Project Description
In-flight icing is both an aviation safety and efficiency issue: icing is a cause or factor in numerous fatal aircraft accidents; current official forecasts typically cover more space and time than needed and thus deny use of aircraft or airspace unnecessarily. Avoidance of icing conditions would be possible with improved operationally-available, high-resolution, accurate diagnoses and forecasts.
Our goal is a gridded depiction of inflight including probability, expected severity and supercooled large drop areas. The Current Icing Product, or CIP, combines model output with real-time sensor data to provide a diagnosis of icing conditions across the CONUS. The Forecast Icing Product (FIP) uses model surrogates to provide a forecast up to 12 h. CIP and FIP resolution is currently 1 h/20 km/1000 ft, but future versions will offer higher resolution. In data-sparse regions (polar regions, ocean routes, etc.) resolution will be degraded depending on available data inputs. Collaboration with the aviation community is needed to establish the scales required for useful and accurate icing hazard depiction.
Components of the integrated algorithms are developed and evaluated prior to their inclusion. Verification is an important part of the development process, and is accomplished using voice pilot reports and data from research aircraft.
We are working with the Joint Planning and Development Office of the Next-Generation Air Transportation System, both to guide forecast and observational requirements, and to identify potential operational impacts and training/education needs for the future.
Several projects are being conducted in RAL in the area of inflight icing:
InFlight Icing Product Development Team, sponsored by FAA Aviation Weather Research Program: algorithm development, model microphysics parameterization, use of NEXRAD and POES data in icing diagnosis, scales of icing and atmospheric characterization
Advanced Satellite Aviation Weather Products (ASAP) Program, sponsored by NASA Langley Research Center: infusion of new satellite analysis methods developed at NASA into FAA-sponsored algorithm development; examination and verification of those methods
NASA Icing Remote Sensing System (NIRSS) Development, sponsored by NASA Glenn Research Center: Development of data ingest and display capabilities for a system consisting of a X-band radar, ceilometer and profiling radiometer; application of cloud, liquid water distribution, and icing hazard algorithms; comparison with in situ measurements
Project Sponsor: FAA Aviation Weather Research Program
