Automated PIREPs possible?

[cowman]

I was just reading this article about a new weather model being developed by Panasonic. One of the things mentioned in it was that they are using sensor data from regional flights to increase the accuracy of their model.

It got me thinking about this, couldn't we mount some kind of sensor package on our small airplanes and feed the data back through the ADS-B out systems to augment weather data for GA use? I realize there are a great deal of logistics to work out but it seems like it could be a huge in improving safety.

 

[Archammer]

That would be a benefit to the NWS and aviation. Love this idea!

 

[flyingron]

I'm having a hard time understanding how that is going to work in most planes. You'd need some sort of air data computer or you're not getting much useful info.

 

[Mtns2Skies]

For some reason the anemometer I've affixed to a 172 always reads about 100 knots while I'm flying. Something must be funky with Colorado weather

 

[asicer]

ADS-B Out squawks both GPS elevation and Mode-C altitude encoding. Theoretically, one could map pressure gradients with no new hardware/software after 2020.

 

[denverpilot]

I think I'd wait and see if Panasonic is even tackling the right problem. More data doesn't necessarily mean a better forecast. And the cost of collecting it has to be weighed against just how much more accurate it actually is. Marginal accuracy increases in forecast models aren't worth much beyond some reasonable point.

 

[Somedudeintn]

Seems like a good way to automatically send info on cloud tops. But who would pay to equip planes with the equipment?