New "Ice Crystal Icing" product on AMIDS

HKO News Bulletin for the Aviation Community (36th Issue)

Ice crystal icing (ICI) refers to icing experienced by aircraft at high altitude due to high concentration of small ice crystals. It may lead to loss of engine power for certain aircraft types. While the small ice crystals leading to ICI are generally caused by deep convection, ICI are often invisible to on-board weather radar and hence pose significant safety concern. This new product on AMIDS highlights regions with potential risk of ICI over East Asia and the western North Pacific with a normal update rate of every 15 minutes. Deep convection areas and areas of potential ICI in deep convection are highlighted in red and blue respectively for easy identification.

Figure 1: ICI product in AMIDS. Areas of potential ICI and deep convection are highlighted in blue and red respectively in the infrared satellite imagery.