Evaluation of Weather Impact Models in Departure Management Decision Support: Operational Performance of the Route Availability Planning Tool (rapt) Prototype

There is a critical need for improved departure management during convective weather events in the highly congested airspace in the Northeast and upper Midwest. An early study (Allan, 2001) of the New York Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) prototype suggested that small increases in New York airport departure rates during Severe Weather Avoidance Programs (SWAP) could result in significant delay reduction. More recently, the 2006 annual FAA System Review identified improved departure management in the New York area during SWAP as a critical need in the East and Midwest regions. Departure delays at New York airports can cascade across the entire National Airspace System (NAS), as surface gridlock and reduced gate availability necessitate a reduction of arrival traffic and increased airborne holding and ground delays. The ability to predict impacts of convective weather on future departures is a fundamental need in departure management. The Route Availability Planning Tool (RAPT) (DeLaura, 2003) is an automated decision support tool (DST) intended to help air traffic controllers and airline dispatchers determine the specific departure routes and departure times that will be affected by operationally significant convective weather. RAPT helps users to determine when departure routes or fixes should be opened or closed and to identify alternative departure routes that are free of convective weather. RAPT assigns a status color RED (blocked), YELLOW (impacted), DARK GREEN (insignificant weather encountered) or