Wake Characterisation

Abstract

Wake turbulence is a specific type of disturbance in the atmosphere, like turbulence and wind shear. Effects on aircraft can be impaired passenger comfort, injuries of crew and passengers and even catastrophic impacts on flight safety. The hazard imposed by disturbances like wake turbulence is typically not known to pilots beforehand in a specific situation. Assistance systems for warning and mitigating flight control action could be beneficial. Since a direct measurement or prediction of wake vortex position and strength is not foreseen to have sufficient accuracy, a characterisation of the wake vortex will be required for mitigation systems, possibly based on measurements and / or predictions. Methods for wake characterisation are described in this report.