Weather data de-conflicting and correction system

• US 10,151,834 B2
• Filed: 07/26/2016
• Issued: 12/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Wang, Guoqing, Li, Ji, Wang, Haifeng
• Primary Examiner(s): Brainard, Timothy A
• Application Number:
  US15/220,201
• Publication Number:
  US 20180031698A1
• Time in Patent Office: 868 Days
• Field of Search: 342 26
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/87 Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/953 mounted on aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/003 Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

In one example, this disclosure is directed to a system configured to receive a first set of weather data from an onboard weather data system disposed on an aircraft. The system is configured to receive a second set of weather data from a remote weather data system separate from the aircraft, wherein the second set of weather data and the first set of weather data provide coverage at least in part of an overlapping volume of airspace and an overlapping time interval. The system is configured to determine whether a difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is above a nominal threshold of difference. The system is configured to generate a corrective output in response to determining that the difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is above the nominal threshold of difference

Claims

1. A system comprising one or more processors configured to:

receive a first set of weather data from an onboard weather data system disposed on an aircraft;

receive a second set of weather data from a remote weather data system separate from the aircraft, wherein the second set of weather data and the first set of weather data provide coverage at least in part of an overlapping volume of airspace and an overlapping time interval;

determine whether a difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is above a nominal threshold of difference; and

generate a corrective output in response to determining that the difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is above the nominal threshold of difference.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the corrective output comprises at least a portion of the first set of weather data corresponding to the overlapping volume of airspace and the overlapping time interval.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the corrective output comprises a corrective data set corresponding to the overlapping volume of airspace and the overlapping time interval.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the corrective output comprises an indication of the difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the corrective output comprises an alert indicative of the determining that the difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is above the nominal threshold of difference.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is further configured such that determining the difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data comprises determining a difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data in one or more of:

a horizontal motion of one or more weather features;

a vertical trend of one or more weather features; and

a reflectivity trend of one or more weather features.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data comprises data indicative of one or more of:

a lateral motion of a weather feature, a tangential motion of a weather feature, a radial motion of the a weather feature, a vertical trend of a weather feature, a reflectivity trend of a weather feature, lightning, ice, hail, wind shear, and clear air turbulence (CAT).

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is further configured to:

determine an accuracy of the first set of weather data; and

include, in the corrective output, the determined accuracy of the first set of weather data.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is further configured to:

determine a relative accuracy between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data; and

include, in the corrective output, the determined relative accuracy between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is further configured to:

determine whether a relative accuracy between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is ambiguous; and

include, in the corrective output, an indication that the relative accuracy between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is ambiguous.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is further configured to:

determine whether a relative accuracy between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is ambiguous; and

include, in the corrective output, a weighted average of the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is further configured to:

initiate a review of accuracy of other sets of weather data in response to determining that the difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is above the nominal threshold of difference, wherein the overlapping volume of airspace is a first overlapping volume of airspace and the overlapping time interval is a first overlapping time interval, and the system is further configured such that the review of accuracy is directed to a second overlapping volume of airspace overlapping or proximate to the first overlapping volume of airspace and a second overlapping time interval overlapping or proximate to the first overlapping time interval.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is integrated with at least one of an onboard weather radar processing system or an onboard weather data display system.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the onboard weather data system comprises one or more of:

an onboard weather radar system, an onboard air data system, and an onboard inertial navigation system.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is further configured to transmit the corrective output to a data aggregating system external to the aircraft.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is further configured to increase a rate of transmitting weather data to a weather data aggregating system external to the aircraft, in response to determining that the difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is above the nominal threshold of difference.

17. A method comprising:

receiving, with one or more processors, a first set of weather data from an onboard weather data system disposed on an aircraft;

receiving, with the one or more processors, a second set of weather data from a remote weather data system separate from the aircraft, wherein the second set of weather data and the first set of weather data provide coverage at least in part of an overlapping volume of airspace and an overlapping time interval;

determine, with the one or more processors, whether a difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is above a nominal threshold of difference; and

generate, with the one or more processors, a corrective output in response to determining that the difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is above the nominal threshold of difference.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the corrective output comprises at least a portion of the first set of weather data corresponding to the overlapping volume of airspace and the overlapping time interval.

19. A device comprising:

one or more processors; and

a computer-readable storage medium operatively coupled to the one or more processors and comprising executable instructions that configure the one or more processors to;

receive a first set of weather data from an onboard weather data system disposed on an aircraft;

receive a second set of weather data from a remote weather data system separate from the aircraft, wherein the second set of weather data and the first set of weather data provide coverage at least in part of an overlapping volume of airspace and an overlapping time interval;

determine whether a difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is above a nominal threshold of difference; and

generate a corrective output in response to determining that the difference between the first set of weather data and the second set of weather data is above the nominal threshold of difference.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the corrective output comprises at least a portion of the first set of weather data corresponding to the overlapping volume of airspace and the overlapping time interval.