Aircraft encounters with turbulence are the leading cause of injuries in the airline industry and result in significant human, operational, and maintenance costs. A large contributor to these encounters is that flight crews do not possess sufficient knowledge of the location and severity of potential turbulence hazards to their aircraft. The Turbulence Auto-PIREP System (TAPS) is an autonomous system that provides real-time objective reports of turbulence encounters in an effort to improve the pilots' and ground operations personnel's situational awareness of potential turbulence hazards. TAPS was developed as part of the Turbulence Prediction and Warning Systems (TPAWS) element of NASA's Aviation Safety and Security Program (AvSSP), whose goal is to develop technologies that reduce the turbulence accident rate by 25-50% by 2007. Under TPAWS, AeroTech Research has spearheaded a government/industry initiative with Delta Airlines and ARINC, in which TAPS reporting algorithms have been installed on the Delta B737-800 fleet (71 aircraft) and tested in revenue service. This initiative involves the development of the reporting system, communications infrastructure, and ground station display, which are all components of the Turbulence Auto-PIREP System. The purpose of this initiative is to evaluate the algorithms and concepts during realistic operational conditions, to understand the communication pathways for the TAPS information (Air-to-Ground), and to develop displays that portray this information based on user (pilots, dispatchers, etc.) needs, requirements, and operations. The goal is to improve the situational awareness of turbulence and to provide operationally useful information to the end user.
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