En-Route Turbulence Detection using Aireon Space Based ADS-B

Severe turbulence encounters can force airlines to ground and inspect affected aircraft upon arrival, thereby losing operational capability and decreasing the efficiency of their fleet operations; in the worst cases, severe turbulence can also lead to passenger and crew injuries. Often, airlines do not have access to severe turbulence encounter information until after the aircraft lands, which causes delays in the inspection operations and lengthens the grounding of the aircraft. This paper presents a novel method that exploits Aireon Space Based Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) data to detect in near-real-time severe turbulence encounters at a global scale, which can be implemented to provide additional awareness to air traffic stakeholders, allowing for rapid response both in terms of airborne and on- ground operations.