Today, turbulence awareness in flight is largely through Pilot reports (PIREPs), which are late, subjective, and not well disseminated to other aircraft. Turbulence is the leading cause of injuries in the commercial aviation industry, costing U.S. airlines over $100M per year in maintenance, safety, and efficiency impacts.

The Turbulence Auto-PIREP System (TAPS) developed by ATR automatically reports turbulence encounters from aircraft, downlinks the reports to the ground, and disseminates the information to aircraft operators and ATC (Air Traffic Control). The software-only system uses sensors and computers currently on aircraft, and existing data-link networks (e.g., ACARS). TAPS reports are processed and disseminated by a server network in real-time to participating airlines within seconds of the report being generated.

TAPS was developed in NASA's Aviation Safety Program and has been implemented in over 180 commercial aircraft to date. TAPS reports have been generated and received worldwide (see picture below) – demonstrating that the infrastructure is in place to support a broader worldwide implementation.

TAPS reports are integrated into the dispatchers’ flight following displays (e.g., WSI's Fusion® product). They are displayed as small icons as shown in the picture below in a highly interactive real-time display of turbulence encounters. This is a picture from an actual encounter.

Technicians use TAPS reports to determine whether to inspect aircraft after turbulence encounters, meteorologists use the data for enhanced forecasting, and the NTSB has used TAPS data in accident investigations.

Significant cost savings have been demonstrated using TAPS, including:

• 98% reduction in unnecessary airframe inspections due to turbulence encounters.
• Improved awareness of turbulence for dispatcher operations has reduced unexpected turbulence encounters and related injuries.
• Reduction in aircraft cruise altitude changes due to uncertainty of turbulence along flight path. Fuel savings over many flights lead to significant cost savings and lower emissions.

TAPS Today

AeroTech's TAPS reporting code has been installed on over 180 aircraft (B-737-800, B-767-300ER, B-767-400ER, A318, and A319). The aircraft have been broadcasting turbulence reports in revenue service. The reports have been made from throughout the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, India, and the North Atlantic.

Recognizing the importance to the forecast community, an estimation of eddy dissipation rate (EDR) was added to the TAPS data stream in 2005.

In 2010, TAPS report data was integrated into Weather Service International's (WSI) suite of cutting-edge flight planning and flight following tools. These tools provide airline dispatchers, for the first time, with a real-time integrated picture of turbulence encounters, weather, and aircraft position, allowing them to communicate with aircraft to avoid encounters.

TAPS is a Registered Trademark of AeroTech Research (U.S.A.), Inc.