CLEAR-AIR TURBULENCE DEVICE IN THE WORKS.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer Looking to keep passengers safe when airplanes are jarred by clear-air turbulence clear-air turbulence n. Abbr. CAT Atmospheric turbulence that occurs under tranquil and cloudless conditions and subjects aircraft to strong updrafts and downdrafts. , NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. is working on a warning system that would give pilots time to change course or get travelers belted in. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. is looking at using a system that would emit a pulsed infrared laser to measure movement of dust in front of an aircraft. The Light Detection and Ranging System would measure light reflected off particles as small as one-millionth of a meter from one to 10 miles in front of the plane. ``We use the particles to get at what the air is doing,'' said project manager Rod Bogue. ``It shows how the air is moving relative to the airplane.'' Such a system could help pilots avoid situations like the Dec. 28 incident in which clear-air turbulence jarred a Boeing 747-100, killing one woman and injuring dozens of other passengers. The jetliner had left Tokyo en route to Honolulu when turbulence caused it to drop 100 feet in just a few seconds. Passengers were slammed into overhead luggage compartments, and a meal cart bounced off the ceiling and hit several people. The research is part of a joint effort between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial), and the Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control to provide aviation safety. NASA will spend $750,000 over the next two years on the effort. LIDAR is being developed by Coherent Technologies, a Colorado-based company. The main technology challenge is to get a laser with enough power to project miles ahead of an aircraft. ``The thing we're working on is getting the power level up to a level to detect turbulence at a longer range,'' Bogue said. Dryden expects to do flight tests in April using a Lockheed Electra, a four-engine turboprop turboprop: see turbine. turboprop Hybrid engine that provides jet thrust and also drives a propeller. It is similar to the turbojet except that an added turbine, behind the combustion chamber, works through a shaft and speed-reducing gears to turn a aircraft, from the National Center for Atmospheric Research The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is a non-governmental U.S.-based institute whose stated mission is "exploring and understanding our atmosphere and its interactions with the Sun, the oceans, the biosphere, and human society. . Dryden is looking at doing follow-up tests with a NASA DC-8. Those tests would be done at Edwards. Such a warning system might see its way onto commercial aircraft in the next five to six years, Bogue said. |
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