Envision Center developing 3D weather visualization technology to assist small aircraft pilots
New technology developed by the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing’s Envision Center aims to make aviation safer by helping pilots avoid flying into adverse weather.
In collaboration with FlightProfiler, the Envision Center has created a geospatial web-based visualization that allows pilots to see meteorological conditions along their planned route and plot an optimal course.
The technology was designed for use in general aviation (small aircraft) where pilots typically lack weather information and technology in the cockpit making them susceptible to adverse weather conditions.
“[Previously], it was sort of on the pilot to create a mental model of ‘where will I be versus where will the weather be,’” explains Gary Pokodner, program manager for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Weather Technology in the Cockpit program, which has been working with the Envision Center and FlightProfiler on refining the technology. “The idea is that this technology will assist pilots in performing these tasks.”
Pokodner will be demonstrating the visualization software at the upcoming EAA AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, Wis., with the goal of getting feedback from the pilots in attendance about how they might use this technology and what additional features could be useful.
In the future, the technology may be used in uninhabited aircraft systems that are remotely piloted as well.
For more information about working with the Envision Center, contact envision@purdue.edu.
Writer: Adrienne Miller, science and technology writer, Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP), 765-496-8204, mill2027@purdue.edu.
Last updated: July 21, 2022