Clear air turbulence over South Africa

Study of Clear Air Turbulence over Iranian Plato

This study was carried out using two sets of numerical weather forecast data and flight reports for Clear Air Turbulence (CAT) over Iranian Plato to find atmospheric flow patterns favorable to the formation of CAT. The numerical data include five months of AVN analysis with horizontal resolution of 1 degree(about 100 km) and four months forecast data of MM5 model with resolution of 50 km. Impor...

Clear-air turbulence in a changing climate

Atmospheric turbulence causes most weather-related aircraft incidents. Commercial aircraft encounter moderate-or-greater turbulence tens of thousands of times each year worldwide, injuring probably hundreds of passengers (occasionally fatally), costing airlines tens of millions of dollars and causing structural damage to planes. Clear-air turbulence is especially difficult to avoid, because it ...

Verification of clear-air turbulence forecasts

Variation of ionospheric slab thickness over South Africa

Ionospheric slab thickness is defined as the ratio of TEC to maximum electron density of the F-region (NmF2), proportional to the square of the F2-layer critical frequency (foF2). It is an important parameter in that it is linearly correlated with scale height of the ionosphere, which is related to electron density profile. It also reflects variation of the neutral temperature. Therefore, ionos...

Analyzing and Forecasting Clear - Air Turbulence Probabilities over the United States

Pilot reports from special turbulence-reporting periods were used t o investigate methods of analyzing and forecasting clear-air turbulence over the United States. Meteorological analyses for the special reporting periods were made objectively by computer using only standard upper air rawinsonde measurements. The wind analyses were built upward from the 400-mb level to the 200-mb level using th...