Use, nonuse, and abuse of weather radar

Abstract

Proper use of weather radar is represented by numerous effective applications in government services and private meteorological groups. These applications include detection and identification of storms, measurement and extrapolation of storm motions, and, with 10-cm wavelength, measurement of heavy rains. An example of inappropriate nonuse of radar is given by high performance systems in the national radar network, whose data have not been dependably provided in real time as needed by aircraft pilots in terminal areas. This nonuse has contributed to inappropriate use of airborne Cand X-band radar equipment and of visual perceptions to support critical decisions to penetrate echoing regions. Indeed, fatal accidents have followed use of airborne radar and visual sightings to support decisions to penetrate convective clouds. We observe that all fatal aircraft accidents involving U.S. air carriers in convective weather have involved flight in heavy precipitation and that recent years have seen a marked rise in the proportion of accidents at terminals. While excellent research is under way to provide manifold improvements in the aviation weather system, some years will pass before the research can be applied in operations. Therefore, technology already available for communicating and displaying radar reflectivity data should be used to facilitate timely evaluation of convective weather and appropriate responses in terminal operations.