Aircraft derived observations (ados) of the atmosphere have been shown to be the highest value inputs to improve temperature and wind forecasts from numerical weather prediction models

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory will provide aircraft-derived atmospheric observations to improve weather forecasting models under a $520,500 cooperative agreement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Through the award's two-year period, MIT Lincoln Laboratory will extract meteorological data from commercial aircraft equipped with Mode S transponders using airport surveillance radars. This effort aims to increase the number, spatial resolution, and timeliness of aircraft observations available to forecasters compared to the current system relying on Meteorological Data Collection and Reporting System avionics. The work supports the Weather and Air Quality Research program's goals of advancing weather observations, modeling, and forecasts to protect lives and property and boost the national economy.

These models are used extensively by society for a multitude of decision-making purposes affecting safety, economic performance, and efficiency of the nation. Current ADO systems based on meteorological data collection and reporting system (mdcrs) avionics packages installed on select commercial aircraft are limited by low equipage rate, low spatial and temporal resolution, and significant latency, which limits their value to the weather forecasting community. MIT lincoln laboratory has demonstrated the ability to extract meteorological observations from aircraft equipped with mode s enhanced surveillance (EHS) transponders using experimental airport surveillance and long-range secondary surveillance radars (ssrs). This method has been shown to increase the number of aircraft observations in the…