Enabling Aircraft-Based Observation of Winds in the US and Europe: Progress and Benefits

It has been known for decades that aircraft, with appropriate provisioning, have the capability to measure and report meteorological data at a high resolution, under all weather conditions, and over areas of operational interest to a wide audience within the aviation community. Significant progress has been made in collaborative standards definition that will enable these data to be downlinked to ATM ground automation and increase NextGen and SESAR efficiencies. This paper reviews this progress and its ramifications. It examines possible coverage in time/space, illustrating how rich a source of information this avenue can provide. A sample NextGen wake turbulence mitigation application is discussed, along with analysis of its wind requirements and beneficial impact of access to near real-time aloft wind observations. Findings show the potential for a substantial increase in procedure availability at a challenging site when aircraft-based observations are available.