1. TAMDAR: GLOBAL WEATHER SOLUTIONS

2. AIRDAT HISTORY The TAMDAR goal: AirDat was founded in 2003
Deliver all metrics of weather balloons from commercial aircraft
Assure space-time data coverage for airports sector
GPS stamp all data
Add additional electronic pilot reports (icing, turbulence, temp)
Initial focus on regional aircraft to provide better geographic coverage
AirDat was founded in 2003
First STC and operational weather data in 2004
Assets purchased by Panasonic Avionics Corporation in 2013
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3. TAMDAR Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting
Delivers a unique real-time high resolution data stream for improved atmospheric analysis and weather forecasting
Patented and operational on commercial aircraft since 2004
Goal: Deployment of TAMDAR and development of superior atmospheric information tools driven by the TAMDAR dataset
Panasonic Avionics Corporation is expanding the TAMDAR network worldwide
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4. THE TAMDAR SYSTEM
Multi-function atmospheric sensor installed on aircraft (and UAS)
Two-way real time Iridium satellite link
Dedicated data center for quality monitoring, archiving, and distribution systems
Development and integration of customized forecasts and weather applications
Enhanced forecast models
High-speed computing resources
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5. TAMDAR GLOBAL COMMUNICATION
Autonomous communication to and from any TAMDAR-equipped aircraft, at any altitude or location worldwide (even on the ground)
Low message latency (near real-time)
Channel also available for:
Other data transmission
Text messaging to/from aircraft
Backup voice channel
Aircraft tracking
Iridium satellite constellation
(global, secure, high availability)
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6. KU BAND COVERAGE

7. TAMDAR DATA QA and FORECAST MODELS
Multi-Layer automated quality assurance through proprietary algorithms
Data distributed, archived, and ingested into proprietary weather models
Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model with Real Time Four Dimensional Data Assimilation (RTFDDA)
Panasonic’s powerful computing clusters run proprietary WRF/RTFDDA
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8. THE TAMDAR SENSOR Measures and reports: Ice presence
Static pressure and pressure altitude
Air temperature (Mach corrected)
Relative humidity
Indicated and true airspeed
Winds aloft
Turbulence (EDR, median and peak)
GPS lat/long/alt/time

9. TAMDAR-U Optimized for Unmanned Aerial Systems
Reduced size, weight, and power
Worldwide deployment options for improved local forecasts
Innovative, light-weight materials

10. WEATHER DATA TRANSMISSION
System is automatic, begins sampling during take-off
Sampling rate flexible, changeable in real-time
Uses an automatic pressure based sampling program:
High resolution sampling on ascent/descent (~300’ intervals)
Time based sampling in cruise (5 to 7 minute intervals)
Triggered reports in dynamic conditions
Custom reporting available
40,000+ observations and ~2500 soundings daily
Real-time data access through the AirMap portal

11. BENEFITS TO PARTNER AIRLINES
Global SATCOM voice & data via Iridium
Automated Out-Off-On-In times and other aircraft data
Real-time global aircraft position reports
Airborne datalinked weather
Weather data downlink
Auto-PIREPs
Data base of all flight histories
Asset tracking

12. TAMDAR AIRBORNE SYSTEM – 3 UNITS
TAMDAR Probe
SATCOM Transceiver and Aircraft Interface Unit
Antenna

13. ON BOARD TAMDAR SYSTEM Processing Unit: 3MCU, ARINC 600 installation
Communications, data processing
RS-232, RS-422, and discrete inputs/outputs
ARINC 429 and 717 inputs/outputs
Single SATCOM transceiver
DO-178B level E software
Aircraft audio
Ethernet

14. ON BOARD TAMDAR SYSTEM Weather Antenna TAMDAR processing GPS position
AirMap data
ARINC 620 weather data
Antenna
Active GPS (TAMDAR)
2 Iridium SATCOM

15. ERJ-190 Integration Configuration

18. TAMDAR® observation 18 18

19. TAMDAR winds

20. TAMDAR coverage in Mexico

21. TAMDAR in Europe

23. Background
Note: Over 100 daily soundings from
LGA, JFK, EWR 23

24. TAMDAR observations around the time of the Colgan crash
The 2 images show TAMDAR data from flights into/out of BUF  +/- ~3h from 10 pm. 
The solid triangles indicate icing, and the hollow triangles indicate icing with heaters activated. 
Crash site
BUF
Crash site
BUF
The TAMDAR heater remains activated throughout the descent, so the ice accretion rate is > 0.02” / min.
TAMDAR observations around the time of the Colgan crash

25. TAMDAR observations around the time of the Colgan crash
The first sounding, valid 9 pm, shows a substantial layer of saturated air below 6000' between -9 and -2C -- the temperature window that most supports the existence of supercooled water. 
The second sounding, valid 11:20 pm, shows the sub-0C saturated layer has dropped to 3000' and below

Both soundings suggest favorable conditions for supercooled water to freeze upon airframe contact. 

26. Presentation Title
April 6, 2017
NextGen Aviation Weather Impact Data AirDat Augmented WRF Model Icing Impact Forecast
WRF forecast model projections improved with TAMDAR icing observations.
3-D weather impact poly-regions conveyed as Airspace Volumes of Interest.
Speaker Name

27. End-to-End Impact/Alert Data Flow
Presentation Title
April 6, 2017
End-to-End Impact/Alert Data Flow
STARS Icing Alerts
NextGen Net-enabled Weather
Icing Impact Alert
STARS display of AirDat derived Weather Volumes. Note two aircraft within altitude threshold predicted to enter volumes display a “WX” alert in datablock.
Copyright © 2011 Raytheon Company. All rights reserved. 27
91st American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting
Speaker Name

28. NEXTGEN: NNEW & NWP
Raytheon, AirDat, and Metron Aviation have teamed to support two major FAA NextGen weather programs with superior weather information, integrated displays, and decision support solutions:
NextGen Network Enabled Weather (NNEW)
NextGen Weather Processor (NWP)
Weather State Information
High-Resolution Modeling
Information Integration
Information Displays
ATM Decision Support Tools
ATM Impact Analysis Tools
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29. WHY TAMDAR?
Validated by NOAA via 4-year FAA-funded TAMDAR impact study*
Temperature 3-hour forecast errors are reduced by up to 28%.
Wind forecast 3-hour errors are reduced by up to 10%.
Relative humidity 3-hour forecast errors are reduced by up to 50%.
*William Moninger, 13th Conference on Integrated Observing and Assimilation Systems for Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Surface American Meteorological Society, January 2009

30. TAMDAR IMPROVES ALL MODELS
Improvements in forecast skill:
TAMDAR over without-TAMDAR,
(RAOBs used as "truth“)
NOAA's most optimized model for aircraft data is RUC
AirDat 3D-Var WRF is essentially the same code as NCAR 3D-Var WRF
AirDat RT-FDDA and 4D-Var WRF are best suited to utilize asynoptic observations 30

31. TAMDAR CASE STUDIES
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32. TAMDAR IMPROVES WINDS FORECASTS
Surface wind forecast comparison, Toronto Airbus incident (August 2005)
Five hour forecast - WITH TAMDAR a b
PEARSON INTL AIRPORT
Hazardous winds
1-h 10-m winds (kts, averaged from fcst hour 4 to 5)
showing UPDRAFT (a) and DOWNDRAFT (b) regions.
Five-hour forecast - NO TAMDAR
PEARSON INTL AIRPORT
1-h 10-m winds (kts, averaged from fcst hour 4 to 5)
showing NW flow. 32 32

33. “Superstorm” Sandy
AirDat Old Tropical
AirDat New Tropical
NOAA GFSE
Observed Track

34. 84 h forecasted track for Ike - AirDat, NCEP, and NHC (inset)34 34 34 34 34 34 34

35. Successive AirDat WRF Runs35 35 35

36. L L L Synoptic Overview (NCEP) Synoptic Overview (AirDat) Shortwave
trough 2 36
Shortwave
trough 1
Shortwave
trough 1
Shortwave
trough 2 L
Ridge
Ridge L L 36 36 36

37. North Carolina Tornado Outbreak
16 April 2011

40. 12 Hours Ahead
AirDat (RTFDDA)
NWS (NAM)
18z Actual Radar

41. 12 Hours Ahead
AirDat (RTFDDA)
NWS (NAM)
18z Actual Radar

42. 12 Hours Ahead
AirDat (RTFDDA)
NWS (NAM)
18z Actual Radar

43. 12 Hours Ahead
AirDat (RTFDDA)
NWS (NAM)
18z Actual Radar

44. CONTACT INFORMATION
Jeff Rex
Panasonic Weather Solutions
2535 South Lewis Way, Suite 203
Lakewood, CO, US 80227
+1 (303)
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