Wind advisory system

Details Wind advisory system Wind advisory system

2000-06-23

2001-10-30

Chin, Gary (Department: 3661)

Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location

Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication

Aeronautical vehicle

C701S003000, C340S949000, C340S601000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06311107

ABSTRACT:

ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION
The invention described herein was made by employees of the United States Government and may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is directed to a wind advisory system comprising a ground station for monitoring and transmitting wind conditions at an airfield and an airborne unit inside an aircraft for receiving the wind conditions and displaying the wind conditions and a recommended runway to the pilot.
BACKGROUND ART
Wind conditions, including wind speed and wind direction, are currently collected at airfields and transmitted to pilots via a voice recording on a dedicated automatic terminal information service (ATIS) frequency or an Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS). A problem with ATIS and ASOS is that the pilot must change the frequency of his on-board radio to the ATIS or ASOS frequency in order to hear the information. This is especially undesirable when a pilot is on approach to a controlled airfield and must monitor the air traffic controller frequency (ATC) to receive instructions from the air traffic controller. The aural wind condition information from ATIS and ASOS must be either memorized or written down by the pilot. It is not conveniently displayed in the cockpit for easy reference. If the pilot has two radios and can tune one to the ATIS or ASOS frequency and listen to the ATC controller with the other, there is still the difficulty of listening to two different sets of instructions at once. This increases the probability that the pilot will misunderstand or completely miss critical clearances or instructions from the ATC controller.
Therefore, there is a need for an airborne unit that automatically receives wind conditions at an airfield and displays the wind conditions to the pilot in the cockpit for easy reference. Furthermore, it is desirable for the airborne unit to process the received wind conditions to provide additional information to the pilot that can aid him in the takeoff and landing operations of the aircraft. This is especially useful when the aircraft is taking off from or landing at a noncontrolled airfield.
STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a wind advisory system comprising a ground station and a handheld airborne unit inside an aircraft. The airborne unit is a small battery powered unit that can be conveniently placed on the aircraft's instrument deck for easy viewing by the pilot.
The ground station comprises an anemometer, a microprocessor and a transmitter. The anemometer senses the wind conditions (wind speed, wind direction, and wind gust) at the airfield and outputs the wind conditions to the microprocessor. The microprocessor encodes, and reformats the wind conditions. The microprocessor also performs appropriate averaging of wind speed and direction, within a specific period of time, in gusty conditions to determine steady-state wind conditions and peak gust. The transmitter then transmits the wind conditions and an airfield ID to the airborne unit.
The airborne unit comprises a receiver, a microprocessor, a database and a display. The receiver automatically receives the wind conditions and airfield ID. The microprocessor compares the received airfield ID with airfield IDs stored in the database to identify the airfield. The microprocessor then uses the received wind conditions and runway information for that airfield ID stored in the database to calculate the headwind and crosswind at each runway in both directions. The microprocessor then determines a recommended runway for take off and landing operations of the aircraft based on the runway having the greatest headwind value. The airfield ID, the wind conditions, and the recommended runway are displayed to the pilot on the display.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4295139 (1981-10-01), Arpino
patent: 4318076 (1982-03-01), Whitfield
patent: 4642775 (1987-02-01), Cline et al.
patent: 6154143 (2000-11-01), Robinson
patent: 6199008 (2001-03-01), Aratow et al.

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