Turbulence-Impact Collaborative Response System

Atmospheric turbulence is a major hazard to all classes of aircraft. As such, airlines work to avoid turbulence encounters and seek to detect, identify hazardous regions, and route (or climb/descend) aircraft around turbulence constraints. This effort investigates an en route tactical collaborative response to turbulence – including US airlines and the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system – leveraging data from various sources, geofencing hazardous turbulence boundaries, as well as positively identifying areas and flight levels free of turbulence. Using this model, ATM planning can be accomplished collaboratively to minimize turbulence encounters via tactical Trajectory Options Sets (TOSs) that allow for a collaborative, coordinated solution. This effort demonstrates that turbulence impact assessments based on Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) surveillance data, Graphical Turbulence Guidance – Nowcast (GTGN) data, convex and concave hull geofencing techniques, and a tactical 15-minute turbulence prediction model can form the basis of such a collaborative solution to turbulence risk management.