Preliminary Identification and Analysis of Encoding Errors in GA Pilot Weather Reports (PIREPs)

Shantanu Gupta; Mary Johnson

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Aerospace Division Technical Session: Sustainability and the Workspace
Page Count: 12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41822
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41822
Download Count: 459

Paper Authors

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Shantanu Gupta Purdue University at West Lafayette (PPI)

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Shantanu Gupta is a PhD candidate in the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology at Purdue University with Dr. Mary E. Johnson. He earned his B.E in Mechanical Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, India, and M.S in Aviation and Aerospace Management from Purdue University, West Lafayette. Mr. Gupta is currently working with Dr. Johnson on the PEGASAS Project 33 – Augmented Weather Information Project (AWIP) as research assistant.

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Mary Johnson Purdue University at West Lafayette (PPI)

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Professor, and Associate Head for Graduate Studies and Research, at Purdue University School of Aviation and Transportation Technology in West Lafayette, Indiana. She earned her BS, MS, and PhD in Industrial Engineering from The University of Texas at Arlington. She has aerospace industry and university academic experience. Her research focuses on data driven analysis and process improvement in sustainability, process automation, and general aviation.

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Abstract

Pilot Weather Reports (PIREPs) are one way that pilots may provide local weather information to other pilots, air traffic control (ATC), flight services, and the weather services. These pilot reports provide firsthand real-time information about the weather conditions that pilots face. PIREPs communicate weather information that is difficult to obtain otherwise such as icing aloft, turbulence, sky cover, and low-level wind shear. This firsthand information provided through PIREPs is critical to aviation safety and weather forecasting. For General Aviation (GA) pilots, PIREPs are of special importance because they may not have on-board weather radar, access to dispatch or a company, and may be in smaller, lighter aircraft than the commercial aircraft. For an immediate radio PIREP to occur, the pertinent weather condition encountered is: 1) recognized by the pilot, 2) communicated via radio, 3) written by receivers, 4) encoded into PIREP codes, and 5) disseminated. There are potential errors that may result in PIREPs that are untimely, misleading, erroneous, or never get disseminated. Assuming that the weather information submitted by the pilot was complete and error free, this study aims to identify the types of coding errors, frequency by PIREP text element indicators (TEIs. e.g., /SK, /TP, /IC), and their proportions. Statistical and graphical analyses were used. In this study, PIREPs obtained from the Iowa State University Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM) PIREPs database are analyzed. A spring/summer time frame is desirable to capture a variety of GA PIREPs. The 06/01/2019 to 07/31/2019 timeframe was selected for the study, and aircraft types were limited. A total of 3,654 PIREPs were obtained from Cessna 172, Mooney Acclaim, and Piper Cub aircraft over this time frame. From this pool, 50 PIREPs from each of these three aircraft types were randomly selected and analyzed. The encoded PIREPs were compared to the encoding guidelines found in federal documents such as FAA Order JO 7110.U, Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 12, and the PIREP Form FAA Form 7110-2. From this study, a better understanding of PIREP coding errors may lead to improved PIREPs if used for the development of training and recurrent training, and the development of automated systems. Better coding of PIREPs could lead to more PIREPS getting disseminated, and more informed and consistent analysis for weather forecasting. More accurate PIREPs have the potential to improve aviation safety.

Citation
Format

Gupta, S., & Johnson, M. (2022, August), Preliminary Identification and Analysis of Encoding Errors in GA Pilot Weather Reports (PIREPs) Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41822

TY - CPAPER
AB - Pilot Weather Reports (PIREPs) are one way that pilots may provide local weather information to other pilots, air traffic control (ATC), flight services, and the weather services. These pilot reports provide firsthand real-time information about the weather conditions that pilots face. PIREPs communicate weather information that is difficult to obtain otherwise such as icing aloft, turbulence, sky cover, and low-level wind shear. This firsthand information provided through PIREPs is critical to aviation safety and weather forecasting. For General Aviation (GA) pilots, PIREPs are of special importance because they may not have on-board weather radar, access to dispatch or a company, and may be in smaller, lighter aircraft than the commercial aircraft. For an immediate radio PIREP to occur, the pertinent weather condition encountered is: 1) recognized by the pilot, 2) communicated via radio, 3) written by receivers, 4) encoded into PIREP codes, and 5) disseminated.
There are potential errors that may result in PIREPs that are untimely, misleading, erroneous, or never get disseminated. Assuming that the weather information submitted by the pilot was complete and error free, this study aims to identify the types of coding errors, frequency by PIREP text element indicators (TEIs. e.g., /SK, /TP, /IC), and their proportions. Statistical and graphical analyses were used.
In this study, PIREPs obtained from the Iowa State University Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM) PIREPs database are analyzed. A spring/summer time frame is desirable to capture a variety of GA PIREPs. The 06/01/2019 to 07/31/2019 timeframe was selected for the study, and aircraft types were limited. A total of 3,654 PIREPs were obtained from Cessna 172, Mooney Acclaim, and Piper Cub aircraft over this time frame. From this pool, 50 PIREPs from each of these three aircraft types were randomly selected and analyzed. The encoded PIREPs were compared to the encoding guidelines found in federal documents such as FAA Order JO 7110.U, Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 12, and the PIREP Form FAA Form 7110-2.
From this study, a better understanding of PIREP coding errors may lead to improved PIREPs if used for the development of training and recurrent training, and the development of automated systems. Better coding of PIREPs could lead to more PIREPS getting disseminated, and more informed and consistent analysis for weather forecasting. More accurate PIREPs have the potential to improve aviation safety.

AU - Shantanu Gupta
AU - Mary Johnson
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Preliminary Identification and Analysis of Encoding Errors in GA Pilot Weather Reports (PIREPs)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41822
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41822
ER -