Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
City
Dayton
Abstract
Current in-cockpit looping Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD) is inadequate to maintain safe (20 nm) aircraft separation from heavy weather (> 40 dBZ reflectivity). This assertion issupported by mathematical information analysis and an empirical study (Knecht, 2016), as well as numerous previous empirical studies. The current work revisitsthe ecological analysis by examining the putative affordance (rho) specifying when weather-avoidance maneuver should begin, as suggested by General Tau Theory (Lee, 2009).With“gapdefined as the distance between the on-screen aircraft icon and the weather hazard, is specified by the ratio ((dg/dt)/g)(t), the instantaneous gap contraction rate divided by the instantaneous gap size. In current looping NEXRAD,clearly does not reach perceptible threshold until too late to facilitate 20 nm separation from hazard. The addition of a range ring plus future-predicted weather and aircraft position could remedy this deficiency, enabling safe, efficient navigation around heavy weather.
Repository Citation
Knecht, W. R.
(2017). Is Rho the Key to Hazardous Weather Avoidance?. 19th International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, 13-18.
https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/isap_2017/53
