Survey of General Aviation Pilot Reports (PIREPs) Conformity, Consistency, and Quality
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Published:2021-11-01
Issue:
Volume:
Page:76-88
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ISSN:2325-6184
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Container-title:Journal of Operational Meteorology
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language:en
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Short-container-title:J. Operational Meteor.
Author:
Splitt Michael E.1,
Hennard Morgan2,
Bougeard Pierre2
Affiliation:
1. Florida Institute of Technology, College of Aeronautics, Melbourne FL
2. École Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC), Toulouse, France
Abstract
Understanding barriers to submitting pilot weather reports (PIREPs) has been the focus of recent attention in the general aviation community. The goal is to help increase the submission frequency of these reports, which are valuable for aviation operations and situational awareness. Additionally, the perception of the quality of these reports by pilots can impact the level of trust users have in the data. This study aims to evaluate aspects of the reporting frequency and quality of PIREPs particularly from the general aviation perspective. PIREPs were subjected to a range of logical, qualitative, and quantitative tests. Commercial applications are shown to improve the data quantity transmitted in the reports, particularly the non-mandatory sections such as sky and weather conditions, as well as to help alleviate some of the transcription errors. Reported times of the PIREPs indicate impacts from rounding that may limit the utility of the data in some instances. Analysis of individual geophysical measurements show varying quality with potential gaps noted in the icing type assessment and a bias towards higher turbulence intensity reporting, though air temperature compares well to independent data.
Publisher
National Weather Association
Subject
Management Science and Operations Research,Atmospheric Science,Computers in Earth Sciences