Method and system for dynamic automated corrections to weather avoidance routes for aircraft in en route airspace

• US 9,171,473 B1
• Filed: 12/06/2012
• Issued: 10/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: USA As Represented By The Administrator Of The NASA
• Original Assignee: The United States of America As Represented By The Secretary of Agriculture
• Inventors: McNally, B. David, Erzberger, Heinz, Sheth, Kapil
• Primary Examiner(s): MUSTAFA, IMRAN K
• Application Number:
  US13/707,546
• Time in Patent Office: 1,055 Days
• Field of Search: 701/122, 701/123, 701/415, 701/423
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0039 Modification of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0095 Aspects of air-traffic control not provided for in the other subgroups of this main group

Abstract

A dynamic weather route system automatically analyzes routes for in-flight aircraft flying in convective weather regions and attempts to find more time and fuel efficient reroutes around current and predicted weather cells. The dynamic weather route system continuously analyzes all flights and provides reroute advisories that are dynamically updated in real time while the aircraft are in flight. The dynamic weather route system includes a graphical user interface that allows users to visualize, evaluate, modify if necessary, and implement proposed reroutes.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for a continuous and automatic real-time search that identifies and proposes corrections to original weather avoidance routes for a plurality of in-flight en route aircraft that could save flying time while avoiding convective weather, the method comprising:

receiving real-time updates of aircraft state data and atmospheric data relevant to the plurality of in-flight en route aircraft;

the updates of aircraft state data including original weather avoidance routes, and surveillance tracking data;

the updates of atmospheric data including wind data, real-time convective weather data, and convective weather forecast data;

the real-time convective weather data originating from NexRad radars;

computing 4-dimensional (4D) trajectory predictions for the plurality of in-flight en route aircraft based on the real-time updates of aircraft state data and atmospheric data;

processing the aircraft state data, the atmospheric data, and associated trajectory predictions to define reference routes for the plurality of in-flight en route aircraft;

each of the reference routes having a starting point at or near the in-flight en route aircraft'"'"'s current position and an ending point at or near a downstream return capture waypoint on the associated original weather avoidance route, each of the reference routes eliminating one or more waypoints on the associated original weather avoidance route;

testing the reference routes to identify preferred reference routes that produce a minimum flying time savings relative to the associated original weather avoidance routes;

processing the preferred reference routes to search for convective weather conflicts along the preferred reference routes;

defining route corrections to the associated original weather avoidance routes for the plurality of in-flight en route aircraft by either;

(i) selecting the preferred reference routes as the route corrections to the associated original weather avoidance routes when the preferred reference routes are free of weather conflicts;

or

(ii) (a) automatically resolving weather conflicts in en route airspace along the preferred reference routes when the preferred reference routes are not free of weather conflicts to thereby create current weather-corrected routes, the weather conflicts being automatically resolved on a computer processor;

(b) testing, with the processor, the current weather-corrected routes to identify preferred weather-corrected routes that produce a minimum flying time savings relative to the associated preferred reference routes; and

(c) selecting, with the processor, the preferred weather-corrected routes that have the greatest flying time savings relative to the associated original weather avoidance routes, the selected preferred weather-corrected routes becoming the route corrections to the associated original weather avoidance routes;

proposing the route corrections to the associated original weather avoidance routes on a computer display; and

repeating the above, continuously and automatically, for the plurality of in-flight en route aircraft as real-time updates of aircraft state data and atmospheric data relevant to the plurality of in-flight en route aircraft are received.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein testing the reference routes to identify preferred reference routes includes testing the reference routes to identify preferred reference routes that produce a minimum potential wind-corrected flying time savings relative to the associated original weather avoidance routes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the original weather avoidance routes of the plurality of in-flight en route aircraft include inefficient route segments, or dog-legs.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the minimum flying time savings is greater than a predetermined trigger value.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the predetermined trigger value is approximately 5 minutes.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the downstream return capture waypoint is a fix on the original weather avoidance route of one of the aircraft of the plurality of in-flight en route aircraft.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the fix is inside a preset limit rectangle or limit region.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the fix is a last fix before a standard arrival route for a destination airport.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the fix is outside of a predetermined distance from a destination airport.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the predetermined distance is approximately 100 nautical miles, or more, from the destination airport.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the preferred reference routes to compute weather-corrected routes that resolve the current and future convective weather conflicts includes creating one or more auxiliary waypoints to form the preferred reference routes to avoid the convective weather conflicts.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one auxiliary waypoint has a nearby named navigational fix.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising replacing at least one auxiliary waypoint with the nearby named navigational fix.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the minimum flying time savings is user adjustable.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the minimum flying time savings is approximately 5 minutes.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising testing downstream sector congestion of the route corrections to the associated original weather avoidance routes.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the flight ID and flying time savings for the plurality of in-flight en route aircraft based on the route corrections.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising testing and resolving the route corrections for traffic conflicts and other relevant operational constraints such as special use airspace and congested airspace.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an interactive flight map on the computer display and interactive functions that enable users to visualize the route corrections to the associated original weather avoidance routes, modify the location and/or the number of auxiliary waypoints or change the capture fix, and then automatically see the impact of their modifications and changes on critical parameters such as proximity to weather, traffic conflicts, flying time savings, and downstream sector congestion.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the reference routes for the plurality of in-flight en route aircraft is one of a direct route to a downstream capture fix, a wind-optimal route to a downstream capture fix, a route to a more efficient standard arrival route into a destination airport, and a user-preferred route.

21. The method of claim 11, wherein the convective weather conflicts are modeled using a group of polygons that reflect modeled weather at different altitudes and at future time horizons.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the polygons comprise arbitrary shapes and sizes.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the resolutions to the convective weather conflicts account for predicted speeds and directions of the plurality of in-flight en route aircraft and predicted speeds and directions of the weather modeled by the polygons over time and over different altitudes.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising minimizing a number of waypoints in the route corrections to the associated original weather avoidance routes.

25. The method of claim 11, wherein creating one or more auxiliary waypoints to form the preferred reference routes around or over the convective weather conflicts includes minimizing the number of waypoints to minimize aircraft navigation.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the number of waypoints is two in order to minimize navigation of commercial air transport operations.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein an allowable gap between convective weather polygons is a minimum of 50 nautical miles.