Technology advances improve turbulence prediction rates
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Advances in data and technology are helping airlines reduce injury risks by more accurately measuring turbulence.
Historically, turbulence-prediction tools available to airlines were limited to weather forecasts, weather radar and pilot reports, but more airlines are moving to real-time inflight technologies to mitigate the risks, said Katsiaryna Vashchankova, Montreal-based head of operational data solutions at the International Air Transport Association.
IATA launched its Turbulence Aware data exchange platform in 2020 to provide airlines with crowd-sourced real-time turbulence updates, Ms. Vashchankova said.
The platform is built around software developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research that can be installed in aircraft systems and collects existing sensor data to calculate turbulence intensity around the aircraft through an algorithm.
“It gives you a much more precise measurement that is objective, aircraft-generated, and the data can be sent to ground systems in real-time,” she said.
The reports are then sent to IATA, which anonymizes the data and can share it with participating airlines instantaneously, she said.
The sharing of real-time turbulence data is going to be transformative, said Paul D. Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading in England.
Another technology, Light Detection and Ranging or LIDAR, can detect invisible clear-air turbulence up to 20 miles ahead of an aircraft and has been tested with promising results, Mr. Williams said.
“In the future, as the atmosphere becomes more turbulent and the LIDAR technology is miniaturized and the cost comes down, we might well see this technology being rolled out,” he said.
