Using Satellite Data to Improve Flight Safety and Aviation Weather

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Using Satellite Data to Improve Flight Safety
and Aviation Weather

• Gary Ellrod (NOAA/NESDIS)
• Camp Springs, Maryland

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Outline

• Weather Impacts on Aviation
• Aviation Weather Providers
• Review of NOAA Satellites
• Satellite Detection of Aviation Hazards
• Low ceilings/visibility
• Aircraft icing
• Jet streams
• Turbulence mountain waves
• Thunderstorm hazards (winds, lightning)
• Aerosols (volcanic ash / smoke / haze)

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Weather as a Factor in Aviation

• 6B annual socio-economic impact (ATA)
• 40 due to fog and low clouds
• Accident costs (MCR Federal)
• Ceiling visibilities account for 50 of 690M
• Weather-related accident causes (GAO)
• Airliners turbulence
• General aviation winds wind shear
• Contingency fuel loads based on forecasts
• Average cost 2.25M daily

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Aviation Weather Providers

• Pre-flight
• NWS forecasts
• Tailored forecasts
• Airline dispatchers
• Commercial providers
• Flight Service Stations (FAA)
• Inflight
• NWS Aviation Weather Center (SIGMETs)
• Center Weather Service Units (at ARTCCs)

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NOAA Satellites - Review

• Geostationary (GOES)
• Visible (1 km)
• 4 Infrared (4 km)
• Shortwave (3.9 mm)
• Water vapor (6.7mm)
• Window IR (11 mm)
• Split window (12 mm)

• Polar-orbiting (NOAA)
• Visible (1 km)
• 2 Near-IR (1.1 1.6 mm)
• 3 Infrared
• Shortwave (3.7 mm)
• Window IR (11 mm)
• Split window (12 mm)

Preferred by aviation users
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Low Ceilings / Visibilities

• Fog/stratus caused by
• Radiational cooling
• Saturation by rainfall
• Flow of moist air over cold surface (snow cover,
  lake)
• Upslope flow
• Not all fog detectable via satellite

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Daytime Fog in Visible Satellite Imagery
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Night Two-Band Fog Product vs IR Image
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http//orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/arad/fpdt/fog.htm
l
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Fog Detection in Remote Regions (Alaska)
GOES-10 Imager
NOAA-16 AVHRR
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http//orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/arad/fpdt/fog.htm
l
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Resolution vs Fog Detection
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Fog Clearing Case 14 June 2001 / 645 AM 215
PM
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Aircraft Icing
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Factors Conducive to Aircraft Icing

• Temperature (0 to -20C)
• Liquid Phase (supercooled clouds)
• Drizzle-size cloud droplets
• High Liquid Water Content
• Weak vertical motion
• Embedded convection
• Large areal extent

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GOES Icing Risk Product

• Multiple threshold technique (Vis 3 IR)
• Product available hourly day and night
• Strengths
• Good detection (70), low false alarm rate
• Good spatial, temporal coverage
• Weaknesses
• Obscuration by high clouds
• No information on heavy icing

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Turbulence Mechanisms

• Wind shear along jet and upper fronts
• Flow over obstacles
• Mountains
• Thunderstorms
• Rough terrain
• Convection (thunderstorms, dry thermals)
• Wake turbulence from other aircraft

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Extreme Turbulence Scenarios

• Environmental conditions
• Strong jet intersects
• Cold front with
• Low top convection
• Extreme turbulence possible over and downwind
  from convection

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Satellite-Derived Motion Fields Geostationary
Visible, IR, WV Channels

• Imagery types
• Water vapor (6.7um)
• Window IR (11um)
• Visible (0.65um)
• Frequency
• 30 min x 3
• Coverage
• Global
• Automatic production quality control

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GOES Water Vapor / IR Winds
http//orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/arad/fpdt/winds.h
tml
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Thunderstorm Hazards
Microburst
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Microburst/Downburst Detection with GOES

• Arc shaped gust fronts
• Warming in anvil cloud top
• Rapid storm motion
• Indices from GOES Sounder

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Bow Echo with Strong IR Gradients (WV)9 August
2000
GOES-8 Visible
GOES-8 Infrared
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Maximum Thunderstorm Gust Potential GOES Sounder
Profiles 3 Aug 2002
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Forecasting Thunderstorm Formation
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Thunderstorm Formation 20 July 2000, 215 -
515 PM
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The Collaborative Convective Forecast
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Lightning from Space NASA Lightning Imaging
Sensor (LIS)

• Provides total flash rates, land sea, day and
  night
• Possible applications
• Oceanic advisories
• Severe storm forecasts
• Could be flown on future GOES

Supercell Storm
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Volcanic Hazards
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Hazards of Volcanic Ash

• Reduced jet engine performance, possible stalls
  (KLM Flight 867 fell gt2 miles in Alaska!)
• Abrasion, pitting of leading edges
• Electrical discharges (St. Elmos fire)
• Ash difficult for pilots to see at night
• Volcanoes in remote areas (North Pacific) where
  few alternate airfields available
• Height/depth of ash difficult to determine

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Eruption of Mt. Clevelandin Alaska on March 19,
2001
Popocatepetl, Mexico December 19, 2000
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Mt. St. Helens Eruption GOES Visible
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Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs)
Established by ICAO (1997)
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Smoke as an Aviation Hazard
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Haze Detection
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Conclusions

• Weather satellites play an important role in
  supporting aviation forecasts warnings
• Future satellites will have even greater
  capabilities
• This presentation available at
• ftp//orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/arad/fpdt1/ncs
  u/

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Satellite Data Help With Situational Awareness
But cant help in every situation!
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Internet Resources

• This presentation available at
• ftp//orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/arad/fpdt1/ncs
  u/
• Aviation Weather Products and Forecasts
• http//orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/arad/fpdt/
  (NESDIS)
• http//aviationweather.gov/ (NWS)
• http//adds.aviationweather.noaa.gov/ (NWS/NCAR)
• Tutorials
• http//ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/rs/sat/ho
  me.rxml (University of Illinois)
• http//rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/start.html (NASA
  Goddard)
• http//meted.ucar.edu/topics_aviation.php
  (COMET/UCAR)
• General information
• http//www.fly.faa.gov/flyFAA/index.html (Airport
  status)