Insite: Convective Weather Decision Support

Abstract

INtegrated Support for Impacted air-Traffic Environments (INSITE) is a prototype web-based application developed to support the identification of potential airspace constraints due to convective weather. The tool uses a technique known as the Flow Constraint Index (FCI) to blend convective weather information with traffic information to identify potential impacts to en-route aviation operations. The FCI is used to compute airspace constraints for five different convective weather forecast products, as well as observations, using either historical or currently planned traffic air traffic data. Confidence information for each of the products is derived from historical performance, which is also used as part of the product weighting in a blend of the forecast products known as the Synthesis. INSITE includes geographical views of constraints as well as capabilities to identify event severity and timing for user-specified regions. Constraint information is updated hourly with the most recent guidance and traffic information. An alert capability is also available to highlight regions of medium or greater constraint for user-selected products. INSITE is available to NWS forecasters including AWC, the National Aviation Meteorologists at the Air Traffic System Control Center (ATSCC), and local WFOs and CWSUs. It was also included in the 2016 Aviation Weather Testbed Summer Experiment. This presentation will include an overview of the FCI, the traffic information used in the tool, and other features that can support the decision-making process. It will also include a summary of the latest activities toward operationalizing the tool. Supplementary URL: http://esrl.noaa.gov/fiqas/tech/impact/insite/