Publication

SAFETRANS: a system for 3D visibility estimation and cloud cover detection

2023
Journal Articles

Abstract

The estimation of visibility is of significant importance in aviation safety and forms part of the measurements rou-tinely collected in real time to provide safety guidelines and decisions. Our work concerns the creation and imple-mentation of a lidar-based visibility estimation system as part of the SAFETRANS research program. We created a reproducible system to (1) support standard airport equipment, (2) serve simultaneously as a visibility meter and a ceilometer reporting on cloud cover, (3) offer increased accuracy and improved capabilities compared to standard-ized equipment currently in use while (4) requiring minimal user training to function. This work presents the vis-ibility estimation and cloud cover algorithms and subsequently reports on results of field tests in a number of Greek airports under various atmospheric conditions.& COPY; 2023 Optica Publishing Group

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/71c0147f-0114-483b-a2bb-53ca09688924

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

2023
Journal Articles

Abstract

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/71c0147f-0114-483b-a2bb-53ca09688924

About this result

Related concepts (14)

Visibility

The visibility is the measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. In meteorology it depends on the transparency of the surrounding air and as such, it is unchanging no matter the ambient light level or time of day. It is reported within surface weather observations and METAR code either in meters or statute miles, depending upon the country. Visibility affects all forms of traffic: roads, railways, sailing and aviation.

Cloud

In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may compose the droplets and crystals. On Earth, clouds are formed as a result of saturation of the air when it is cooled to its dew point, or when it gains sufficient moisture (usually in the form of water vapor) from an adjacent source to raise the dew point to the ambient temperature.

Automated airport weather station

Airport weather stations are automated sensor suites which are designed to serve aviation and meteorological operations, weather forecasting and climatology. Automated airport weather stations have become part of the backbone of weather observing in the United States and Canada and are becoming increasingly more prevalent worldwide due to their efficiency and cost-savings. In the United States, there are several varieties of automated weather stations that have somewhat subtle but important differences.

Related publications (18)

Simulations of primary and secondary ice production during an Arctic mixed-phase cloud case from the Ny-Ålesund Aerosol Cloud Experiment (NASCENT) campaign

Georgia Sotiropoulou, Paraskevi Georgakaki

The representation of Arctic clouds and their phase distributions, i.e., the amount of ice and supercooled water, influences predictions of future Arctic warming. Therefore, it is essential that cloud phase is correctly captured by models in order to accur ...

Copernicus GmbH2024

Arctic warming by abundant fine sea salt aerosols from blowing snow

Xin Yang, Jian Wang, Julia Schmale, Nora Bergner, Markus Frey

The Arctic warms nearly four times faster than the global average, and aerosols play an increasingly important role in Arctic climate change. In the Arctic, sea salt is a major aerosol component in terms of mass concentration during winter and spring. Howe ...

2023

A Case Study on Drivers of the Isotopic Composition of Water Vapor at the Coast of East Antarctica

Michael Lehning, Armin Sigmund, Riqo Chaar

Stable water isotopes (SWIs) contain valuable information on the past climate and phase changes in the hydrologic cycle. Recently, vapor measurements in the polar regions have provided new insights into the effects of snow-related and atmospheric processes ...

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION2023