WSI To Provide Continuous Weather Data

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), through MITRE Corporation, has signed a deal with WSI to provide weather information for use in the FAA's East Coast Evaluation of the Automatic Dependant Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) system. The ADS-B system provides aircraft position reports and weather data to aircraft and ground stations equipped with a Universal Access Transceiver (UAT).

One hundred aircraft are planned to participate in the evaluation that will be conducted in the area of up to fourteen broadcast stations situated along the Mid-Atlantic to Southeastern coast of the United States. The FAA's evaluation period of the system has been designated to run through the end of December 2004. WSI is the only commercial provider of in-flight information to have been selected for the trial.
 
"The award of the ADS-B contract to WSI is a testament to our commitment to innovation and quality weather information services," commented Lynne Wilson, Executive Vice President of WSI's Aviation and Marine Business Group.

WSI has cooperated with the government on many aviation safety and weather service research and development projects over the years. The company has contracts with the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, MITRE Center for Advanced Aviation Systems Development, MIT Lincoln Labs, FAA Technical Center, NOAA Forecast Systems Lab, and NASA. "We have supported projects such as the Lincoln Labs' Mode S Datalink for weather product transmission, NASA's Aviation Weather Information Network (AWIN), and ATC metering tools with MITRE CAASD," continued Wilson. "This latest R&D effort is an integral part of our efforts to deliver superior services to the Commercial, General and Governmental segments of the Aviation Industry."

Initially, WSI will provide WSI NOWrad, and textual reports to the ADS- B East Coast system. The inclusion of additional specific weather products in the ADS-B system will be dependent upon the evaluation of the FAA.

FMI: www.wsi.com