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Convection diagnosis and nowcasting for oceanic aviation applications

Published in:
Proc. SPIE, Vol. 7088, Remote Sensing Applications for Aviation Weather Hazard Detection and Decision Support, 25 August 2008, 708808.

Summary

An oceanic convection diagnosis and nowcasting system is described whose domain of interest is the region between the southern continental United States and the northern extent of South America. In this system, geostationary satellite imagery are used to define the locations of deep convective clouds through the weighted combination of three independent algorithms. The resultant output, called the Convective Diagnosis Oceanic (CDO) product, is independently validated against space-borne radar and lightning products from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite to ascertain the ability of the CDO to discriminate hazardous convection. The CDO performed well in this preliminary investigation with some limitations noted. Short-term, 1-hr and 2-hr nowcasts of convection location are performed within the Convective Nowcasting Oceanic (CNO) system using a storm tracker. The CNO was found to have good statistical performance at extrapolating existing storm positions. Current work includes the development and implementation of additional atmospheric features for nowcasting convection initiation and to improve nowcasting of mature convection evolution.
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Summary

An oceanic convection diagnosis and nowcasting system is described whose domain of interest is the region between the southern continental United States and the northern extent of South America. In this system, geostationary satellite imagery are used to define the locations of deep convective clouds through the weighted combination of...

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The FAA AWRP oceanic weather program development team

Summary

Remote, oceanic regions have few, if any, high resolution weather products that indicate the current or future locations of aviation hazards such as volcanic ash, convection, turbulence, icing or adverse headwinds. Moreover, oceanic regions present unique challenges due to severely limited data availability, the long duration of transoceanic flights and the difficulty of transmitting critical information into the cockpit. In 2001, the Oceanic Weather Program Development Team (OWPDT; Herzegh et al. 2002) was organized within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Weather Research Program (AWRP) to focus on resourceful methods for overcoming these limitations through the use of a diverse range of satellite observations, global model results and satellite-based communications. Resulting products focus on the needs of pilots, dispatchers, air traffic managers and forecasters within the oceanic aviation community. The team is a leader in the inflight display of weather products and will continue to develop new displays as products become available.
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Summary

Remote, oceanic regions have few, if any, high resolution weather products that indicate the current or future locations of aviation hazards such as volcanic ash, convection, turbulence, icing or adverse headwinds. Moreover, oceanic regions present unique challenges due to severely limited data availability, the long duration of transoceanic flights and...

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Development of automated aviation weather products for ocean/remote regions: scientific and practical challenges, research strategies, and first steps

Published in:
10th Conf. on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology, 13-16 May 2002, pp. 57-60.

Summary

From the common and recognizable occurrence of convection, to the sporadic and far less visible reach of volcanic ash, meteorological phenomena impose diverse challenges to the efficiency, economic viability, and safety of flight operations across the global oceans. Those challenges are compounded by special difficulties associated with nowcasting and forecasting for remote areas, such as expansive voids in surface observations and soundings, large forecast domains, communications difficulties, and long-duration flights often needing significant forecast updates. Conspicuously lacking over oceans are the observational capabilities that provide key information about the internal structure of convection - notably radar and lightning detection systems. The long-term oceanic weather development program (OW) outlined here seeks to use improved understanding of the phenomenology of oceanic weather hazards along with new observations, model information and processing tools to fashion automated forecast/briefing products supporting remote oceanic routes. A parallel OW objective (outlined by Lindholm and Bums, 2002, this conference volume) supports in-flight product transfer to the cockpit. Established in March, 2001, the OW program is still in its infancy. Thus, we concentrate here upon strategy and the scientific basis for our plans. Although our work has begun with a focus on low and middle latitudes (Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions), increasing use of polar routes is likely to raise the priority for products tailored to high latitude regions over the next several years.
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Summary

From the common and recognizable occurrence of convection, to the sporadic and far less visible reach of volcanic ash, meteorological phenomena impose diverse challenges to the efficiency, economic viability, and safety of flight operations across the global oceans. Those challenges are compounded by special difficulties associated with nowcasting and forecasting...

READ MORE

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