New weather analysis helps planes avoid bad weather

AVTECH, a Swedish IT company specializing in the aviation industry, is the developer of the Aventus NowCast system, a product that enables airlines to save on fuel thanks to algorithms that provide more precise wind data for airplanes’ navigational computers. Aventus NowCast, currently distributed in co-operation with the British Met Office, has been available on the markets since 2000 and is used by several major airlines, including Southwest Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo and easyJet. Despite digital advancements, the possibility of distributing weather data in real time to cockpits has been, until now, limited by regulations and ambiguous standards. AVTECH’s next step in development, Aventus SIGMA, is partly based on the technology of Aventus NowCast and can, as a result, be added to the NowCast service as an add-on module. SIGMA combines the airplane’s accessible data with real-time data from the Met Office. SIGMA assists pilots in making better decisions concerning which flight path to take and the ideal altitude, which enables them to avoid problematic weather phenomena such as turbulence, ice build-up, thunderstorms and thunderclouds. Cockpit routines are simplified when complex data is presented in a more concrete form. In addition to a general flight weather forecast, SIGMA takes into account the actual flight path and flying time of the plane. Today, planes that are delayed or required to select an alternative flight path for some reason are forced to use historical weather data, while SIGMA continuously provides real time weather data for the actual route.