Terminal area guidance incorporating heavy weather

Abstract

Inclement weather is a major cause of air transportation delays, and the majority of this cost is incurred in terminal areas. Even though current sensor technology, meteorological methods, and displays are capable of producing accurate and timely mesoscale nowcasts in the terminal area, controllers still find it difficult to vector aircraft around storm cells, maintain safety, and achieve efficient throughput. In short, the weather and airspace management information is available, but the lack of time to mentally solve this complex problem causes inefficient solutions and high workloads for air traffic controllers. In this paper, we model the weather avoidance problem with two algorithmic route planning methods, a grid-based Dijkstra's algorithm and a weighted regions problem algorithm, in order to synthesize arrival aircraft trajectories that avoid penetrating heavy weather. The goal is to create flexible models for the terminal area that provide a means to investigate how aircraft can efficiently be guided through and around weather.