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[Federal Register: September 14, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 177)]
[Notices]               
[Page 55846-55847]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14se10-124]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

 
Public Meeting/Working Group With Industry on Volcanic Ash

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting hosted by the FAA's Aviation 
Weather Group in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA). The meeting is to identify operational needs for 
Volcanic Ash information in support of aviation from stakeholders.

DATES: The meeting will be held on November 5, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Federal Aviation 
Administration, 800 Independence Avenue SW., Bessie Coleman Room, 
Washington, DC 20591.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Steven R. Albersheim, Federal 
Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 
20591; telephone: (202) 385-7185; e-mail: steven.albersheim@faa.gov or 
Mr. Stewart Stepney, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone: (202) 385-7182; e-mail: 
stewart.stepney@faa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of 
a meeting to discuss the establishment of operational requirements for 
the reporting and forecasting of volcanic eruptions and the associated 
ash cloud. It has been well documented that volcanic ash clouds are a 
hazard to en

[[Page 55847]]

route aircraft and airport operations. The FAA, in collaboration with 
NOAA, provides information on volcanic ash. There is a need to better 
understand the content and characteristics of information on volcanic 
ash to support operational decisions. This information will be used to 
help direct R&D effort for improved services in support of NextGen. In 
addition, the information gathered from this meeting will assist FAA in 
its effort to collaborate with the international community to promote 
global harmonization on the functional and performance requirements for 
volcanic ash. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 5 
U.S.C., Appendix 2) requires that public notice of this meeting be 
announced in the Federal Register.
    Purpose: The FAA is in the process of reviewing existing 
operational requirements as implemented in advisories and warning 
messages to Airline Operations Centers, Flight Crews, and Traffic Flow 
Management. In that regard, the FAA has defined an initial set of 
volcanic ash functional and performance requirements to support NextGen 
operations. These requirements must be validated with users in order to 
provide sound guidance for R&D investments. The purpose of the meeting 
announced in this Federal Register Notice is to assist the FAA in 
refining these requirements which will be used to drive R&D for 
improvement in volcanic ash detection, modeling and forecasting. The 
specific objective of the meeting is to identify performance 
requirements in terms of accuracy, latency, reliability, resolution, 
location, density, etc., of volcanic ash information resulting from 
volcanic ash modeling, observation, and forecasting. Public 
Participation: Due to space constraints, interested parties will need 
to register for this activity. Deadline for registration is October 31, 
2010 or when capacity of the facility is met. We are asking anyone 
interested in attending to notify Steven Albersheim or Stewart Stepney 
at the phone or e-mail address listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section.

    Issued in Washington, DC on September 7, 2010.
Richard J. Heuwinkel,
Team Manager, Aviation Weather Policy and Requirements.
[FR Doc. 2010-22822 Filed 9-13-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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