[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 118 (Thursday, June 19, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35211-35212]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14364]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Aviation Weather Product Change: Transition of Select Area
Forecasts (FAs) to Digital and Graphical Alternatives
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in coordination
with the National Weather Service (NWS), will transition seven (7) Area
Forecasts (FAs), currently used as flight planning and pilot weather
briefing aids, to digital and graphical alternatives. A joint-agency
working group has concluded that these digital and graphical
alternatives better-meet the needs of today's aviation users. Guidance
with respect to the proper use of these alternatives is forthcoming.
Note: Area Forecasts (FAs) for Alaska, the Caribbean, and the
Gulf of Mexico will remain unaffected at this time.
DATES: The Federal Aviation Administration must receive comments on or
before August 4, 2014. The Agencies are targeting early 2015 for
transition.
ADDRESSES: Please mail comments concerning this notice to the NextGen
[[Page 35212]]
Aviation Weather Division (ANG-C6), Federal Aviation Administration,
800 Independence Ave. SW., Washington, DC 20591.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stewart Stepney, 202-385-7182 or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: United States Code (citation below) directs
the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to make
recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce on providing
meteorological services necessary for the safe and efficient movement
of aircraft. The Secretary, in turn, is directed to cooperate with the
Administrator and give complete consideration to these recommendations.
As such, FAA has coordinated extensively with the National Weather
Service (NWS) to review current and future aviation weather information
requirements.
The Area Forecast (FA) is an abbreviated, plain-language forecast
of specified weather phenomena, covering a geographical area designated
by the FAA. The Area Forecast (FA) is used to determine en-route
weather and to estimate conditions at airports that do not have a
Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF). It is produced by the National
Weather Service (NWS) under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), within the Department of Commerce (DoC).
The Area Forecast (FA) contains weather information in a format
originally developed in the 1930s. By design, it carries a character-
count limitation and is prohibited from describing Instrument Flight
Rule (IFR) conditions (reserved for AIRMETs and SIGMETs). It covers an
extremely large geographical area (typically, several states) and is
only issued 3-4x daily (each valid for 18hrs).
These specifications tend to produce a broad forecast of limited
value. While the Area Forecast (FA) met aviation weather information
needs for many years, today NWS provides equivalent information through
a number of better alternatives.
An FAA-NWS joint-agency working group recently recommended that the
Area Forecast (FA) be transitioned to more-modern digital and graphical
forecasts, observations, and communications capabilities that provide
improved weather information to decision-makers.
Therefore, the FAA will formally recommend that NWS transition six
(6) Area Forecasts (FAs) covering separate geographical areas of the
Contiguous United States (CONUS) and one (1) Area Forecast (FA)
covering Hawaii to digital and graphical alternatives already being
produced by NWS.
The seven (7) Area Forecasts (FAs) affected include: FAUS41 (BOS),
FAUS42 (MIA), FAUS43 (CHI), FAUS44 (DFW), FAUS45 (SLC), FAUS46 (SFO)
and FAHW31 (Hawaii).
Note: Area Forecasts (FAs) for Alaska, the Caribbean, and the
Gulf of Mexico will remain unaffected at this time.
Existing potential alternatives identified by the joint-agency
working group include, but are not limited to:
Surface weather analyses and prognostic charts
public forecast discussions
Significant Weather (SIGWX) charts
National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD)
Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs)
Airmen's Meteorological Information (AIRMETs)
Aviation users are already accustomed to consulting many of these
weather products during normal flight planning. Together, they provide
information similar to that found in the Area Forecast (FA), in higher
resolution and with the added benefit of graphical depictions.
The joint-agency working group's membership included broad subject-
matter expertise from both FAA and NWS, as well as the National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Members collected insight from
additional aviation weather stakeholders including various pilot
organizations, weather briefers, airlines and air traffic controllers.
Before the transition takes place, the FAA will conduct a formal
Safety Risk Assessment as part of FAA's Safety Management System.
Guidance with respect to the proper use of proposed alternatives is
forthcoming.
Interested parties and stakeholders may submit comments regarding
the planned transition by standard mail or by email ([email protected]).
Comments must be received on or before August 4, 2014. The Agencies are
targeting early 2015 for transition.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. Sec. 44720(a).
Dated: June 11, 2014.
Richard J. Heuwinkel,
Manager, Aviation Weather Division.
[FR Doc. 2014-14364 Filed 6-18-14; 8:45 am]
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