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Old 9th Jul 2009, 19:04
  #3387 (permalink)  
WhyIsThereAir
 
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NASA to the rescue?

... combines satellite data and computer weather models with cutting-edge artificial intelligence techniques.
This is good stuff, but don't hold your breath waiting for it or you will turn blue and then several other colors while waiting. "Combine cutting-edge" in this context is code for "basic research". Basic research is good stuff, but optimistically it will take 5-7 years before it can become a product. NASA has been working on "Smart ATC" for some 10 years now and are doing good things; but I don't think a lot of it has made it into normal ATC usage yet.

But while this particular NASA plan will take a while to pay off, I'm sure there are very useful things that can be done immediately with not much more than a satcom modem, a laptop, and a little duct tape. A second generation version would build it into the ND. Pilots should probably get their unions to agitate for some quick solution like this, at least on long haul flights.
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