A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/785247
were on turbulence detecting through use of radar and the use of Eddy Dissipation Rate (EDR). EDR is a number that is calculated using sensors already on b oard most commercial aircraft and uses an algorithm that is loaded into the avionics and creates a turbulence value. The number is aircraft specific but can be applied to other aircraft in the same weight category. The Aviation Weather Center's website h as a turbulence product that uses EDR and shows graphical representation of areas of turbulence based on three weight classes of aircraft. One of the presentations discussed a research project that the FAA is funding on controller workload as it relates to turbulence and bad rides. They are currently trying to create an algorithm that will collect the amount of altitude changes that they think are attributed to bad rides. A number of issue were brought up about the direction they were going as in just altit ude changes are a small part of the workload and they really need to coordinate site visits and site and listen to controllers during days with bad rides as there is no way to quantify the workload without a ctually seeing and hearing it. Icing was anot her topic that had a lot of focus, there were some papers presented on using radar to actually show and discriminate on the type and intensity of the icing. One thing that came up in a number of presentations was the need for much greater numbers of PIREPS and the need for better accuracy and consistency. Academia is actually planning flight tests into know areas of icing to help validate the work that they are doing but that is only is a very small focused area of the country. Some of the presentations dis cussed super cooled liquid precipitation (SLD) as this is a high hazard for not just airframe icing but engine icing and has been implicated in a number of engine failure incidents around the globe. There is a move to be able to actually show on radar the difference between regular precipitation and SLD due to the high hazard. This is still some ways off for our workforce but the research community is working on the science and validation. On Wednesday , Jan . 25, NATCA participated in presenting a new awar d at the Annual Awards banquet. The Aviation & Space Operations Weather Prize was pr esented to John McCarthy . McCarthy received the first A&SO Weather Prize for his "lifetime achievements to identify, detect, warn, mitigate , and promote industry educa tion on the microburst hazard in co mmercial and private aviation." McCarthy was the founding Director of the Research Applications Program (RAP) at the National Center for Atmosphe ric Research (NCAR), Boulder, Colo. , from 1981 - 1994. As Director of RAP, he di rected research associated with aviation weather hazards , including NCAR activities associated with National Science Foundation Joint Aviation Weather Studies (JAWS), which determined that microbursts were c ommonplace in the Denver area. A following FAA/ RAP effort detected microbursts in real time and transmitted warnings to pilots arriving and departing Denver with significant success. The success of this effort led the FAA to establish the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) Program, in close conjunct ion with MIT Lincoln Laboratory and RAP, which ultimately resulted in installing an automatic microburst detection and warning system for microbursts at 72 airports in the US. A major part of the RAP effort was focused on detection algorithm efforts, and d etermining the best way to fully transfer th e hazard i nformation to pilots. The RAP effort at NCAR focused on basic aviation weather research, and its critical transfer to improve operational safety to the airline industry. McCarthy was also the principa l meteorologist associated with the development of the FAA and Boeing - led and FAA - financed Wind Shear Training Aid now used in commercial pilot training throughout the world.