Intensive Observation Period for building-induced windshear / turbulence

HKO News Bulletin for the Aviation Community (37th Issue)

With support from aviation users, a permanent unit of short-range LIDAR (SRL) would be introduced for the monitoring and detection of building-induced windshear/turbulence over 25RA. Previous field studies have demonstrated positive skill of the SRL in alerting such small-scale, fast-evolving wind features.

However, to better differentiate and quantify the impact of these wind disturbances on landing aircraft, an Intensive Observation Period will be held during the coming summer, where pilots would be invited to actively report windshear/turbulence events over 25RA.

It is expected that a joint analysis of high-resolution SRL wind observations and aircraft Quick Access Recorder data would help shed light on the small-scale flow disturbances associated with windshear/turbulence reports over 25RA.

Pilots’ feedback on their perception of such windshear/turbulence events would be crucial in helping refine detection algorithm and establish alert thresholds. Please refer to AIC 10/17 (http://www.ais.gov.hk/HK_AIP/aic/AIC10-17.pdf) for details on new reporting methods!

Figure 1: Observatory colleagues performing final checks on the short-range LIDAR at the seaside site overlooking corridor 25RA of HKIA.