flaps spin off and trail behind an aircraft (see Figure 1). These vortices can be a hazard to other aircraft, especially lighter aircraft that are following at low altitude...
Potential benefits of reducing wake-related aircraft spacing at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Summary
Summary
Measurements and modeling of wake vortices reveal that the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) minimum separation requirements for departing aircraft are often overly conservative. If the separation times following heavy aircraft can be safely reduced, considerable savings will be realized. The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) experiences departure delays daily. Banks...
A comparison of boundary layer wind estimation techniques
Summary
Summary
Accurate, short-term (0-2 hour) forecasts of convective initiation provide critical information about weather that has a major impact on aviation safety and system capacity. The Terminal Convective Weather Forecast (TCWF) algorithm is a key component of the FAA's operational Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS). Convective forecasts rely, in part, upon...
A study of time-to-fly estimates for RUC and ITWS winds
Summary
Summary
Automated air traffic decision support tools must compute the time it takes an aircraft to fly along a path. The estimation of Time-To-Fly (TTF) requires accurate knowledge of the wind. Two proposed sources of wind data for the Center-TRACON Automation System (CTAS) developed by NASA are the Rapid Update Cycle...
Distribution of aviation weather hazard information: low altitude wind shear
Summary
Summary
Weather Hazard Information distribution is a necessary component for a successful system of weather hazard avoidance for aviation. It is a very important component, but not the only one. In order to be successful, a complete set of components must be included in the system: 1) Accurate Conceptual Model (Appropriate...
Weather sensing and data fusion to improve safety and reduce delays at major west coast airports
Summary
Summary
In this paper we present results from a recently completed study of weather sensing and data fusion to improve safety and reduce delays at major west coast airports. With the exception of a summer stratus burn-off prediction project at San Francisco, these airports have received much less attention in terms...
Improving RUC-1 wind estimates by incorporating near-real-time aircraft reports
Summary
Summary
A verification study of wind accuracy is presented for wind nowcasts generated by augmenting Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) wind forecasts with near-real-time aircraft reports using the Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) gridded winds algorithm. Aircraft wind reports collected between the end of the RUC data collection interval and the time...
Wind prediction accuracy for air traffic management decision support tools
Summary
Summary
Air traffic automation depends on accurate trajectory predictions. Flight tests show that wind errors are a large source of error. Wind-field accuracy is sufficient on average, but large errors occasionally exist that cause significant errors in trajectory-prediction. A year long study was conducted to better understand the wind-prediction errors, to...
Weather sensing and data fusion to improve safety and reduce delays at major west coast airports
Summary
Summary
The objective of this study was to analyze the weather sensing and data fusion required to improve safety and reduce delays at a number of west coast airports that are not currently scheduled to receive an Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS). This report considers the Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco...
Aircraft Vortex Spacing System (AVOSS) initial 1997 system deployment at Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) Airport
Summary
Summary
The potential hazard of aircraft encounters with the wake turbulence of preceding aircraft requires the use of minimum separations on landing that are a significant constraint on airport arrival capacity during instrument flight rules (IF) conditions. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center has been researching the...