NASA 1996 SBIR Phase I

PROJECT TITLE : A Pilot-Centered Turbulence Assessment and Monitoring System

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)

Airborne encounters with various types of atmospheric turbulence continue to significantly affect the safety and efficiency of aviation. The proposed innovation will improve the detection, assessment, categorization and reporting of inflight turbulence, so as to give flight crews, air traffic controllers, flight planning/dispatch organizations and weather forecasters more timely and accurate information on the extent and severity of turbulence that may impact their operations. The Phase I effort will yield a design for an nexpensive, aircraft-based system that will inform both aircraft operators and airspace managers in a timely and appropriate manner of the location and severity of various forms of turbulence. TAMS (Turbulence Assessment and Monitoring System) uses an innovative approach to the problem, and this proposal will study the merits of developing a standardized scale, similar to the Richter scale used in earthquake assessment, to accurately quantify the energy state of the atmosphere. By integrating data already available from the flight deck avionics with potentially new software designs, the goal of TAMS is to develop a standardized rating system of turbulence that would provide meaningful information to all airspace users, allowing better short-term operational decisions and improved longer-term forecasting models.

Airline companies and their insurers are particularly interested in reducing the costs associated with turbulence encounters. For example, one major airline recorded about 80 turbulence encounter incidents in which flight attendant injuries cost over $500,000 in the first six months of 1996! The costs included medical bills and lost work days only, and were limited to flight attendants; passenger costs, airplane damage and other costs were specifically excluded. A turbulence assessment and monitoring system that could substantially reduce these costs clearly has strong commercialization potential.

Ronald L. Small
Search Technology, Inc.
Aviation Systems Division
4898 South Old Peachtree Rd., Suite 200
Norcross, GA 30071-4707

Search Technology, Inc.
4898 South Old Peachtree Rd., Suite 200
Norcross, GA 30071-4707