Display System

A critical component of the AOAWS are the display systems. Today, accessibility of end users to the World Wide Web, allows end users to view weather products from nearly any location using standard personal computers. Web browser and Java based display systems are utilized as they are hardware neutral and allow users to interact with the display to create customized graphics such as flight route specific products. Several sample graphics from the AOAWS display systems are shown below.

The Multi-dimensional Display System (MDS) is designed as a weather briefing system as it allows end users to view multiple aviation weather products in plan view and along user selected flight routes and forecast times. Features include product selection, time selection, animation, zoom, and pan. Products typically displayed on the MDS include:

• Turbulence (4D)
• Winds Aloft (4D)
• Route Winds (4D)
• Temperatures Aloft (4D)
• Freezing Level(s) (4D)
• In-flight Icing (4D)
• Ceiling and Visibility (2D)
• Flight Category (2D)
• Soundings (2D)
• Lightning (2D)
• Surface Observations (METARS) (2D)
• AIREPs (2D)
• Satellite Imagry (2D)
• Radar Echo Intensity (2D)
• TAFs (1D)
• SIGMETs (1D)
• Upper Air Charts (2D)
• Significant Weather Charts (2D)

Plan view graphic of the winds at flight level 220 and along a user defined route of flight. Windspeed is color coded and the user selected flight route is highlighted.

Vertical cross-section of wind speed along a user selected flight route. The wind speeds are color coded and wind barbs indicate wind direction at selected model grid points. The terrain is shown in brown and the average wind for the route is shown at the top center.

Vertical cross-section of wind speed along a user selected flight route. Turbulence potential is shown and it indicates that the potential for encountering turbulence is moderate to high between flight levels 250 and 300 during the first 200 nm of the route.

Sample image of the IR satellite product over the western Pacific Ocean. User selected METAR stations are also plotted over the satellite image.

WMDS display of user selected METARs (top) and time series plots of selected METARS (right).

The model display system component of the AOAWS is designed for meteorologists to view output from the high-resolution modeling system. The web-based display includes all of the standard forecasted model data fields. Aviaiton weather forecasters can view the data at selected time periods and pressure levels. Output includes, wind, temperature, pressure, vater vapor, relative humidity, vorticity, precipitation amount, precipitation type, accumulated rainfall, vertical motion, geopotential height, etc. The data fields available on the display system are configurable. Sample images of the AOAWS model display are shown below.

Systems such as the AOAWS allow end users (pilots, forecasters, dispatchers, etc.) to instantly access aeronautical weather information quickly, efficiently, and for many products at high temporal and spatial resolution. The shared situational awareness provided by these systems improves flight safety and enhances the efficiency of obtaining weather information.

Sample graphics from the AOAWS model display system showing three-hour precipitation accumulation (left) and surface wind and pressure (right).

Sample illustration of a model sounding and hodograph from a user selected location in the model domain of the Taiwan AOAWS system.

An important component of any complex data processing system is the system monitoring function. The AOAWS includes several complex processes, hardware, and network components. System administrators and operators need an ability to quickly view the condition of the entire system and any of its individual components. The AOAWS System Monitor Display (SMD) allows system administrators and operators to view any process running on any computor component and determine if the process is functioning properly. The system will alert operators when a network component is down, a process fails, and when data are late to arrive or missing. The system faults are color coded and operators can drill down by clicking on the process in question and additional status information will be revealed. Users have found the SMD to be very intuitive. An illustration of the System Monitor Display (SMD) from the Taiwan AOAWS is shown below.

Sample image from the AOAWS System Monitor Display showing the major processing components of the AOAWS system and their location. Processes that are functioning properly are coded green, processes that are degraded would be shown in yellow, and processes that have failed would be shown in red. System operators can view additional information about each process by clicking on the screen over the process in question.