PILOT WX ADVISOR

THE SAFETY OF FLIGHT OPERATIONS OF MANY GENERAL AVIATION (GA) AIRCRAFT IS COMPROMISED BY THE LACK OF REAL-TIME, SEVERE-WEATHER INFORMATION IN THE COCKPIT. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE AN AUTOMATED COCKPIT WEATHER-DISPLAY SYSTEM THAT WILL DO ALL THESE THINGS AND MORE. IN PHASE I, THE ABILITY OF MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS TO PUT LARGE AMOUNTS OF WEATHER DATA DERIVED FROM GROUND OBSERVING SITES ON BOARD A GA AIRCRAFT WILL BE EVALUATED. DEMONSTRATION FLIGHT TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO SHOW THE FEASIBILITY OF A SATELLITE COMMUNICATION LINK AND THE PROTOTYPE MAP-TYPE WEATHER DEPICTIONS. A PROTOTYPE AIRBORNE SYSTEM WOULD BE CONSTRUCTED AND TESTED ON A HIGH-PERFORMANCE GA AIRCRAFT IN PHASE II. ADDITIONAL DATA TYPES WILL BE CONSIDERED, INCLUDING AREA FORECASTS AND TRENDS, ROUTE CROSS-SECTIONS, TDWR, AND NEXRAD PRODUCTS, IF AVAILABLE, ON AN ELECTRONIC, MOVING-MAP DISPLAY. THESE ADDITIONAL DATA TYPES WILL BE USED AS INPUT TO AN ON-BOARD SMART SYSTEM THAT WOULD DEVELOP FLIGHT PATH RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THE PILOT'S OWN OPERATIONAL CRITERIA. THE SAFETY OF FLIGHT OPERATIONS OF MANY GENERAL AVIATION (GA) AIRCRAFT IS COMPROMISED BY THE LACK OF REAL-TIME, SEVERE-WEATHER INFORMATION IN THE COCKPIT. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE AN AUTOMATED COCKPIT WEATHER-DISPLAY SYSTEM THAT WILL DO ALL THESE THINGS AND MORE. IN PHASE I, THE ABILITY OF MODERN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS TO PUT LARGE AMOUNTS OF WEATHER DATA DERIVED FROM GROUND OBSERVING SITES ON BOARD A GA AIRCRAFT WILL BE EVALUATED. DEMONSTRATION FLIGHT TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO SHOW THE FEASIBILITY OF A SATELLITE COMMUNICATION LINK AND THE PROTOTYPE MAP-TYPE WEATHER DEPICTIONS. A PROTOTYPE AIRBORNE SYSTEM WOULD BE CONSTRUCTED AND TESTED ON A HIGH-PERFORMANCE GA AIRCRAFT IN PHASE II. ADDITIONAL DATA TYPES WILL BE CONSIDERED, INCLUDING AREA FORECASTS AND TRENDS, ROUTE CROSS-SECTIONS, TDWR, AND NEXRAD PRODUCTS, IF AVAILABLE, ON AN ELECTRONIC, MOVING-MAP DISPLAY. THESE ADDITIONAL DATA TYPES WILL BE USED AS INPUT TO AN ON-BOARD SMART SYSTEM THAT WOULD DEVELOP FLIGHT PATH RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THE PILOT'S OWN OPERATIONAL CRITERIA.