Reconstruction of Aircraft Trajectories from AMDAR Weather Reports

It is well known that aircraft-based meteorological measurements exhibit systematic errors depending on various flight dynamic parameters. It is also widely assumed that operational Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay (AMDAR) weather reports by commercial aircraft are affected in a similar way. Howev...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of atmospheric and oceanic technology 2011-07, Vol.28 (7), p.921-932
Main Author: Drue, Clemens
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air traffic control
Aircraft
Airlines
Airspeed
Algorithms
Angle of attack
Atmospheric boundary layer
Aviation
Commercial aircraft
Communication
Computer centers
Energy consumption
Errors
Flight
Flight plans
Meteorological data
Meteorological measurements
Navigation
Pitch (inclination)
Quality control
Quality standards
Registration
Rolling motion
Software
Studies
Systematic errors
Templates
Trajectories
Weather
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Summary:It is well known that aircraft-based meteorological measurements exhibit systematic errors depending on various flight dynamic parameters. It is also widely assumed that operational Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay (AMDAR) weather reports by commercial aircraft are affected in a similar way. However, so far, it is not possible to study such systematic errors, because datasets that contain both AMDAR reports and flight dynamic variables are not available. To overcome this deficiency, a method was developed to reconstruct the flight trajectories of aircraft using just the aircraft type and operational AMDAR reports. Because AMDAR reports do not contain information on the flight plan, origin, destination, or the motion vector of the airplane, it is not possible to employ a trajectory solver as used by air traffic control. Instead, the method uses groups of trajectory templates that are fitted to AMDAR data taken during approach or departure. This algorithm allows estimation of the heading, true airspeed, aircraft mass, roll state, pitch angle, and angle of attack of the reporting aircraft for each AMDAR report. For verification, the algorithm was applied to navigation data gathered from two Airbus-manufactured aircraft, of which one is in commercial service and one is used for aviation research. From a total of 48 profiles, a very good agreement of reconstructed and measured values was found.
ISSN:0739-0572
1520-0426
DOI:10.1175/2011JTECHA1499.1