Near-Real Time Diagnosis of Aircraft Icing Conditions for Aviation Safety Applications
- Paper number
IAC-08.B1.5.9
- Author
Dr. Patrick Minnis, NASA Langley Research Center, United States
- Year
2008
- Abstract
One of the greatest threats to aviation safety is the occurrence of supercooled liquid water in the flight path of an aircraft. Ice can nucleate and adhere to aircraft structures when a plane flies through such conditions, icing conditions, resulting in the accumulation of ice on the aircraft. The ice decreases aircraft performance, sometimes, to the point of causing fatal crashes. Commercial airlines often coat an aircraft with de-icing compounds prior to takeoff when icing conditions are expected. However, general aviation aircraft, which spend more time at potential icing altitudes, often fly without such protection. Even, with protection, ice can sometimes still accumulate in certain conditions. Currently, icing conditions are diagnosed or predicted using a variety of resources including pilot reports (PIREPS), weather forecast model output, and crude satellite estimates of icing conditions. The techniques work relatively well where observations are frequent and accurate, but high density observations are infrequent. In recent years, it has become possible to derive the physical properties of clouds from operational satellite imagery. A variety of techniques have been developed to estimate cloud phase, temperature, optical depth, liquid water path, and effective cloud particle size. These parameters are related to the variables that determine whether a cloud will cause icing, and whether it will be light or heavy icing. These cloud retrieval techniques are being used to provide cloud properties in near-real time over the USA, Europe, and many other parts of the globe. Methods for converting these parameters to a potential icing index have been developed and are being tested using both geostationary and polar-orbiting meteorological satellites. This icing index and the cloud properties have considerable potential for improving diagnoses where other observations are sparse. This paper provides a brief overview of the methods and demonstrates their potential for improving icing nowcasts and forecasts over areas where icing is a concern. Both single-layer and multi-layer cloud conditions are examined. This new product should enhance the safety of both commercial and personal air travel and can be used with new satellites such as GOES-R.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)