PERTI participates

Guests that participated in AWDE this week included National Operations Managers (NOMs) from the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC). These participants are part of the PERTI team, whose focus is on working to become more strategic and predictive in the planning and execution of daily traffic management while accounting for disruptive events.  This is done by analyzing traffic and constraints from the past building upon a data driven analysis to make the NAS safer and more efficient. Each letter represents one of the five key points of the concept – Plan, Execute, Review, Train and Improve.

From the NOM perspective, the group was interested in seeing as much information as possible while viewing the extended TCF. This includes low and high confidence polygons and echo tops for more efficient decision making to determine impacts to the NAS. One takeaway from the differences between this week and last week's feedback is that the needs for the extended TCF product is really dependent on the type of user utilizing it.  Users at the ATCSCC are using the information at a national level and are tasked with making decisions and implementing strategies that require more in-depth information than only knowing the high confidence convective areas.  The low confidence convective areas allow them to see potential areas of concern that may develop in the extended forecast.  In addition, larger polygons with a high confidence may cause more collaboration between the NAMs and local CWSUs to verify the weather and determine the traffic impact.

Participants from the PERTI team examining the extended TCF

Additional participants included a Helicopter Pilot from the United States Coast Guard. Positive feedback was given while the user examined the experimental TAFs, HEMS flight rule, and Probabilistic C&V.  The additional forecast times, in the TAFs, were helpful, even if there were no major changes in ceiling or visibility, because users were able to see possible trends in the weather.  The update rate of 15 minutes is adequate for the HEMS tool and the RU-RTMA display was preferred.  The same feedback for both the HEMS flight rule and Probabilistic C&V consisted of wanting to see C&V separate, needing a zoom capability, and options to display altitudes.

User giving feedback on the experimental TAFs