Turbulence ahead - A 3D Web-Based Aviation Weather Visualizer

Abstract

Although severe aircraft accidents have been reduced in the last decades, the number of injuries and fatalities caused by weather phenomena leading to turbulence is still rising. Current aviation weather products are unable to provide a holistic and intuitive view of the overall weather situation, especially in terms of turbulence forecasts. This work introduces an interactive 3D prototype developed with a user-centered design approach. The prototype focuses on the visualization of significant weather charts, which are utilized during flight preparation. An online user study is onducted to compare the prototype with today’s 2D paper maps. A total of 64 pilots from an internationally operating airline participated in the study. Among the major findings of the study is that the prototype significantly decreased the cognitive load, and enhanced spatial awareness and usability. To determine the spatial awareness, a novel similarity measure for spatial configurations of aviation weather data is introduced.