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Weather is a causal factor in thirty percent of all aviation accidents. Many of these accidents are due to a lack of weather situation awareness by pilots in flight. Providing strategic weather information during the en route phase of flight can enhance weather situation awareness and enable avoidance of adverse conditions. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has teamed with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), industry and academia to develop technologies for affordable, color graphic display of weather information in the cockpit. These technologies, currently in the initial stages of commercialization by industry, will provide more precise and timely knowledge of the weather and enable pilots in flight to make decisions that result in safer and more efficient operations.

President Clinton announced in February 1997 a national goal to reduce the fatal accident rate for aviation by 80% within ten years. Weather continues to be identified as a causal factor in about 30% of all aviation accidents. An Aviation Weather Information Distribution and Presentation project has been established within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Aviation Safety Program to develop technologies that will provide accurate, timely and intuitive information to pilots, dispatchers, and air traffic controllers to enable the detection and avoidance of atmospheric hazards. This project, described herein, addresses the weather information needs of general, corporate, regional, and transport aircraft operators.