NASA is funding the development of a prototype system to provide aircraft with updates about severe storms and turbulence as they fly across remote ocean regions, the agency said Tuesday in a press release.Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado, in partnership with colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, are developing a system that combines satellite data and computer weather models with cutting-edge artificial intelligence techniques. The goal is to identify and predict rapidly evolving storms and other potential areas of turbulence.
"Turbulence is the leading cause of injuries in commercial aviation," said John Haynes, program manager in the Earth Science Division's Applied Sciences Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This new work to detect the likelihood of turbulence associated with oceanic storms using key space-based indicators is of crucial importance to pilots."
The system is designed to help guide pilots away from intense weather. A variety of NASA spacecraft observations are being used in the project, including data from NASA's Terra, Aqua, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, CloudSat and CALIPSO satellites.
The prototype system will identify areas of turbulence in clear regions of the atmosphere as well as within storms. It is on track for testing next year
