Weather technologies that changed aviation

When you look at the weather, do you have trouble deciding whether or not you want to fly? Imagine what it was like a century ago when pilots didn’t have any of the tools we take for granted today. Thankfully, our tools today are plentiful, and advances come every year. But when you consider what really matters, there are five technologies that have changed aviation. If things have been this good over the past few decades, imagine what life will be like for pilots 50 years from now.

1. Radar. It’s hard to imagine a time before weather radar, but powered flight was more than four decades old before the advent of early radar. Initially developed for the military, radar was used to track friendly and enemy aircraft during World War II. But operators saw echoes on their screens that blocked aircraft. Soon after the war, researchers capitalized on the “flaw” and exploited it solely for weather purposes. It wasn’t until 20 years later that a full weather radar network was built out. Today even small-city TV stations have weather radar, as do many airplanes.

Modern weather radar uses the Doppler effect, which means forecasters can see not only the size and shape of an echo, but also its relative velocity. Doing so has allowed for more accurate reports and forecasts—as well as safer flying.

As pilots, we have access to radar in a variety of places, including any TV weather report and most pilot flight-planning tools. We can see the base or composite radar image and its motion. The official government radar from the National Weather Service’s Aviation Weather Center can be found on the Aviation Digital Data Service website.

2. Weather satellites. It was grainy and faint, but to scientists, the first photo snapped by the very first weather satellite, TIROS-1, proved that taking weather observations from space was not only possible, but incredibly useful for helping to determine forecasts. Launched in 1960, TIROS-1 was operational for only 78 days. Now there are dozens of weather satellites in space, researching and recording everything from volcanic eruptions and cloud cover to vegetation and sea temperature. All this data is combined to form powerful models that forecasters use to predict what will happen next.

The most obvious and direct application for pilots is the satellite picture found on ADDS and private forecasting services. It can be viewed in a visual form, where the camera’s infrared image indicates cloud tops with temperature readings—and water vapor, which shows moisture present in the clouds.

3. FAA DUATS. Today’s pilots get the majority of their weather information from online sources. Yet, the FAA’s requirement to be aware of the weather, which many interpret as having to get an official weather briefing, has never gone away. What’s a safety-conscious pilot to do? Go through DUATS (the acronym for the Direct User Access Terminal system).

The FAA’s DUATS program remains the only online source of official weather briefings. That’s evident in the fact that many third-party flight planning companies access DUATS information in their weather briefings. Even today, only two companies provide the official information: DTC and CSC. Contracts with the FAA permit these two private companies to provide official weather briefings free to pilots. That means your data is stored in case the FAA should question your knowledge of the weather. DUATS and its third-party subcontractors are the reason we’re allowed to take off today without ever calling Flight Service (even though that’s still a good idea).

4. XM datalink weather. Who knew that satellite radio would forever change the way we fly? Jets and other large, expensive aircraft have had on-board weather radar for decades (see “How It Works: Airborne Weather Radar.”), but the technology is impractical for smaller aircraft. XM and its partners changed all this when it brought datalink weather into the general aviation cockpit.

Thanks to weather information downloaded by satellite datalink, pilots can now get radar, METARs and TAFs, winds aloft, airmets, sigmets, and much more delivered to the cockpit for a relatively low monthly fee. Now rather than simply looking at a radar picture online and guessing what will happen, a pilot can follow it closely during the flight and make decisions based on almost-real-time information. The increase in utility of GA aircraft shot up significantly, and pilots were able to fly more safely.

As the weather products have become more refined, so too have the devices on which they can be displayed. Even small handheld GPS units and the iPad can display weather in high definition. Rather than spending many thousands of dollars to get weather in the cockpit, we can do it for less than $2,000.

5. ADS-B. For all its upsides, the one drawback of XM is that it’s a private service that costs money. Pilots don’t like to spend money when they don’t have to, which is why Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) and the availability of free cockpit weather will change the future. As part of its growing base of air traffic antennae, the FAA is deploying weather radar, METARs and TAFs, and a few other weather products to pilots with compatible devices for free. Called FIS-B (Flight Information Service-Broadcast), the service is available in many parts of the United States and will be available nationwide in 2013.

The requirements to display the weather are not unlike those for XM. The pilot needs only a receiver and a compatible screen. One of the least expensive and most cutting-edge ways of doing this is with the iPad. A few companies offer ADS-B In boxes that will hook into the iPad; an app brings the data to the screen. The set-up can be had for less than $1,500—a bargain when you consider how much it enhances safety.

With the tools available today, there’s no reason a pilot shouldn’t have everything he or she needs to make the right decisions and avoid the worst weather.

Learn how to use them all properly, and you’ll have a long and safe flying career.