NASA System to Allow Aircraft to Avoid Turbulences

Airplanes could benefit from a new weather control system in the near future, currently under development by the American space agency NASA, and a partnership between the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), in Boulder, Colorado and the University of Wisconsin. The new warning method will employ satellite readings, weather forecasts and models, as well as the very latest artificial intelligence technology in a single system, designed to think ahead and analyze the risk that certain areas could have on an airliner, for instance. This would allow the pilots to safely steer the craft out of harm's way, and avoid unnecessary deaths.

“Turbulence is the leading cause of injuries in commercial aviation. This new work to detect the likelihood of turbulence associated with oceanic storms using key space-based indicators is of crucial importance to pilots,” NASA Headquarters Earth Science Division (ESD) Applied Sciences Program Manager John Haynes explains in a press release published on the agency's official website.

In the early stages of the project, data from the Terra, Aqua, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, CloudSat and CALIPSO satellites will be used to recreate the most accurate map of the atmosphere possible. The main goal is to develop a system that can detect forming or existing turbulences in remote areas of the ocean, which are not necessarily that well covered by weather forecasts. Additionally, it must also be able to detect areas of turbulences inside storms as well, not only in clear weather, which is something NASA engineers say is a bit trickier to accomplish.

“Pilots currently have little weather information as they fly over remote stretches of the ocean, which is where some of the worst turbulence occurs. Providing pilots with at least an approximate picture of developing storms could help guide them safely around areas of potentially severe turbulence,” one of the NCAR project leaders, scientist John Williams, adds. According to officials at the space agency, the finished product will treat pilots and flight controllers to text-based maps and graphical displays, which will allow them to elegantly navigate between areas of intense turbulence.

“Our goal is to give pilots a regularly updated picture of the likely storms ahead as they fly over the ocean, so they can take action to minimize turbulence and keep their aircraft out of danger,” project team member and NCAR scientist Cathy Kessinger concludes.