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Short Course on

Meteorological Applications of

Aircraft Weather Data

Introduction and Brief History

January 14, 2007

David Helmsdavid.helms@noaa.gov

NOAA/NWS

Office of Science and Technology

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• Background

• Data Collection Attributes

• Future Enhancements

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First Weather Bureau and First Weather Bureau and Regional Airline CollaborationRegional Airline Collaboration

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What is AMDAR?What is AMDAR?

Aircraft Meteorological DAat and Reporting (AMDAR):

• An international effort within the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to coordinate the collection o f environmental observations from commercial aircraft

U.S. AMDAR - Meteorological Data Collection and Reporting System (MDCRS):

• A private/public partnership facilitating the collection of atmospheric measurements from commercial aircraft to improve aviation safety

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What is U.S. AMDAR?What is U.S. AMDAR?

Participants:

• American, Delta, FedEx, Northwest, Southwest, United, UPS

• NOAA and FAA

U.S. AMDAR Program has been collecting wind and temperature observations from commercial aircraft since

the early 1980’s with dramatic increases after 1991. CONUS: 150,000 Observations

per Day

25 50 75

10

20

30

40

50

100 125255075100125

290 mph 600 mph

DescentAscent

+5min

+10min

+22min

Aircraft Climb Rate: ~1.5kft/min Aircraft Descent Rate: ~1.0kft/min

-28min

-20min

-10min+10min

+20min

+30min

+50min

+40min

Avg Wind: 60 Kts

600 mphAircraft Speed

Kft

Balloon Climb Rate: ~1.0kft/min

Distance (NM) Distance (NM)

AMDAR Data Collection:AMDAR Data Collection:Comparison to RadiosondeComparison to Radiosonde

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AMDAR Data Collection:AMDAR Data Collection:“Salad Bowl” Effect“Salad Bowl” Effect

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Avg # Reports per 6hr Cycle (+/- 3 hr window)

per Layer

Co

un

t b

y P

ress

ure

Lay

er (

mb

)Temperature Observation Counts

North American Domain (20-70 North, 60-140 West)January 2006

2500 Aircraft Obs vs. 200 Radiosonde Obs per Layer

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Avg # Reports per 6hr Cycle (+/- 3 hr window)

per Layer

Co

un

t b

y P

ress

ure

Lay

er (

mb

)Wind Observation Counts

North American Domain (20-70 North, 60-140 West)January 2006

2500 Aircraft Obs vs. 200 Radiosonde Obs per Layer

Max Count = VAD Winds

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Avg # Reports per 6hr Cycle (+/- 3 hr window)

per Layer

Co

un

t b

y P

ress

ure

Lay

er (

mb

)Relative Humidity Observation Counts

North American Domain (20-70 North, 60-140 West)January 2006

300 Aircraft Obs vs. 170 Radiosonde Obs per Layer

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AMDAR Data Collection:AMDAR Data Collection:Sampling FrequencySampling Frequency

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AMDAR Data Collection:AMDAR Data Collection:Ascent/Descent Sampling FrequencyAscent/Descent Sampling Frequency

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AMDAR Data Collection:AMDAR Data Collection:En Route Sampling FrequencyEn Route Sampling Frequency

14MDCRS Data: Surface to 15K ft MDCRS Data: 15Kft to 40K ft

Most Observations Above 25K ft

Most Ascents/DescentsIn the Midwest and

East and West Coasts

AMDAR Data Collection:AMDAR Data Collection:Spatial CoverageSpatial Coverage

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Weekly Data Availability Varies by 40%

Daily Data AvailabilityVaries by 60%

AMDAR Data Collection:AMDAR Data Collection:Temporal CoverageTemporal Coverage

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AMDAR Data Collection: AMDAR Data Collection: Sometimes too much data??Sometimes too much data??

Numbers indicate average number of ascent/descent soundings per day

during the week of April 10, 2005

157

100

208

64

96

DAL: 31DFW: 23AFW: 10

64

135

53 20

151

18

131

LAX:120SAN: 24ONT: 23BUR: 3

170

54SFO: 78OAK: 39SMF: 10MHR: 7SJC: 7FAT: 1

142

JFK: 64EWR: 39LGA: 32

135

43

15

22

24

35

31

6

7

13

13

10

10

175

64

714

5

518

22

8

2

88

13

7

8

5

91

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Average Daily MDCRS Aircraft Soundings(Ascents and Descents)

2615

13

13

9

9

9

7

7

7

5

5

5

4

3

3

3

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

9

6

142

3170

1

4

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AMDAR Data Collection: AMDAR Data Collection: Not Currently Dynamically ScalableNot Currently Dynamically Scalable

Day 1 Outlook: Probability of Damaging Winds

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AMDAR Future: AMDAR Future: Building on our SuccessBuilding on our Success

• Water Vapor Sensor System (WVSS II) • 25 sensors installed on UPS B-757• Assessment commenced March 2005

• TAMDAR:• 60 sensors installed on Mesaba Saab 340 Aircraft• Assessment commenced December 2004

Adding Water Vapor to Data Collection:

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AMDAR Links:AMDAR Flyer

http://www.wmo.ch/web/aom/amprog/Publications/Final%20Production%20AMDAR%20Flyer.pdf

U.S. AMDAR Page

http://amdar.noaa.gov/

Automated Meteorological Reports from Commercial Aircraft by Bill Moninger, Rich Mamrosh, and Pat Pauley (2003). Published in the February, 2003 issue of the Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 84, 203-216. http://amdar.noaa.gov/docs/bams/

Optimization Requirements Document for the Meteorological Data Collection and Reporting System / Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay System, 2006, submitted to NOAA by ARINC.

http://amdar.noaa.gov/docs/ARINC_Optimization_%20Req_March2006.pdf

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Comments???

David Helms301-713-3557 x193

david.helms@noaa.gov

NOAA/NWS

Office of Science and Technology

Regional Jet GrowthFrom

FAA Registrations, 1995-2004

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RJs: An Untapped Resource RJs: An Untapped Resource May 2003May 2003

RJ Airframes