Aviation Weather Services A Call For Federal Leadership and Action (1995) / Chapter Skim
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Chapter 3: Current Services
Chapter 3: Current Services
Pages 22-40
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From page 22... ...
One way to assess the near-te~ effectiveness of aviation weather services is to examine whether they meet user needs for accurate and timely inflation about operationally significant weather. This approach is consistent with the approach that the FAA itself is using to plan improvements in the aviation weather system.
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From page 23... ...
The committee identified three areas of particular concern related to the ability of aviation weather services to meet user needs for aviation weather observations: · number and location of weather observing sites; · pilot reports and automated aircraft weather observations; and automation of surface observations.
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From page 24... ...
or AFSS. Once pilot reports have been received by an air traffic controller or flight service specialist, he or she must write down the information and
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From page 25... ...
Pilots, controllers, and flight service specialists need encouragement to generate and disseminate pilot reports. In addition, processing and dissemination systems should make it easier for users to sort through and obtain useful information from pilot reports quickly.
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From page 26... ...
, the GAO report does illustrate the type of criticism that ASOS continues to attract from some aviation users. The committee did not conduct a detailed assessment of issues associated with the automation of aviation weather services such as those described above for ASOS.
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From page 27... ...
Within the aviation weather community, data analysis focuses on the aviation impact variables-such as ceiling, visibility, turbulence, and icing that are particularly important to flight operations. In some cases private weather services that market customized services use observational data sets and analysis products produced by the NWS as the foundation for generating their own analysis products.
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From page 28... ...
Each CWSU prepares tailored forecasts for the air traffic control supervisors and air traffic managers at the corresponding ARTCC.5 Each of these facilities uses a mixture of individual weather products that they obtain from either the NWS or private weather services. The private weather services, in turn, access data and information (for a fee)
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From page 29... ...
may be unable to disseminate pilot reports of adverse weather conditions "at their time of receipt because of equipment limitations" and workload constraints. · The exchange of weather information between pilots and air traffic controllers "was time-consuming, work-intensive, and caused [radio]
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From page 30... ...
. Information: federal efforts to reduce dissemination costs; form and content of weather products; dissemination to pilots en route; role of air traffic controllers; effectiveness of Center Weather Service Units; and · dissemination to airport operators.
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From page 31... ...
Recommendation: Flight service specialists should remain available as a source of preflight arid en route weather information for general aviation arid business pilots. Form and Content of Weather Products One of the FAA's key goals for the federal aviation weather system is to enable all users to plan for-rather than simply react to-operationally significant weather.
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From page 32... ...
Many airline dispatch offices, air traffic control facilities, and weather forecast offices have access to a wide variety of full-color graphic weather products that display up-to-date local, national, and even global weather information. However, except for voice radio, general aviation aircraft, commuter airlines, and even some air carriers typically have no ability to receive or display weather information en route.
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From page 33... ...
includes the following guidance for air traffic controllers with regard to weather info~uation: . · Become familiar with pertinent weather information when coming on duty.
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From page 34... ...
Finding: Increasing the ability of air traffic controllers to access accurate weather information would encourage them to monitor meteorological conditions routinely. Increasing controllers' awareness of adverse weather could significantly contribute to the safety and efficiency of the airways.
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From page 35... ...
Dissemination to Airport Operators Airport managers need accurate and up-to-date weather information to minimize the impact of snow and other adverse weather conditions on airport safety and capacity. In particular, timely information is essential to assemble the snow removal crews needed to keep run ways open.
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From page 36... ...
In addition, many of the weather-related questions on pilot examinations focus on the ability of students to decipher the abbreviations used in standard weather messages rather than on their ability to use weather information in making safe operational decisions regarding the weather. As a result, it is not uncommon for general aviation pilots to ask flight service specialists if it is safe to fly, even though it is the pilot's responsibility to make that determination (Lankford, 19951.
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From page 37... ...
It is also a common occurrence for air traffic controllers to provide en route assistance to pilots regarding weather conditions even though controllers have limited access to meteorological information. Controllers generally have less meteorological experience than flight service specialists, and controllers have other duties that limit their ability to focus on providing weather information to pilots.
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From page 38... ...
More recently, on January 9-10, 1995, the Secretary of Transportation hosted an airline safety summit. The safety summit generated seven recommendations related to aviation weather services and research: The FAA, NWS, and industry should commit to implementation of the recommendations of the 1993 National Aviation Weather Users Forum twhich are referred to above]
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From page 39... ...
Recommendation: The FAA should take the lead in establishing and aggressively pursuing aviation weather goals and priorities that reflect the positions of other involved parties, including the following: other federal agencies and departments; other providers of aviation weather services fe.g., private weather services and state governmentsJ; and user groups, including the unions, associations, and industry groups that represent those who work with the U.S. aviation weather system on a daily basis: air carrier personnel, pilots, air traffic controllers, flight service specialists, meteorologists, and dispatchers.
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From page 40... ...
1994e. Air Traffic Center Weather Service Units Contract History.
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