Microweather Data Integration, Classification, and Communication Using a Vertiport Automation System (VAS) for Safe and Efficient Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Operations

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) promises to revolutionize urban and regional transportation, offering fast, clean, and affordable travel by air. Given that AAM is expected to have high operational density and utilize urban origins and destinations, the management systems at these vertiports will need to be much more robust than the bare-bones or otherwise nonexistent systems deployed at today’s heliports. Current limitations in capturing, synthesizing, and communicating critical on-vertiport data, such as localized weather information, hinder situational awareness and increase the risk of incidents and inefficient operations. Altaport proposes the development of a robust Vertiport Automation System (VAS) module focused on microweather data integration and annunciation. This module will ingest data from TruWeather’s microweather sensors on and around vertiports, fuse it with other weather data sources (ASOS/AWOS), interpret the weather information to evaluate the likely operational impact of the weather, and present it to vertiport and aircraft operators–both human and machine–in an actionable format. The situational awareness that this module will provide is crucial for safe and scalable AAM operations. This module supports NASA’s Nontraditional Aviation Operations for Advanced Air Mobility by “develop[ing] requirements for a vertiport/airport AAM weather information system.”