Aircraft weather information system
First Claim
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1. An aircraft-based weather information sharing and display system comprising:
- at a ground station;
reception equipment for receiving weather parameters from a plurality of weather-sensing sources;
processing equipment for generating a refined weather information report, based on said received weather parameters, using data compression techniques to reduce the size of said weather information report; and
transmission equipment for uplinking said refined data-compressed weather information report to a plurality of aircraft and at an aircraft;
standard weather information gathering equipment for detecting local weather parameters characterizing a weather condition in the vicinity of the aircraft;
transmission equipment for transmitting said local weather parameters to said ground station;
reception equipment for receiving said refined data-compressed weather information report uplinked by said ground station;
storage equipment for storing received said weather information report and said detected local weather parameters;
picture generating equipment for generating symbolic pictorial information based on the received refined weather information and said detected local weather parameters; and
weather information display equipment, coupled to the picture generating equipment, for displaying pictorial polygons indicating the dynamic behavior of said weather condition.
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Abstract
A system and method that downlinks weather data, generated by existing weather and data sensors, to a groundstation. The groundstation utilizes data from multiple aircraft to form refined weather information, and uplinks the refined weather information to the aircraft. The refined weather information is stored at the aircraft and picture generating equipment, such as an existing on-board ground proximity terrain picture and symbol generator, generates pictorial information depicting the weather information. The pictorial information is displayed, for example by an existing EFIS or weather radar display, in the form of polygons.
211 Citations
36 Claims
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1. An aircraft-based weather information sharing and display system comprising:
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at a ground station;
reception equipment for receiving weather parameters from a plurality of weather-sensing sources;
processing equipment for generating a refined weather information report, based on said received weather parameters, using data compression techniques to reduce the size of said weather information report; and
transmission equipment for uplinking said refined data-compressed weather information report to a plurality of aircraft and at an aircraft;
standard weather information gathering equipment for detecting local weather parameters characterizing a weather condition in the vicinity of the aircraft;
transmission equipment for transmitting said local weather parameters to said ground station;
reception equipment for receiving said refined data-compressed weather information report uplinked by said ground station;
storage equipment for storing received said weather information report and said detected local weather parameters;
picture generating equipment for generating symbolic pictorial information based on the received refined weather information and said detected local weather parameters; and
weather information display equipment, coupled to the picture generating equipment, for displaying pictorial polygons indicating the dynamic behavior of said weather condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for displaying the dynamic behavior of a weather condition on an aircraft display comprising the steps of:
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receiving a refined data-compressed weather information report uplinked by a weather ground station;
decompressing said refined data-compressed weather information report;
storing said received refined decompressed weather information report;
generating symbolic pictorial information based on said received weather information report utilizing standard picture generating equipment already installed on the aircraft; and
displaying pictorial symbols indicating the dynamic behavior of said weather condition using EFIS or weather radar display equipment already installed on the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
displaying the area surrounding the aircraft'"'"'s flight path; and
displaying polygons representing the predicted dynamic behavior of significant weather formations, based on said uplinked weather information, relative to said flight path such that a pilot may navigate away from dangerous weather.
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12. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of displaying comprises overlaying said pictorial symbols over a locally-received weather radar return display.
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13. A method for providing weather data to an aircraft comprising the steps of:
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receiving a weather data including a description of at least one weather phenomenon;
identifying a coasting interval for said weather phenomenon;
transmitting to the aircraft said weather data including said description as a function of said coasting interval. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A computer program product for providing weather data to an aircraft comprising:
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a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code means embodied in said medium, said computer readable program code means comprising;
a first computer instruction means for receiving a weather data including a description of at least one weather phenomenon;
a second computer instruction means for identifying a coasting interval for said weather phenomenon;
a third computer instruction means for controlling transmission of said weather data including said description to the aircraft as a function of said coasting interval. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. An apparatus for providing weather data to an aircraft comprising:
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an input coupled to receive signals indicative of a weather data including a description of at least one weather phenomenon;
an output; and
a signal processor, coupled to said input and to said output, for;
identifying a coasting interval for said weather phenomenon; and
controlling transmission of said weather data including said description to the aircraft as a function of said coasting interval. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A method for providing weather data to an aircraft comprising:
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receiving a plurality of weather data including a description of at least one weather phenomenon and a phenomenon rate data;
forming a weather model from said plurality of weather data;
transmitting said weather model and said rate data to the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
comparing an individual one of said plurality of weather data to another one of said plurality of weather data; and
quantifying an error in said plurality of weather data using said comparing step; and
obtaining a single description of said weather phenomenon.
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22. The method of claim 19 wherein said step of transmitting comprises transmitting on an aircraft VHF frequency.
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23. The method of claim 19 wherein said step of transmitting a weather model further comprises the step of transmitting a geometric shape description defining at least an area occupied by said weather phenomenon.
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24. The method of claim 19 wherein said step of transmitting a weather model further comprises the step of transmitting a compressed image file.
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25. A computer program product for providing weather data to an aircraft comprising:
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a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code means embodied in said medium, said computer readable program code means comprising;
a first computer instruction means for reading a plurality of weather data including a description of at least one weather phenomenon and a phenomenon rate data;
a second computer instruction means for forming a weather model from said plurality of weather data;
a third computer instruction means for controlling transmission of said weather model and said rate data to the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
a fourth computer instruction means for comparing an individual one of said plurality of weather data to another one of said plurality of weather data; and
a fifth computer instruction means for quantifying an error in said plurality of weather data using said comparing step; and
a sixth computer instruction means for obtaining a single description of said weather phenomenon.
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28. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein said third computer instruction means further includes a fourth computer instruction means for formatting a data message to be transmitted wherein said data message includes a geometric shape description defining at least an area occupied by said weather phenomenon.
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29. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein said third computer instruction means includes a fourth computer instruction means for formatting said weather model as a compressed image file.
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30. An apparatus for providing weather data to an aircraft comprising:
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an input coupled to receive a plurality of weather data including a description of at least one weather phenomenon and a phenomenon rate data;
an output; and
a signal processor coupled to said input and to said output for;
forming a weather model from said plurality of weather data;
outputting a control signal to control transmission of said weather model and said rate data to the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
compare an individual one of said plurality of weather data to another one of said plurality of weather data; and
quantify an error in said plurality of weather data using said comparing step; and
obtain a single description of said weather phenomenon from said plurality of weather data.
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35. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said control signal includes a data message describing a geometric area containing said weather phenomenon.
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36. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein said signal processor further operates to compare said plurality of weather data to a geo-referenced image.
Specification