General aviation pilots will soon have access to new icing forecasts, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said on Tuesday. The Current Icing Product Severity tool, which has been in testing and development for a few years, will be fully operational in two months or less, she said, in time for much of this icing season. “This product combines observations from satellite, radar, surface, lightning networks and pilot weather reports with model output to provide a detailed, hourly, three-dimensional diagnosis of in-flight icing conditions and potential for super-cooled liquid droplets,” Blakey said. Speaking at the Washington, D.C., Aero Club on Tuesday, Blakey also described other weather-enhancement programs in the works. The Collaborative Convective Forecast Product, which has been around for a few years, puts out a forecast every two hours from March through October, Blakey said. Those forecasts now look out about six hours, but will be expanded to eight. Other projects will improve the collection, analysis and dissemination of weather data. Providing better weather forecasts is an important part of creating a next-generation air traffic system, Blakey said.
FAA’s Blakey: Better Icing Info Coming Soon
Key Takeaways:
- The FAA is launching a new "Current Icing Product Severity tool" for general aviation pilots within two months, providing detailed, hourly, three-dimensional diagnoses of in-flight icing conditions by integrating various data sources.
- This new tool combines observations from satellite, radar, surface, lightning networks, pilot reports, and model output to predict icing and super-cooled liquid droplets.
- The FAA is also enhancing other weather programs, such as expanding the forecast range of the Collaborative Convective Forecast Product and improving overall weather data collection, analysis, and dissemination.
- These weather forecast improvements are a critical component of the FAA's broader effort to create a next-generation air traffic system.
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