Friends and Partners in
Aviation Weather (FPAW)
Weather Technology in the
Cockpit (WTIC) – Goals
and Initiatives
By: Gary Pokodner, Program Manager, Weather
Technology in the Cockpit (WTIC)
Date: November 1, 2012
Federal Aviation
Administration
The Notional WTIC
Cockpit?
Federal Aviation
Administration
All Kidding Aside:
• The previous slide highlights important
issues with our WTIC program:
– More information is not always better; need the right
information
– Poor human factors can reduce benefits of
enhancements
– Complex to get information and data to cockpits
– Training matters
• Despite our dream notional cockpit, the
WTIC program is not building boxes
Federal Aviation
Administration
3
Weather Technology in the Cockpit
(WTIC) Overview
• WTIC is an FAA NextGen program that consists of a
portfolio of research projects
• WTIC research is used to develop, verify, and
validate requirements for standards related to
weather information and technology in the cockpit
• Research to identify requirements that improve the
quality and quantity of meteorological (MET)
information in the cockpit
• The program supports multiple NextGen goals
• Reduce weather delays
• Re-route flexibility to avoid adverse weather
• Reduce weather-related accidents and incidents
Federal Aviation
Administration
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WTIC Goals
Flight Deck/Cockpit Information
• Appropriate and optimized weather information to support
NextGen and current operations is available in the cockpit
– Released standards/guidance documents to enable implementation of
mobile meteorology (MET) applications concurrent with supporting
technology
– Capabilities and requirements to enable automated turbulence information
identified
– Capabilities and requirements for improved oceanic information defined
– Phased improvements of pilot awareness of adverse weather (alerts, data
comm, pre takeoff)
– Completed benefits assessment of probabilistic information into the cockpit
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Administration
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WTIC Goals
Human Factors
• Pilot interfaces to cockpit weather information enable
consistent, safe, and efficient execution of all NextGen and
current operations
– Developed recommendations on optimal presentation of GA MET
information
– Improved GA training methodology on the use and application of MET
information in the NextGen environment
– Developed recommendations on cockpit applications of Weather Avoidance
Fields (WAFs)
– Implemented corrective actions to trends identified in weather related
accidents/incidents reports
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Administration
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WTIC Goals
Standards
• Recommended standards are ready for implementation of
weather in the cockpit to support all NextGen and current
operations
– Defined datalink architecture for disseminating MET information to/from the
cockpit (via RTCA support)
– Minimum Aviation System Performance (MASP) for downlink, uplink, and
crosslink of MET information (via RTCA support) completed
– Initiated Minimum Operational Performance Standard (MOPS) (via RTCA)
– Initiated globalization of select standards
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Administration
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WTIC Goals
Air/Ground Integration
• Dissemination of appropriate and optimized weather
information to/from the cockpit to be at the right place and
at the right time
– Released recommended standards for EDR
– Demonstrated benefits of enhanced wind information uplinked to aircraft
FMS for select NextGen applications
– Developed functional and operational requirements for disseminating MET
information via NextGen datalink architecture
– Identified the feasibility and benefits for providing 20 minute and beyond
weather look ahead in the cockpit on a legacy or portable device
– NextGen datalink architecture supports optimized presentation formats
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Administration
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WTIC Goals
Technology
• Industry collaboration on MET technology research to be
informed of technology capabilities that enable efficient
MET information dissemination, collaborative decision
making, and intuitive presentation of MET information in the
cockpit for safe current and NextGen operations
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Administration
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Building WTIC Program Support
• WTIC Team is actively engaging stakeholders
(internal and external) to better define user needs
– Improved collaboration with internal FAA agencies
including: Safety, Certification, Human Factors, …
• We are always looking for your suggestions,
feedback, and new research ideas
Federal Aviation
Administration
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WTIC Team – Key Personnel
•
Office of Primary Interest: Aviation Weather Division
(ANG-C6) – Acting Division Manager: Rick Heuwinkel
•
Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR): Weather
Research Branch (ANG-C61)
•
•
•
•
Steve Abelman, AWR Team Lead (202-385-7234)
Gary Pokodner, WTIC Program Manager (202-385-7236)
Eldridge Frazier, WTIC Lead Engineer (202-385-7183)
Ian Johnson, WTIC Engineering Psychologist (202-385-7168)
Federal Aviation
Administration
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