Scientific and Technical Advancement Award

Recipient(s)
Rachel Ames, Jeff Cole, Frank Hage, Tres Hofmeister, Nancy Rehak, and Ren Tescher (RAL)
Award Year
1997
Award Type
internal
Awarding Organization or Entity
UCAR

For developing, deploying, and demonstrating the Weather Support to Deicing Decision Making (WSDDM) system at La Guardia and O'Hare International Airports. WSDDM is an integrated system that depicts short-term forecasts of snowfall rate, wind speed and direction, temperature, and humidity, all in an easy-to-interpret format. Last winter, this FAA-supported system was tested by four airlines at the two airports above, as well as by the New York Traffic Control Center at LaGuardia. One of the system's greatest strengths is its use of snow-gauge data to determine liquid equivalent snowfall rates - the most important factor that determines how often aircraft must be deiced. One study estimated that the annual cost savings to an airport using WSDDM would be more than $1 million. To support the many data sources and widely dispersed users, the WSDDM team created the largest, most complex networking system in RAP's history.