Overarching Goal:
Provide advanced weather technologies to support current and future aviation and space operations anywhere on and around the globe.
Motivation
“The changes that are coming are too big, too fundamental for incremental adaptations of the infrastructure…we need to modernize and transform our air transportation system – starting right now.”
- Norman Mineta – Secretary of Transportation, Aero Club speech in 2004
RAL has spent the past twenty-five years addressing and supplying the needs of conventional aviation stakeholders in the U.S. and other countries. The word “conventional” is used here in the sense that most of the needs and solutions could be characterized by referring to them as “20th century aviation operations.” The 21st century aviation and space operations requirements will overwhelm the current system and demand a completely new approach.
Some of the new challenges facing air and space operations during the first two decades of the 21st century are listed below.
- Passenger and freight load requirements will be 2-3 times higher.
- No new airports are planned during the next decade.
- Airport expansion is limited at some major airports.
- New aircraft types such as very light jets and UAVs are proliferating.
- Commercial space vehicles will begin operations by 2008.
- Increasing use of polar routes will introduce new hazards to crews and passengers.
- New navigational technologies that allow more flexible routing and separation of aircraft are not fully compatible with the 20th century air traffic control system.
“The paradigms we have relied on for 50 years cannot accommodate the massive change that has already begun.”
- Robert Pearce, Acting Director, Next-Generation Air Transport System, Joint Program Development Office, in Journal of Air Traffic Control, 2006
Capacity will become a limiting factor at many airports. Efficiency of flight operations en-route will become critical. Predicting traffic loading accurately at all locations within the airspace system several hours in advance will be critical to efficient operations. Space operations with commercial passengers will require many safeguards for launch, sub-orbital flight, orbital flight and recovery. Weather affects all of these operations and in most cases, precise weather information will be critical for maximizing the performance of the 21st century system.
The Next Generation Air Transport System (NGATS) is now beginning to take shape on the design board of several federal agencies under the auspices of the Joint Program Development Office (JPDO). The JPDO has parsed the complex next generation system into several components and has endorsed the concept of Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) to manage the R&D associated with each. One IPT is dedicated to developing the weather information needs of NGATS and providing common weather-related decision information to all stakeholders within the system.
Future needs and extensions of the current FAA Aviation Weather Research Program and NGATS are the primary motivating factors driving this overarching aviation and space R&D goal. Secondary factors include research needs of some foreign countries and the development of sensors to enhance aviation and space operations.