Characterizing the Severe Turbulence Environments Associated With Commercial Aviation Accidents

Kaplan, Michael L.; Huffman, Allan W.; Lux, Kevin M.; Charney, Joseph J.; Riordan, Allan J.; Lin, Yuh-Lang; Proctor, Fred H.

A 44 case study analysis of the large-scale atmospheric structure associated with development of accident-producing aircraft turbulence is described. Categorization is a function of the accident location, altitude, time of year, time of day, and the turbulence category, which classifies disturbances. National Centers for Environmental Prediction Reanalyses data sets and satellite imagery are employed to diagnose synoptic scale predictor fields associated with the large-scale environment preceding severe turbulence. These analyses indicate a predominance of severe accident-producing turbulence within the entrance region of a jet stream at the synoptic scale. Typically, a flow curvature region is just upstream within the jet entrance region, convection is within 100 km of the accident, vertical motion is upward, absolute vorticity is low, vertical wind shear is increasing, and horizontal cold advection is substantial. The most consistent predictor is upstream flow curvature and nearby convection is the second most frequent predictor.

Document ID

20020070662

Acquisition Source

Langley Research Center

Document Type

Contractor Report (CR)

Authors

Date Acquired

September 7, 2013

Publication Date

August 1, 2002

Subject Category

Report/Patent Number

Funding Number(s)

Distribution Limits

Public

Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Available Downloads

Name

Type

20020070662.pdf

STI

No Preview Available

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Available Downloads

Related Records