Weather Information Services Supporting Civilian UAS Operations

We build a system that supports the weather information needs of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) planning to fly in the National Airspace System (NAS). This weather information service will supply information to UAS Ground Control Stations (GCSs) from the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) 4D Weather Data Cube, the Single Authoritative Source (SAS) for aviation weather information, and associated modules which will determine the impacts that weather will have on the UAS. A centralized distribution system, based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), provides weather and constraint information to airlines and pilots (including UAS operators) - the design follows JPDO guidelines. In NextGen, the design goal is for all aircraft flying in the NAS (including UASs) to have a consistent set of weather constraints.

1. Integrated Systems Research Program (ISRP) Concept Exploration - demonstrate feasibility of a SOA solution, based on centralized ATCSCC point of access for information 2. Airspace Systems Program (ASP) - ASP needs to demonstrate how UASs can be integrated with traditional air traffic, and how traffic flow management can address UAS challenges 3. Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) - AvSP must address UAS safety concerns, and having all aircraft (civilian and UAS) in synch with weather constraints is a requirement.

DoD, local law enforcement, commercial, and other parties are very much interested in UAS systems flying in the NAS. Our weather information services will be desired by all these users to have year round safe operations in all weather conditions in the NAS.