It has been apparent for more than a decade that the weather-forecast wind speed reaching flight crews in commercial aircraft differs by an average of +/- 15 knots from the wind speed actually experienced during the flight at cruise altitude. We recently analyzed wind-versus-altitude forecasts and found that the forecast altitude of maximum wind is also in error, by an average of +/- 4800 feet. In this era of increasing free-flight operations, we propose the use of airborne laser radar to measure winds above and below the aircraft in real time, so that a pilot can optimize the flight altitude with respect to prevailing winds. Analysis shows that such a lidar system would generate fuel savings of $LR100,000 to $LR200,000 per aircraft per year, especially for transoceanic routes. THis saving would pay for the instrument in one to two years.
Lidar wind sensing at cruise altitudes for flight-level optimization
Air Traffic Control Technologies II ; 1996 ; Orlando,FL,United States
Proc. SPIE ; 2737
1996-05-27
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Lidar wind sensing at cruise altitudes for flight-level optimization [2737-14]
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