Aviation Weather Improvement Act

To improve the National Weather Service’s forecasting of turbulence and acquisition of aviation weather data, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Aviation Weather Improvement Act 2. Aviation weather and data innovation (a) Program The Director of the National Weather Service shall maintain an airborne observation program (in this section referred to as the program (b) Activities The program shall include activities that carry out the following: (1) Procurement of weather data available from commercial aircraft, as determined by the Director of the National Weather Service. (2) Acquisition of additional vertical profile observations that provide spatial and temporal density, as determined by the Director. (3) Analysis of procured data when incorporated into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s unified forecast system in order to provide improved forecast information for aircraft. (c) Budget The Director of the National Weather Service shall, not less frequently than annually, submit to Congress a proposed budget corresponding with the activities described in subsection (b), including an analysis of such activities that can be complemented by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aircraft. (d) Authorization of appropriations From amounts made available to Operations, Research, and Facilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there is authorized to be appropriated up to $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out this section. (e) Definition In this section, the term weather enterprise 15 U.S.C. 8501 3. Aviation weather and turbulence forecasting coordination (a) In general The Director of the National Weather Service shall include turbulence events or phenomena, icing conditions, or other phenomena in the forecasting capabilities of the National Weather Service’s Aviation Weather Center, and deliver operational forecasts with consistent, timely, and accurate weather and turbulence information for the airspace system and the protection of lives and property. (b) Coordination In carrying out subsection (a), the Director of the National Weather Service shall— (1) give consideration to recommendations from the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in furtherance of section 44720 of title 49, United States Code; and (2) improve weather and turbulence forecasting capabilities by— (A) designating or establishing within the Federal Government an interagency working group to determine weather and environmental data or observation requirements, needs, and potential solutions related to aviation weather and turbulence modeling or forecasting; (B) identifying current and future potential data gaps related to turbulence events or phenomena that can— (i) identify or inform route specific flight planning; and (ii) be supplemented or filled by commercial aviation tools; (C) transitioning research initiatives and pilot programs, including a pilot program of instrumentation for observing greenhouse gases and other atmospheric factors deployed on commercial aircraft and supporting the evaluation of a sustained observing network using such platforms, into operations that improve the forecasting missions of the Aviation Weather Center; (D) developing and deploying improved probabilistic aviation weather forecast guidance technology; and (E) updating interagency agreements, as appropriate, including to address reimbursable agreements. 4. Next generation aviation research Paragraph (3) of section 102(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 ( 15 U.S.C. 8512(b) (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and (G) as subparagraphs (G) and (H), respectively; and (2) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following new subparagraph: (F) aviation weather phenomena, including atmospheric composition and turbulence, to improve scientific understanding and forecast capabilities for the airspace system; . September 21, 2023 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

Summary: Aviation Weather Improvement ActThis bill requires the National Weather Service (NWS) to establish certain programs to improve weather forecasts for aircrafts.Specifically, the NWS must establish an aircraft-based observation program. Under the program, the NWS must partner with the weather industry to deploy critical atmospheric sensors on aircrafts to support certain weather data collection. Additionally, the NWS' Aviation Weather Center must incorporate turbulence events into its forecasting capabilities and timely deliver this information to the world airspace system. The NWS must also work with the Federal Aviation Administration to improve weather and turbulence forecasting, such as through identifying data gaps that can inform flight plans.