WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
EC-PORS-5/ INF. 5(3)
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
PANEL OF EXPERTS ON POLAR OBSERVATIONS,
RESEARCH AND SERVICES
Fifth session
Date: 7 February 2014
AGENDA ITEM: 3.1
Wellington, New Zealand, 25 – 28 February 2014
REVIEW OF EC-PORS ACTIVITY SINCE EC-PORS 4
Polar AMDAR
(Submitted by Frank Grooters, ET-ABO Chairman)
DECISIONS/ACTIONS REQUIRED:
The Panel is invited to consider new and ongoing Polar AMDAR activities.
CONTENT OF DOCUMENT:
Aircraft-based observing systems relevant to EC-PORS
EC-PORS-5, INF.5(3), p. 2
Background
1. The following are extracted from the Resolutions of Congress and the Executive
Council, WMO-No. 508, 2012 edition.
Annex to Resolution 56 (Cg-XVI)
AMENDMENTS TO THE MANUAL ON THE GLOBAL OBSERVING SYSTEM
(WMO-NO. 544), VOLUME II, REGIONAL ASPECTS – THE ANTARCTIC
…
7.6 Aircraft reports
Members are encouraged to arrange for making, recording and distributing in realtime,
observational reports from all flights to/from and within the Antarctic.
…
Resolution 58 (Cg-XVI)
WMO POLAR ACTIVITIES
…
Invites Members, particularly those that have operational activities in polar regions:
…
(2) To provide additional observations in polar regions by using automatic weather
and
hydrometric stations, atmospheric soundings, and other geophysical observatories
on land;
by recruiting additional voluntary observing ships; by equipping aircraft with
appropriate
means of recording and distributing observations; and by deploying automated
observing
platforms on and under the sea and ice, in order to meet the needs of numerical
weather
prediction (NWP), hydrological services, climate studies and research programmes;
EC-PORS-5, INF.5(3), p. 3
Aircraft-based observing systems relevant to EC-PORS
1.
Aircraft-based observations have made a significant contribution to upper-air
monitoring of the atmosphere for many decades. In recent years, the use of the aircraft
platform for the automated collection of meteorological data has been considerably
enhanced and expanded so as to provide more accurate, more timely and, most
importantly, a much greater volume of upper-air data in support of data users and
meteorological applications, including support for weather-related forecasting, climate
change studies and monitoring for the Aviation Industry. The chief source of aircraftbased observations supporting the Global Observing System and the World Weather
Watch Programme are derived from the Aircraft Meteorological DAta Relay (AMDAR)
system , a programme for the collection of high quality meteorological data by in service
commercial aircraft.
2.
Up until 2012, the aircraft-based observations and the AMDAR programme was
the responsibility of the AMDAR Panel, however, at the conclusion of the 15th Session
of the AMDAR Panel (November 2012), the Panel formally handed over responsibility for
the AMDAR Observing System to WMO and its Technical Commissions. Under the CBS
and CIMO Technical Commissions, the Aircraft-based Observations Programme (ABOP,
including AMDAR1) and work teams (CBS Expert Team on Aircraft-based Observing
Systems, ET-ABO, and the CIMO Task Team on Aircraft-based Observations, TT-AO)
have been established in order to continue the previous work of the AMDAR Panel in
maintaining and developing the aircraft-based observations programme and the AMDAR
Observing System, supported by the AMDAR Trust Fund and WMO Members.
ET-ABO has been requested to investigate the potential to extend and expand the
coverage of ABO over Polar Regions in support of EC-PORS activities and monitoring of
the Polar Regions in accordance with the Manual on the GOS.
3.
AMDAR is organized through a number of national and regional AMDAR
programmes managed by National Meteorological & Hydrological Services (NMHS).
Currently 40 airlines are cooperating and about 3000 aircraft collect around 400 000
observations daily.
Fig. 1 Global AMDAR Coverage, 5 February 2014 (Courtesy NOAA/ESRL/GSD)
1
See http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/GOS/ABO/
EC-PORS-5, INF.5(3), p. 4
Current Sources of Polar Aircraft-based Observations: Antarctic Region
4.
There is a very limited amount of Antarctic, near-polar region level flight data. It
appears that there is only one source of aircraft-based observations over the Antarctic
region and transmitted on the GTS, being data derived from the Australian Antarctic
Division A319 aircraft (AU0500 / AC#10357) that is equipped with the AFIRS2 system
(see the NOAA/ESRL/GSD coverage map below). This data is limited to infrequent and
irregular vertical profiles from the aircraft into Antarctic airports (McMurdo, Casey,
Wilkins Aerodrome), depending on the southern hemisphere summer schedule of
Australian Antarctic Division flights:
https://secure3.aad.gov.au/proms/public/schedules/flight.cfm?season=1314
Fig. 2 AAD Flight Hobart to Wilkins Aerodrome, 2 February 2014
(Courtesy NOAA/ESRL/GSD)
2
AFIRSTM , Automated Flight Information reporting System, an AMDAR-like commercially operated
observing system, produced by FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd)
EC-PORS-5, INF.5(3), p. 5
Fig.3 Temperature/Wind Profile Wilkins Aerodrome, 4 February 2014
(Courtesy NOAA/ESRL/GSD)
Current Sources of Polar Aircraft-based Observations: Arctic Region
5.
The coverage map below shows recent ABO data generated over a 24 hour
period, with a limited coverage of profiles at sites above 60N to around 70N from the
USA MDCRS (Alaska Airways) and E-AMDAR over Norway, Finland and Sweden.
Profiles from Svalbard (Norway) are generated by NOAA Earth System Research Lab
(ESRL) and the E-AMDAR programme at around 78N. Some cruise level data is
generated from trans-Atlantic traffic from both AMDAR and other sources.
Fig. 4 Ascent Profile
(temperature, wind) from
Longyearbyen (Svalbard),
6 February 2014
(Courtesy EUMETNET
E-AMDAR Portal)
EC-PORS-5, INF.5(3), p. 6
Fig. 5 (Near)Polar AMDAR Data from Alaska, Svalbard and North-Scandinavia
(profiles and over-flight data, 6 February 2014, Courtesy NOAA/ESRL/GSD)
Polar Aircraft-based Observations: Potential AMDAR expansion
6.
In Canada there is great potential to sustain and expand coverage of AMDAR
through both AMDAR equipped aircraft and alternative ABO systems The management
of the Canadian AMDAR Programme has the intention to review various options to equip
smaller aircraft from domestic airlines with the aim to provide more aircraft-based
observations, among others from the Canadian polar region.
ARINC3 and the NOAA NWS are considering to implement water vapour sensors
(type WVSS-II) in aircraft operated by Alaska Airlines which will benefit the AMDAR
observations from the Alaska region with the provision of valuable upper air moisture
data not yet available in AMDAR data from Polar Regions.
7.
8.
Information regarding polar routes, based on HF air-to-ground communication
and provided by ARINC, shows that AMDAR observations can be expanded in the Arctic
Region above 80N (see Fig. 6a and b).
The ET-ABO and ARINC are reviewing this potential expansion regarding flight plans
and (AMDAR suitable) aircraft types.
9.
A number of US aircraft is equipped with TAMDAR4, providing AMDAR-like data,
including water vapour data, over parts of Canada and Alaska. TAMDAR data is not
distributed on the GTS, but is restricted data commercially available at a cost.
3
4
Aeronautical Radio Inc. (Rockwell Collins)
Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting, Panasonic Avionics Corp. (formerly AirDat LLC)
EC-PORS-5, INF.5(3), p. 7
Fig. 6a ARINC HF services from polar routes
Fig. 6b Multi-day polar over-flights
10.
The situation in the Antarctic regions is different from the situation in the Arctic
region in that there are no commercial airports which results in trans-Atlantic flights with
routes not over the Antarctic. Aircraft-based observations will therefore be depending on
aircraft such as the Australian Antarctic Division provisioning and transport flights.
Fig. 7 Commercial flight
routes around the Antarctic
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