Panasonic Weather Solutions, part of the global connectivity specialist, is working to expand the uptake of its new 4DAero weather app for electronic flightbags (EFB).
Panasonic has already secured a launch customer for the app, but is presently unable to reveal the name of the airline.
The company's live weather forecasting system benefits from sensors installed on around 300 aircraft across the globe – with another 150 to be equipped over the next 12-18 months – operated by carriers including AirAsia, Flybe, Republic Airlines and Horizon Air.
These sensors act like a "more robust, higher-definition, better-resolution weather balloon", says Jeff Rex, director of Panasonic Weather Solutions.
Data from those sensors is transmitted via a satcom link to a processing centre where it contributes to creating more accurate real-time forecast models. Those in turn are fed back to the aircraft and displayed on EFBs via the 4DAero app.
This shows a base map that includes the aircraft's route, with graphical overlays depicting features like thunderstorms, turbulence, winds aloft, icing and potential icing, temperature and airport conditions.
"What 4DAero allows pilots to see is what the atmosphere is doing, has done, and will do along a 4D trajectory," says Matt de Ris, aviation programs and strategic partnerships manager at Panasonic.
Aside from the benefits for comfort and safety through the early identification and avoidance of potentially dangerous meteorological features, the app gives pilots the ability to optimise their route changes "so you can save time and fuel", de Ris says.
A traditional weather radar is set to search around 80nm (150km) in front of an aircraft, which could then require a longer, sharper detour to avoid a line of storms, for example.
"With 4DAero, you can make longer-range decisions, so your route changes are small and more efficient," he adds.
The app is currently available for Apple devices, but a Microsoft-based version will be rolled out in mid- or late 2016.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
