Authoritative Observational Requirements for the Next Generation Air Transportation System

Abstract

In February 2008, the U.S. Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) for the Next Generation Air Transportation System issued an initial list of functional requirements for a NextGen network-enabled weather information system. The JPDO Weather Working Group then assembled an Environmental Information Team to oversee the further development of this document and to ensure that all of its observations and forecast data requirements are identified and clearly defined. Resolution requirements for traditional aviation weather hazards such as convective weather, in-flight icing, turbulence, volcanic ash are being developed. Observational scales of emerging problems for aviation in space weather and the environmental impacts of aviation are also being identified. Prior to this effort, an effort was begun by NOAA to comprehensively document the threshold and objective observational requirements for all of the required observables. To support this goal, scientists at NASA and NOAA conducted an extensive survey of the aviation weather research community. The results of this survey were used to help establish the baseline observational requirements for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Requirements for aviation weather observations had been originally codified by the NOAA NWS Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services, Aviation Services Branch into a Consolidated Observations Requirements List (CORL) for Aviation (CT-AWX). The survey was conducted to update and expand the CORL CT-AWX to help develop a 4-D aviation weather information data base that will underpin NextGen. This information will also be employed by NOAA and NASA to inform the current operation and future development of research and operational observing systems. These comprehensive aviation observation requirements are also being developed to help support gap analyses for the aviation component of the Integrated Earth Observing System in order to inform the investment strategies of the FAA, NASA, and NOAA that are needed to develop the observational architecture to support NextGen and other users of high resolution environmental observations.