Vertical profile display including hazard band indication

• US 9,710,218 B2
• Filed: 07/08/2014
• Issued: 07/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Mathan, Santosh, Bunch, Brian P., Khatwa, Ratan
• Primary Examiner(s): Leiby, Christopher E
• Application Number:
  US14/326,145
• Publication Number:
  US 20160011839A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,106 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/953 mounted on aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/18 Distance-height displays; Distance-elevation displays, e.g. type RHI, type E
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/22 Producing cursor lines and indicia by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/24 the display being orientated or displaced in accordance with movement of object carrying the transmitting and receiving apparatus, e.g. true-motion radar
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/01 Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer G06F3/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/147 using display panels
• 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

A vertical profile display includes weather information for an aircraft. In some examples, the weather is displayed in the vertical profile display with a hazard band indication. The hazard band indication includes an upper limit line positioned within the vertical profile view at a position corresponding to an altitude greater than or equal to an altitude above which no hazardous weather cells were detected. In some examples, the vertical profile display also includes one or more weather icons, with each weather icon indicating a weather condition for a volume of space.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a processor, weather information;

determining, by the processor, a first altitude above which there is no hazardous weather detected based on the weather information; and

generating, by the processor, a vertical profile display based on the weather information, wherein the vertical profile display comprises;

a hazard band indication including an upper limit line positioned within the vertical profile display at a position that corresponds to a second altitude greater than or equal to the first altitude; and

a plurality of hazardous weather indications, each hazardous weather indication indicating a severity of the hazardous weather at a respective point in space, wherein each hazardous weather indication is associated with a hazardous weather cell of a plurality of hazardous weather cells, wherein a first hazardous weather indication of the plurality of hazardous weather indications corresponds to a first severity level of a first hazardous weather cell of the plurality of hazardous weather cells and a second hazardous weather indication of the plurality of hazardous weather indications corresponds to a second severity level of a second hazardous weather cell of the plurality of hazardous weather cells, the second hazardous weather cell being different than the first hazardous weather cell, and the second severity level being different than the first severity level, the first hazardous weather indication being visually distinct from the second hazardous weather indication,

wherein the second altitude is greater than or equal to a maximum altitude of the plurality of hazardous weather cells.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first altitude comprises:

detecting, by the processor, the plurality of hazardous weather cells based on the weather information; and

determining, by the processor, a highest altitude of the plurality of hazardous weather cells, wherein the first altitude is the highest altitude.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a flight path of an aircraft; and

detecting, based on the weather information, hazardous weather along the flight path of the aircraft, wherein determining the first altitude comprises determining the first altitude based on the hazardous weather along the flight path, and wherein the vertical profile display indicates a vertical profile view of the flight path.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the hazardous weather indications comprises a respective one or more weather icons, each weather icon indicating a weather condition for a volume of space.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of weather indications comprises a plurality of weather blocks, each weather block of the plurality of weather blocks indicating weather in a volume of space associated with the weather block.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the hazard band indication further comprises a lower limit line displayed at an altitude of zero.

7. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising determining, by the processor and based on the weather information, a third altitude below which there is no hazardous weather, wherein the vertical profile display further comprises a lower limit line at a position within the vertical profile view corresponding to a fourth altitude less than or equal to the third altitude, wherein the upper limit line and the lower limit line define a hazard block which indicates a range of altitudes in which hazardous weather was detected, wherein the fourth altitude is less than or equal to a minimum altitude of the plurality of weather cells.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the hazard band indication is displayed with a visual characteristic that is visually distinct from the remainder of the vertical profile display, wherein the visual characteristic is associated with the type of hazardous weather detected.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the vertical profile display further comprises a textual altitude indication indicating an altitude of the upper limit line.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the upper limit line has a positive horizontal length, and wherein generating the vertical profile display comprises varying the positive horizontal length of the upper limit line based on at least one of:

a quality of the weather information, a severity of the weather information, a speed of an aircraft, a current altitude, a number of hazards in a vicinity of the aircraft, a size of the aircraft, or a size of the weather information.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the vertical profile display comprises:

receiving, by the processor via a user interface, user input indicating a vertical margin; and

generating, by the processor, the vertical profile display based on the user input, wherein the second altitude is an altitude that is greater than the first altitude by the vertical margin.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting, by the processor and based on the weather information, the plurality of hazardous weather cells.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of hazardous weather indications further comprises a third hazardous weather indication corresponding to a third hazardous weather cell of the plurality of hazardous weather cells different from the first hazardous weather cell and the second hazardous weather cell, wherein the third hazardous weather indication indicates a third severity level different than the first and second severity levels.

14. A system comprising:

a display; and

a processor configured to receive weather information, determine a first altitude above which there is no hazardous weather detected based on the weather information, generate a vertical profile display based on the weather information, and present the vertical profile display via the display, wherein the vertical profile display comprises;

an upper limit line positioned within the vertical profile display at a position corresponding to a second altitude greater than or equal to the first altitude; and

a plurality of hazardous weather indications, each hazardous weather indication indicating a severity of the hazardous weather at a respective point in space, wherein each hazardous weather indication is associated with a hazardous weather cell of a plurality of hazardous weather cells, wherein a first hazardous weather indication of the plurality of hazardous weather indications corresponds to a first severity level of a first hazardous weather cell of the plurality of hazardous weather cells and a second hazardous weather indication of the plurality of hazardous weather indications corresponds to a second severity level of a second hazardous weather cell of the plurality of hazardous weather cells, the second hazardous weather cell being different than the first hazardous weather cell of the plurality of hazardous weather cells, and the second severity level being different than the first severity level, the first hazardous weather indication being visually distinct from the second hazardous weather indication,

wherein the second altitude is greater than or equal to a maximum altitude of the plurality of hazardous weather cells.

15. The system of claim 14, the processor being configured to determine the first altitude by at least:

detecting the plurality of hazardous weather cells based on the weather information; and

determining a highest altitude of the plurality of hazardous weather cells, wherein the first altitude is the highest altitude.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a flight path of an aircraft, and detect, based on the weather information, hazardous weather along the flight path of the aircraft, and wherein the processor is configured to determine the first altitude based on the hazardous weather along the flight path, the vertical profile display indicating a vertical profile view of the flight path.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the plurality of weather indications comprises at least one of:

one or more weather icons, each weather icon indicating a weather condition for a volume of space;

or

a plurality of weather blocks, each weather block of the plurality of weather blocks indicating weather in a volume of space associated with the weather block.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to determine, based on the weather information, a third altitude below which there is no hazardous weather, wherein the vertical profile display further comprises a lower limit line at a position within the vertical profile vie corresponding to a fourth altitude less than or equal to the third altitude, wherein the upper limit line and the lower limit line define a hazard block which indicates a range of altitudes in which hazardous weather was detected, wherein the fourth altitude is less than or equal to a minimum altitude of the plurality of hazardous weather cells.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the vertical profile display further comprises a lower limit line displayed at an altitude of zero.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the upper limit line has a positive horizontal length, and wherein the processor is configured to vary the positive horizontal length of the upper limit line based on at least one of:

a quality of the weather information, a severity of the weather information, a speed of an aircraft, a current altitude, a number of hazards in a vicinity of the aircraft, a size of the aircraft, or a size of the weather information.

21. The system of claim 14, further comprising a user interface, wherein the processor is configured to receive, via the user interface, user input indicating a vertical margin and generate the vertical profile display based on the user input, wherein the second altitude is an altitude that is greater than the first altitude by the vertical margin.

22. A computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive weather information;

determine a first altitude above which there is no hazardous weather detected based on the weather information; and

generate a vertical profile display based on the weather information, wherein the vertical profile display comprises;

a hazard band indication including an upper limit line at a position within the vertical profile display that corresponds to a second altitude greater than or equal to the first altitude; and

a plurality of hazardous weather indications, each hazardous weather indication indicating a severity of the hazardous weather at a respective point in space, wherein each hazardous weather indication is associated with a hazardous weather cell of a plurality of hazardous weather cells, wherein a first hazardous weather indication of the plurality of hazardous weather indications corresponds to a first severity level of a first hazardous weather cell of the plurality of hazardous weather cells and a second hazardous weather indication of the plurality of hazardous weather indications corresponds to a second severity level of a second hazardous weather cell of the plurality of hazardous weather cells, the second hazardous weather cell being different than the first hazardous weather cell of the plurality of hazardous weather cells, the second severity level being different than the first severity level, the first hazardous weather indication being visually distinct from the second hazardous weather indication,

wherein the second altitude is greater than or equal to a maximum altitude of the plurality of hazardous weather cells.