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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1982

Wind shear and vortex wake research in UK, 1982

A wind shear and vortex wake and their impact on aircraft were investigated. The systems and advice to help pilots, and rational scientific methods to assist in advising certification authorities and those interested in improving flight safety were developed. Wind Shear and Vortex Wakes are related, they are both invisible enemies of aircraft in the form of large disturbances in the atmosphere, both cause major accidents. Problems of building wakes at airports are is considered. Research on wind shear was initiated by the American FAA following the Boston, New York and Denver accidents to civil airliners. This resulted in: useful advice to pilots about wind shear; better attempts by the meteorologists at forecasting wind shear conditions; and useful ideas for wind shear measurement and warning systems. Three major research tasks are outstanding: (1) Worldwide measurements to give reliable estimates of probability and details of the forms of large wind shears; (2) Developments of real time wind shear measuring systems for ground or airborne use; and (3) Establishing relationships between measured wind shear and the potential hazard to an aircraft, or class of aircraft.

Alan A. Woodfield↗
NASA NTRS1977

The Multi-Dimensional Nature of Wind Shear Investigations

The impact of air carrier accidents has lead to investigations into the wind shear phenomenon. This report includes such topics as wind shear characterization, aircraft pilot performance in shear conditions, terminology and language development, wind shear forecasting, ground and flight wind shear displays, wind shear data collection and dissemination, and pilot factors associated with wind shear encounters. Some areas which show promise for short term solutions to the wind shear hazards includes: (1) improved gust front warning through ground based sensors; (2) greater pilot awareness of wind shear through improved training; and (3) airborne displays based on groundspeed/airspeed comparisons.

Cox, W. J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Integration of the TDWR and LLWAS wind shear detection system

Operational demonstrations of a prototype TDWR/LLWAS (Terminal Doppler Weather Radar/Low Level Wind shear Alarm System) integrated wind shear detection system were conducted. The integration of wind shear detection systems is needed to provide end-users with a single, consensus source of information. A properly implemented integrated system provides wind shear warnings of a higher quality than stand-alone LLWAS or TDWR systems. The algorithmic concept used to generate the TDWR/LLWAS integrated products and several case studies are discussed, indicating the viability and potential of integrated wind shear detection systems. Implications for integrating ground and airborne wind shear detection systems are briefly examined.

Cornman, Larry↗
NASA NTRS1989

Structure of wind-shear turbulence

The statistical characteristics of wind shear turbulence are modelled. Isotropic turbulence serves as the basis of comparison for the anisotropic turbulence which exists in wind shear. The question of turbulence scales in wind shear is addressed from the perspective of power spectral density.

Trevino, G.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Wind shear modeling for aircraft hazard definition

Mathematical models of wind profiles were developed for use in fast time and manned flight simulation studies aimed at defining and eliminating these wind shear hazards. A set of wind profiles and associated wind shear characteristics for stable and neutral boundary layers, thunderstorms, and frontal winds potentially encounterable by aircraft in the terminal area are given. Engineering models of wind shear for direct hazard analysis are presented in mathematical formulae, graphs, tables, and computer lookup routines. The wind profile data utilized to establish the models are described as to location, how obtained, time of observation and number of data points up to 500 m. Recommendations, engineering interpretations and guidelines for use of the data are given and the range of applicability of the wind shear models is described.

Frost, W.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Small-scale wind shear definition for aerospace vehicle design.

Rawinsonde wind profile data provide adequate wind shear information for vertical height intervals greater than 1 km. To specify wind shears for intervals below 1 km for space vehicle design, detailed wind-profile information like that provided by the FPS-16 Radar/Jimsphere system or an extrapolation procedure is required. This paper is concerned with the latter alternative. It is assumed that any realization from an ensemble of wind profiles can be represented in terms of a Fourier integral. This permits the calculation of the ensemble standard deviation and mean of the corresponding shear ensemble for any altitude and shear interval in terms of the power spectrum of the ensemble of wind profiles. The results of these calculations show that the mean and standard deviation of the wind shear ensemble, as well as the wind shear for any percentile, asymptotically behave like the vertical interval to the 0.7 power. This result is in excellent agreement with shear data from Cape Kennedy, Fla.

Fichtl, G. H.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Case history of FAA/SRI wind shear models

In order to understand the development of the FAA/SRI wind fields, it is important to understand the operating philosophy of the FAA's Wind Shear Program Office. The goal of the office was to ensure an integrated solution to the wind shear problem which addressed three area: ground based equipment and coordination; airborne systems and procedures; and weather prediction. This triply addressed goal was central to the development of the wind fields. The primary user of the wind shear modeling during the FAA's program was airborne simulation. The project requirement was to use wind shear models that resulted from accidents so that effective procedures and/or equipment could be found for hazardous wind shear encounters. The wind shear model development is discussed in detail.

Schlickenmaier, Herbert↗
NASA NTRS1994

The relationship of an integral wind shear hazard to aircraft performance limitations

The development and certification of airborne forward-looking wind shear detection systems has required a hazard definition stated in terms of sensor observable wind field characteristics. This paper outlines the definition of the F-factor wind shear hazard index and an average F-factor quantity, calculated over a specified averaging interval, which may be used to judge an aircraft's potential performance loss due to a given wind shear field. A technique for estimating airplane energy changes during a wind shear encounter is presented and used to determine the wind shear intensity, as a function of the averaging interval, that presents significant hazard to transport category airplanes. The wind shear hazard levels are compared to averaged F-factor values at various averaging intervals for four actual wind shear encounters. Results indicate that averaging intervals of about one kilometer could be used in a simple method to discern hazardous shears.

Lewis, M. S.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Structure of wind-shear turbulence

The statistical characteristics of wind-shear turbulence are modelled. Isotropic turbulence serves as the basis of comparison for the anisotropic turbulence which exists in wind shear. The question of how turbulence scales in a wind shear is addressed from the perspective of power spectral density.

Trevino, G.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Power spectral density analysis of wind-shear turbulence for related flight simulations

Meteorological phenomena known as microbursts can produce abrupt changes in wind direction and/or speed over a very short distance in the atmosphere. These changes in flow characteristics have been labelled wind shear. Because of its adverse effects on aerodynamic lift, wind shear poses its most immediate threat to flight operations at low altitudes. The number of recent commercial aircraft accidents attributed to wind shear has necessitated a better understanding of how energy is transferred to an aircraft from wind-shear turbulence. Isotropic turbulence here serves as the basis of comparison for the anisotropic turbulence which exists in the low-altitude wind shear. The related question of how isotropic turbulence scales in a wind shear is addressed from the perspective of power spectral density (psd). The role of the psd in related Monte Carlo simulations is also considered.

Laituri, Tony R.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Recovery strategies for microburst encounters using reactive and forward-look wind shear detection

The threat of convective microburst wind shear phenomena to aircraft is studied. An attempt was made to quantify the benefits of forward-look sensing and to develop and test a candidate set of strategies for recovery from inadvertent microburst encounters during the landing approach. A batch simulation of various wind shear encounters was carried out; the simulation consisted of a point-mass aircraft model, an analytical microburst, and a simple wind shear detection scheme. It was found that forward-look alerts given 10 sec prior to microburst entry permitted recoveries to be made with little altitude loss.

Hinton, David A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Contributions on the Subject of Longitudinal Movements of Aircraft in Wind Shears

The effect of downburst-type wind shears on the longitudinal dynamic behavior of an unguided aircraft is simulated numerically on the basis of published meteorological data and the flight characteristics of an A300-B passenger jet. The nonlinear differential equations of the aircraft motion are linearized by conventional methods, and the wind effects are introduced via the linear derivatives of the wind components referred to the wind gradients to obtain simplified technical models of the longitudinal response to all possible types of constant-gradient wind shears during the first 20-60 sec. Graphs, maps, and diagrams are provided, and a number of accidents presumed to have involved wind shears are analyzed in detail.

Krauspe, P.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Sources of low-level wind shear around airports

Some potential sources of low-level wind shear in and around airports and their likely effects are probed and analyzed. Wind shear over flat terrain with near-homogeneous surface properties (roughness, specific heat), the turning layer, shear flows over inhomogeneous terrain (airport + urban areas), thunderstorms, turbulent flowfields over bluff bodies (individual buildings), and recirculating wake flow downstream of three-dimensional block bodies are among the topics covered. Overshoot or undershoot of runways, and induced moments (pitch, roll, yaw) in takeoff and landing, and other potential hazards traceable to wind shear patterns at low heights are discussed, with emphasis on mean flow or steady-state wind shear (time-averaged, say 2-min averaged, wind fields). Wind tunnel studies and V/STOL operations are included in the study.

Fichtl, G. H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Wind shear training applications for 91/135

The requirement for wind shear training of all pilots has been demonstrated too often by the accident statistics of past years. Documents were developed to train airline crews on specific aircraft and to teach recognition of the meteorological conditions that are conducive to wind shear and microburst formation. A Wind Shear Training Aid program is discussed.

Arbon, ED↗
NASA NTRS1992

Real-time decision aiding - Aircraft guidance for wind shear avoidance

Modern control theory and artificial intelligence technology are applied to the Wind Shear Safety Advisor, a conceptual airborne advisory system to help flight crews avoid or survive encounter with hazardous low-altitude wind shear. Numerical and symbolic processes of the system fuse diverse, time-varying data from ground-based and airborne measurements. Simulated wind-shear-encounter scenarios illustrate the need to consider a variety of factors for optimal decision reliability. The wind-shear-encounter simulations show the Wind Shear Safety Advisor's potential for effectively integrating the available information, highlighting the benefits of the computational techniques employed.

Stratton, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A quantitative technique to estimate microburst wind shear hazard to aircraft

Low-altitude microburst wind shear encounters can significantly affect aircraft performance during approach or takeoff. Over the past 25 years, hazardous wind shear was a contributing factor in over two dozen commercial airline accidents in which there were over 500 fatalities. NASA, the FAA, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research were involved in the design and testing of various sensors to detect the hazard. Among the sensors being tested are the ground-based Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) and airborne Doppler radar and LIDAR systems. While these sensor systems do measure horizontal wind shear, they do not adequately account for the vertical wind, which is a key component of the microburst hazard to the aircraft. A technique is defined to estimate aircraft hazard from the combined effects of horizontal and vertical winds, given only horizontal wind information.

Byrd, Gregory P.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Air/ground wind shear information integration: Flight test results

An element of the NASA/FAA wind shear program is the integration of ground-based microburst information on the flight deck, to support airborne wind shear alerting and microburst avoidance. NASA conducted a wind shear flight test program in the summer of 1991 during which airborne processing of Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) data was used to derive microburst alerts. High level microburst products were extracted from TDWR, transmitted to a NASA Boeing 737 in flight via data link, and processed to estimate the wind shear hazard level (F-factor) that would be experienced by the aircraft in the core of each microburst. The microburst location and F-factor were used to derive a situation display and alerts. The situation display was successfully used to maneuver the aircraft for microburst penetrations, during which in situ 'truth' measurements were made. A total of 19 penetrations were made of TDWR-reported microburst locations, resulting in 18 airborne microburst alerts from the TDWR data and two microburst alerts from the airborne in situ measurements. The primary factors affecting alerting performance were spatial offset of the flight path from the region of strongest shear, differences in TDWR measurement altitude and airplane penetration altitude, and variations in microburst outflow profiles. Predicted and measured F-factors agreed well in penetrations near microburst cores. Although improvements in airborne and ground processing of the TDWR measurement would be required to support an airborne executive-level alerting protocol, the feasibility of airborne utilization of TDWR data link data has been demonstrated.

Hinton, David A.↗