Among the many technological wonders
that we landlubbers take for granted is Doppler Radar. We can order
it up on our phones to see when rain, snow or hail is on the way, and
pilots use it to avoid powerful storms cells that could down
airplanes. But when commercial pilots venture over the open ocean,
they are soon beyond the range of Doppler Radar systems and at the
mercy of storms cells, with little to help them but onboard radar and
their eyeballs to tell them what they might be flying into.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
Scientists at the National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have
now built a prototype of an oceanic storm alert system that fills in
the Doppler gap using satellite data and fuzzy logic. The system
combines satellite data and computer weather models to produce maps
of storms over much of the world’s oceans. The system is based on
products that NCAR have developed to alert pilots and air traffic
controllers about storms and related hazards, such as turbulence and
lightning, over the continental United States.
"It has the same goal as Doppler
radar," said NCAR's Kathy Kessinger, who helped develop the new
system. “By providing them with a picture of where significant
storms will be during an eight-hour period, the system can contribute
to both the safety and comfort of passengers on flights over the
ocean.”
Unlike Doppler radar, satellite images
do not penetrate the clouds, but they do reveal the intensity of
storms. That's a lot, however.
"Pilots see the insides of clouds
as they can scan them up and down with their radar," said
Kessinger. "So they can see the internal
intensity of the storm."
The new system was started ten years
ago with funding from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), then
by NASA, and now the FAA is showing interest in taking it up again,
Kessinger said. The next step is getting pilots to use it and
evaluate it, she said.
Some of the renewed interest may have
been spurred by the 2009 crash of Air France Flight 447, which
encountered powerful thunderstorm cells over the Atlantic Ocean. NCAR
worked with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln
Laboratory, the Naval Research Laboratory, and the University of
Wisconsin-Madison to create the system.
Image: Sample view of the new storm forecast system, courtesy of NCAR.
