Transcript Observations From the Global AMDAR Program Presentation to WMO TECO-2005 4-7 May 2005 by Jeff Stickland Technical Coordinator, WMO AMDAR Panel.

Observations From the Global AMDAR Program
Presentation to
WMO TECO-2005
4-7 May 2005
by
Jeff Stickland
Technical Coordinator, WMO AMDAR Panel
System Description
AMDAR = Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay
AMDAR is:
• A fully automated upper air observing system;
• Collects high quality upper air observations of wind speed and
direction, temperature, and sometimes turbulence and humidity;
• From many existing commercial aircraft;
• In collaboration with national domestic and international airlines;
• Uses existing aircraft and airline infrastructure including:
– standard installed high quality sensors for wind, temperature and
turbulence plus height (pressure), time and position;
– onboard avionics and communications hardware and software;
– Airlines normally use the international communications system called
Aircraft Communications and Reporting System (ACARS). Global
services are provided by 2 companies – ARINC and SITA.
System Description (cont.)
– airline ground-based data processing systems;
• No new hardware is required on the aircraft;
• The only additional requirement to make AMDAR work is special
AMDAR software installed in the aircraft avionics or communications
hardware;
• Humidity sensors are being developed and will be added in the future to
SOME aircraft;
TYPICAL AMDAR INSTALLATION
FITTED WITH EXISTING
=
+
SENSORS
+
AVIONICS HARDWARE
+
AVIONICS SOFTWARE
+
COMMUNICATIONS
AMDAR SOFTWARE
AMDAR System Structure
Operational, Reporting, Monitoring & Feedback
QEv Cen tre
Co-ordinator
SI TA/ARINC
Ground-based
Data Processing
System(s)
GTS
Network
Flight
Control
Airlines
Uplinking
Sys tems
Regional
Data Optimising
Centre
NMS
Why is AMDAR Data Needed?
 To provide a cost effective source of upper air observations to support
national, regional and global basic meteorological operations and research;
 AMDAR data can be used in most meteorological applications that use
upper air data obtained from conventional observing systems. Vertical profiles
of temperature and wind are often the most valuable:
 Examples in operational bench forecasting for the short to medium term
includeSevere weather forecast and warning services;
Public weather forecast and warning services;
Aviation weather services (enroute and terminal area forecasts
supporting airlines, air traffic control and airport operations;
Marine and industrial applications;
Environmental monitoring and warning applications;
Climate studies, etc.

 To meet the NWP community’s requirement for greater quantities and
improved coverage of relevant upper air data;

For forecast verification;
 To help provide a more comprehensive assessment of the atmosphere
for local modelling research, local forecasting, etc;
 To provide data from data sparse areas around the world to improve local
forecasts and to contribute to the WMO World Weather Watch Global
Observing System
 Operational Cost compared to radiosonde is 1%
Data Requirements
Desirable Horizontal Spatial and Temporal Density:
1 profile on 250 km grid at 3 hourly intervals
BASIC Data
Element
Unit
Range
Pressure
Altitude
Static Air
Temperature
Wind
Direction
Wind Speed
Latitude
Longitude
Foot (ft)
o
Time (UTC)
Hour:Minute:Sec
ond
C
O
from true N
Knot (kt)
Degree:minute
Degree:minute
-1000 to 50000
Output
resolution
10
Desired
accuracy
100(1)
-99 to 99
0.1
0.5(2)
1 to 360
1
Note (2,3)
0 to 800
90:00S to 90:00N
180:00E to
180:00W
00:00:00 to
23:59:59
1
1.0min
1.0min
Note (2,3)
Note (4)
Note (4)
1 min
1s
Notes:
(1) required to preserve temperature accuracy
(2) WMO requirement for NWP in troposphere
(3) 2ms-1 (4kt) vector error
(4) 5Nm equivalent (specified for ASDAR)
Data Requirements (cont.)
Additional Data
Element
RangeUnit
Maximum wind
Turbulence (g)
Turbulence(DEVG)
Turbulence(EDR)
Humidity(RH)
Humidity (dew pt)
Humidity(mixing
ratio)
kt
g (4)
ms-1
m2/3s-1
%
o
C
gram/kg
Output
resolution
0 to 800
1
-3 to 6
0.1
0 to 20
0.25
0 to 1
0.05
0 to 100
1
-99 to +49 0.1
0 to 100
0.001
Desired accuracy
4
0.15(1)
0.5(1)
0.1(1)
5(2)
Note 5
1:103
(measurement)(3)
Notes:
(1) Determined by output categories required
(2) WMO requirement for NWP in troposphere
(3) To meet stratospheric humidity requirement
(4) Acceleration due to gravity. ‘Zero’ reference on aircraft is usually +1.
(5) Equivalent to 5% RH error.
Mandatory and Optional Reported Elements
Element
Aircraft identifier
Phase of flight
Latitude
Longitude
Day & time of observation
Pressure altitude
Static air temperature
Wind direction
Wind speed
Maximum wind
Roll & pitch angle flag
Humidity
Turbulence
Icing
Mandatory/Optional
Requires Additional
Onboard Processing
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
O
O
*
*
*
O
*
Daily Number of Reports
Growth in AMDAR Data
200000
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
1986 1990 1993 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
24 Hour Global Coverage
13 April 2005
Courtesy NOAA FSL
24 Hour AMDAR Profiles
13 April 2005
Courtesy NOAA FSL
E-AMDAR Temperature Quality
18%
O-B temperature difference distribution
QEvC 2001Q02
16%
14%
LVR/ LVW
ASC/ DES
percentage
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
-1.0 -0.9 -0.8 -0.7 -0.6 -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5
temperature difference (K)
Frequency distribution of the mean temperature difference (OBS–Background)
KNMI QEV Report - April - June 2001
E-AMDAR Wind Speed Quality
O-B wind speed difference distribution
QEv C 2001Q02
40%
35%
percentage
30%
LVR/ LVW
25%
ASC/ DES
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
-1.0 -0.9 -0.8 -0.7 -0.6
-0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2
-0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
wind speed difference (m/s)
Frequency distribution of the mean wind speed difference (OBS–Background)
KNMI QEV Report - April - June 2001
WVSSII on N407 Versus Sonde at Mexico City, 12:53, 28 March 2005
LIT WVSS-2 vs. Raob Comparison
SDF WVSS-2 Comparisons 31 MAR 05
Comparisons of 4 WVSS-2 aircraft on descent into SDF. Between 06z and 08z the
profiles changed markedly as a line of thunderstorms approached and moved through, along
with cold front passage. 2 Ascents are also included. Things stabilized by around 10z.
Mixing ratio (g/kg) for 3 aircraft on ascent with 62 minutes of each other 3/11/05)
Criteria
(1000’s ft)
Range of Height
(feet)
N453
(0941Z)
N411
(1006Z)
N402
(1043Z)
{range of
mixing ratio}
760 – 960
4.3
4.8
4.4 – 4.3
[ 0.5 ]
1<h<2
1010 – 1940
4.3 – 4.1
4.7 – 4.3
4.2 – 3.8
[ 0.9 ]
2<h<3
2120 – 2950
3.8 – 3.2
4.1 – 3.8
3.7 – 3.6
[ 0.9 ]
3 < h < 3.7
3120 – 3630
3.0
3.6 – 3.2
3.5 – 3.4
[ 0.5 ]
4.5 < h < 5.1
4530 – 5070
2.8
3.0
3.3
[ 0.5 ]
6.0 < h < 7.0
6070 – 6490
2.8
2.6
2.5
[ 0.3 ]
7.1 < h < 8.3
7170 – 8230
2.6 – 2.3
2.4
2.4 – 2.1
[ 0.5 ]
9.4 < h < 10.8
9400 – 10740
1.6
1.4
1.6 – 1.4
[ 0.2 ]
11.2 < h < 12
11220 – 11930
1.4
1.3
1.3
[ 0.1 ]
12.1 < h < 13
12140 – 12930
1.1
.84 – .75
1.3 – 1.2
[ 0.55 ]
14 < h < 18
14110 – 17970
.88 - .49
.61 - .38
.82 - .41
[ 0.5 ]
22.0 < h < 26
22440 – 26000
.30 - .28
.04 - .03
.22 - .20
[ 0.27 ]
h<1
Relative Humidity (RH) for 3 aircraft on ascent with 62 minutes of each other 3/11/05)
Criteria
(1000’s ft)
Range of Height
(feet)
N453
(0941Z)
N411
(1006Z)
N402
(1043Z)
{range of RH}
(%)
760 – 960
85.2 - 84.1
95.1
84.9 – 81.2
[ 13.9 ]
1<h<2
1010 – 1940
83.2 – 81.9
89.1 – 79.1
80.3 – 79.8
[ 9.3 ]
2<h<3
2120 – 2950
77.1 – 70.7
76.8 – 73.4
87.5 - 78.4
[ 16.8 ]
3 < h < 3.7
3120 – 3630
71.0 – 67.9
77.8 – 71.3
91.9 - 88.1
[ 24.0 ]
4.5 < h < 5.1
4530 – 5070
83.9
83.6 – 78.4
101.6
[ 23.2 ]
6.0 < h < 7.0
6070 – 6490
91.9
82.8
88.0
[ 9.1 ]
7.1 < h < 8.3
7170 – 8230
100.5 – 97.7
88.6
97.7 – 95.7
[ 11.9 ]
9.4 < h < 10.8
9400 – 10740
87.9 – 76.7
67.4
87.1 – 80.2
[ 20.5 ]
11.2 < h < 12
11220 – 11930
107.8 – 95.7
89.4 – 82.8
82.6 – 74.0
[ 33.8 ]
12.1 < h < 13
12140 – 12930
77.2
47.8 – 45.5
88.3 – 84.7
[ 40.5 ]
14 < h < 18
14110 – 17970
76.8 – 61.5
48.4 – 39.8
83.0 – 64.7
[ 34.6 ]
22.0 < h < 26
22440 – 26000
98.2 – 82.3
7.1 – 6.0
67.2 – 52.0
[ 92.2 ]
h<1
Dew point for 3 aircraft on ascent with 62 minutes of each other 3/11/05)
Criteria
(1000’s ft)
N453
(0941Z)
N411
(1006Z)
N402
(1043Z)
760 – 960
1.5 to 1.4
3.0
1.8 to 1.4
[ 1.6 ]
1<h<2
1010 – 1940
1.2 to 0.2
2.6 to 0.9
0.8 to -0.8
[ 3.4 ]
2<h<3
2120 – 2950
-0.9 to -3.6
0.1 to -1.2
-1.6 to -2.0
[ 3.7 ]
3 < h < 3.7
3120 – 3630
-4.6 to -4.8
-2.1 to -3.9
-2.5 to -3.1
[ 2.7 ]
4.5 < h < 5.1
4530 – 5070
-6.4
-5.2 to -5.5
-4.0
[ 2.4 ]
6.0 < h < 7.0
6070 – 6490
-6.4
-8.0
-8.4
[ 2.4 ]
7.1 < h < 8.3
7170 – 8230
-8.4 to -10.4
-9.6
-9.4 to -11.5
[ 3.1 ]
9.4 < h < 10.8
9400 – 10740
-15.4 to -15.9
-17.3
-15.6 to -17.6
[ 2.2 ]
11.2 < h < 12
11220 – 11930
-17.9 to -18.1 -18.7 to -18.9
-18.8 to -19.0
[ 1.1 ]
12.1 < h < 13
12140 – 12930
-21.3
-24.1 to -25.7
-19.1 to -20.4
[ 5.0 ]
14 < h < 18
14110 – 17970
-24.5 to -32.3
-28.6 to -34.7
-25.2 to -34.1
[ 10.2 ]
22.0 < h < 26
22440 – 26000
-39.4 to -40.5
-56.6 to -58.2
-42.1 to -44.3
[ 18.8 ]
h<1
Range of Height
(feet)
{range of
mixing ratio}