Interestingly, almost all commercial aircraft provide atmospheric data automatically, in real time, in flight, the data being relayed through the ACARS system and widely distributed. This allows reasonably accurate modelling of air masses, including jetstreams (in 3 dimensions) and their movements. This is useful for surface weather forecasting, in flight safety (turbulence reports and forecasts) and also economically important for fuel efficient routing.

[QUOTE=langleybaston;

Apart from establishing records of slight value to man or beast, perhaps the arbitrary accuracies sought are meaningless: what is a couple of knots, a 3 degree wind veer/back, a decimal point of a degree C., a tenth of a millibar [or whatever they are called] in the scheme of things


Isn't that the butterfly effect?

We used to call it the “Bob’s BBQ Effect” all is well. Bob fires up the BBQ. Suddenly… TCU, Rain, wind large hail ect. Forest fires often form their own weather too.

. [QUOTE=Wetstart Dryrun;11265447]

I lived and work on the East Coast for many years the forecast charts are very usefull.The pressure charts cover the whole of Europe.

[QUOTE=albatross;11265494]We used to call it the “Bob’s BBQ Effect” all is well. Bob fires up the BBQ. Suddenly… TCU, Rain, wind large hail ect. Forest fires often form their own weather too.

. Yes, but measuring to such fine tolerances will not IMHO, help forecasting very much!

A very good friend of mine earned a good OBE pioneering the integration of such reports into modelling and then redistributing the results to aviation.

CAT is another beast: two aircraft close in time and space can have two very different experiences: the Met Research Flight Snoopy Hercules apparently spent time and effort CAT hunting.
CAT is like one fish in a shoal in a sea.

Will you thank your friend for his visionary work, even Clear Air Turbulence is not as difficult to predict now.

[QUOTE=albatross;11265494]We used to call it the “Bob’s BBQ Effect” all is well. Bob fires up the BBQ. Suddenly… TCU, Rain, wind large hail ect. Forest fires often form their own weather too.

. I have seen a stubble fire do it in the days when farmers were allowed to burn stubble. Great for thermals but a bit smoky and smelly.

Would that I could, he did not draw his pension for long, as seems to happen to so many of the good ones.

Inter alia, he saved my arse and career by refusing to sign through a very unwise outburst of mine. "Tact and diplomacy were seemingly omitted in your education, Caractacus."


I raise a glass.