Cb Nowcasting in FLYSAFE : Improving flight safety regarding thunderstorm hazards

Abstract

The FLYSAFE Project aims at defining and testing new tools and systems contributing to the safety of flights for all aircraft, and addresses weather hazards. A “Weather Information Management System” dedicated to thunderstorm hazard has been designed and developed for three geographical scales. It is ground-based, uses as main inputs radar and MSG satellite data and provides nowcasts up to one hour ahead in an object-oriented mode and in a dedicated GML format. Its evaluation involved research aircrafts, both in real time and in an offline setting. Offline evaluation results show the added value of the products, with respect to on-board data, especially regarding the cases of on-board radar return extinction by heavy rain, and regarding extended spatial coverage, most useful when the aircraft turns sharp. Additional potential value of the products show in the CB objects attributes like trend and hail occurrence