Accuracy Adjusted Airport Terminal Area Wind Profile Data for Flight and Flow Planning Optimization Applications

Unanticipated adverse path-based wind shear can significantly affect airspeed resulting in non-optimal arrival flows into an airport or possibly result in a loss of separation known as wind compression. Stronger than expected tailwinds result in more aircraft entering airspace than expected or manageable – which results in sector saturation, holding, and reverting to Miles-In-Trail (MIT). Whereas stronger than expected headwinds results in fewer aircraft entering the airspace than expected, introduces unrecoverable delay and underutilizes airport capacity. Without accurate, clear, and operationally relevant prediction of accurate wind profiles in the terminal and arrival airspace, significant impacts may occur or, at a minimum, non-optimal operations may develop as air traffic operators are caught by surprise by the unexpected wind profiles impacting arrival flows. This proposal provides an accuracy-adjusted wind profile data set focusing on the terminal airspace and arrival area which is based on in-situ observation, upper-level wind forecasts, machine learning, and artificial intelligence that can be used for wind compression alerts and arrival flow planning. Using machine learning and artificial intelligence, this research uses all available airborne aircraft flight paths to calculate the wind profile throughout the ascent and descent into an airport’s airspace to improve the wind forecast. This unique approach using passive participation by aircraft (i.e., no aircraft wind measurement equipment or communication of winds required) will help to create a more accurate and high-resolution wind profile for the atmosphere near the airport and along the approach paths which can be used for flow optimization and mitigation of other impacts to aviation due to winds.

This effort will provide NASA with an application and methodology for autonomously providing improved accuracy wind profiles that can be applied for flight path optimization. The innovation supports NASA’s mission to provide advanced automated support for air navigation service providers and aircraft operators, increase safety, and reduce air-travel times and delays. The core application of this work furthers NASA’s goals to deliver capacity, throughput, and efficiency gains by improving the accuracy of terminal/arrival corridor wind forecasts.

Applications outside NASA include the FAA and NAS users, who have the need for improved wind profile information for ATM applications and improved airport efficiency. This innovation will offer the ability to increase situational awareness of weather changes that may impact trajectories, alert of changed weather impacts for approach and departure reroute strategies and provide safer operations.

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