Safety: Aviation Digital Data Service

1.6 Aviation Digital Data Service

Accurate, timely and user-friendly forecasts of icing, turbulence, thunderstorms, and clouds are required to support flight operations. The FAA's Aviation Weather Research Program (AWRP) is funding the Aviation Gridded Forecast System (AGFS) PDT to conduct applied research and development of state-of-the-art forecasts of these variables. The Aviation Digital Data Service (ADDS) enables aviation decision-makers (e.g., pilots, airline dispatchers, automation systems) to easily and inexpensively acquire graphics, text, and grids of the latest weather observations and forecasts of icing, turbulence, and thunderstorms.

The first version of ADDS is being operated and maintained by the National Weather Service (NWS) Aviation Weather Center in Kansas City, Missouri. This version enables users to access standard and experimental aviation weather information in graphic, gridded, and text formats. Included in the experimental information are forecasts of clouds and turbulence.

The second version of ADDS (which was implemented near the end of FY 99) generates graphical forecasts of icing, turbulence, clouds, and thunderstorms for specific flight routes requested by users, giving a vertical cross section of all altitudes.

Benefits to the aviation community:

ADDS is a very cost-effective method of enabling aviation decision-makers and automation systems to acquire up-to-the-minute weather observations and state-of the-art forecasts
The digital format of ADDS facilitates interaction among computers, a key requirement to support free flight. ADDS can be accessed by: http://adds.awc-kc.noaa.gov/

Below are the links to sub articles on Aviation Digital Data Service:

Ceiling and Visibility
Turbulence
Convective Weather
Winter Weather Research
In-Flight Icing

NASA Headquarters Responsible Official: Code R
Curator: SAIC Information Services
http://www.aerospace.nasa.gov