5. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN

Thus far, this Strategic Plan has described areas in which concentration of energy and effort is needed to make the use of aviation weather information more efficient and effective in supporting the safe operation of all facets of the nation's aviation system. However, this Strategic Plan could become just a "bookcase document" that is read, and even agreed with in principle, but then is filed in a bookcase, without substantive action to implement it, until it is replaced by the next such effort. To avoid this fate, the Strategic Plan must tackle the hard questions: "How do we achieve the vision presented? What does the nation need to do to make the National Aviation Weather System what it needs to be?"

The underlying difficulty in implementing this Strategic Plan is that no single Federal agency has a mandate, including the expertise, the leverage, and the resources, to make the improved National Aviation Weather System a reality. Yet it is clear that agency leadership is vital. It is also clear from Section 4, "Agency Roles and Missions", that each agency involved has some of the necessary ingredients for implementation. The National Research Council recognized this situation in its 1995 report, Aviation Weather Services: A Call for Federal Leadership and Action (p. 55), by saying: "...Vigorous leadership within the federal government is necessary to ensure that aviation weather services support this goal [aviation safety and efficiency] by meeting user needs. Because aviation safety and efficiency are primarily the responsibility of the FAA, the FAA should provide this leadership..." and then indicating the need for other Federal agencies to cooperate enthusiastically.

The common thread running through the entire discussion to this point provides the keys to the answer: cooperation and coordination. Multiple agencies are involved in the various facets of the National Aviation Weather System; that means multiple skill sets, multiple budgets, and multiple viewpoints as to what is important. In order to turn this multiplicity from a hindrance to an asset, cooperation must be the watchword.

What is needed to move this Strategic Plan from a paper exercise to an efficient, effective reality is an interagency implementation process, focussed on the key elements put forth in the Strategic Plan, geared to maintaining and strengthening the current aviation weather infrastructure, identifying both the shortfalls and the opportunities for improvements, establishing priorities for necessary actions to address them, and laying out the coordination required to achieve those actions.

The interagency strategies may simply require establishing Memoranda of Understanding to achieve levels of communication and cross-training; they may necessitate a complex joint funding and budgeting plan to acquire and install critical equipment; they may fall somewhere in between. In all likelihood, no one interagency strategy will apply in every case. The basic questions that will identify these joint strategies will include: What problems should be taken on first? What areas should only one agency tackle? What areas are shared by several agencies? What agency is the leader in each area? What strengths can each agency bring to bear to achieve the goal?

It is not within the scope of this Strategic Plan, which is meant to be a high-level document, to dictate specific priorities and strategies for each of the strategic areas. However, it makes sense at this juncture to indicate what are, by consensus of the Joint Action Group, high-priority areas for action under each of the four tasks outlined in Chapter 3. The tasks will be addressed in a slightly different order than discussed previously.

Forging Institutional Arrangements

The basic step necessary for building the interagency coordination needed to attain the goals of the Strategic Plan is to develop a coordinated process for establishing requirements.

The requirements process must include a "zero-based" analysis of existing aviation weather products, services, and systems. The utility of every facet of the existing practice must be justified, not with an eye to budget reduction but to determine which existing products and services are needed, what users they are intended to serve, what users they actually serve, and how they are used. The key issue is whether the National Aviation Weather System as it currently exists in disparate pieces is a solid foundation for future growth, or whether it needs some "tweaking" to ensure future success as the System grows.

The mechanics of requirements setting are well-established; each agency has a set of procedures.

What is the priority? What alternatives exist? Is this a government or an industry problem? If government, which agency(ies) can best solve it?

Out of the analysis should come the solution, which then has to be managed as well as monitored for effectiveness and possible re-evaluation.

However, this process must be broader than a single agency. It must focus on common requirements. It must be a process that all parties ­ users, providers, Federal, state, local, commercial, private ­ can understand and influence. The process must be seen to move forward, and not stall after an initial information-gathering period. The entire process must be open, as inclusive as possible, clearly understood and articulated, and obviously leading to tangible actions that will improve aviation efficiency and increase weather-related aviation safety.

Providing Improved Weather Information

A clear and acknowledged current need is for improved three-dimensional depictions and forecasts of hazardous weather conditions, both en route and within the terminal area. In this context, the latter could be defined in terms of the geographical area within which weather-related accidents are likely to occur during landings and takeoffs. Improved ability to identify and/or forecast the location and rate or severity of areas of icing, freezing precipitation, windshear, convective activity, non-convective turbulence, low visibility, and volcanic ash is critically important. The development and deployment of NEXRAD (WSR-88D) Doppler radar systems is an example of action taken to meet part of this need. It is also a fine example of the type of joint implementation and leveraging strategy that may be required to achieve some goals.

Making Better Use of Weather Information

In this area the clear consensus is that a strong emphasis on weather-related training at all levels is critical to achieving the goals of the Strategic Plan. Training targeted for General Aviation pilots is the highest priority, especially if the training can be portable, inexpensive, and tailored to pilot actions (i.e., what is the weather hazard, how do I recognize it, and what do I do about it?) Spin-off of such techniques to commercial and military aviation should be pursued as well. Elevated standards for initial and recurrent weather-hazard training are clearly necessary, as are more stringent training requirements. Weather-related information needs to be more fully integrated into procedures for pilots, dispatchers, and air traffic controllers.

Directing and using research related to aviation weather

Emphasis in research needs to be placed on the implementation of new technologies, as well as in the development of these innovations. It is clear that hazards such as icing and turbulence, for which timely, accurate, and relevant forecasts are needed, are priority topics for research. The areas of modeling (large scale, mesoscale, and even highly location-specific) and graphics development are also key to supporting the goal of this Strategic Plan. While basic research should be encouraged, research which leads clearly to significant improvements in the National Aviation Weather System should be the focus.

Acknowledgments

A number of the weather-related images on the covers of this document are © University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. The images from NTSB were provided by Mr. James Skeen. OFCM gratefully acknowledges the permission to use these images. Any unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is inadvertent and acknowledgment will be provided in later editions of this document if the owners notify OFCM.

 

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