On current networks the standard way for controllers to get any weather data is from METARs. That's obviously not very realistic for large airports which are equipped with sensors all over the place. Especially in bad weather conditions with varying winds, giving the pilot what's on the METAR from 15min ago isn't really helpful.

I think it'd be nice if controllers could have the option to get live data from the sim if they choose to run it alongside the radar client. So for instance having a plugin that reads ActiveSky wind or visibility/RVR data directly from the sim and sends it to the radar client (or have it as a separate program, whatever).

Just a small idea really but I don't think it'd be something hard to do using standard SDK functions from P3D or xPlane.

I have a few questions.

How is ActiveSky or any other weather addon getting more up to date weather than the METARs?

Do controllers in real life actually have a real time, private weather feed?

The .65 2-6-2 stipulates that controllers should solicit and transmit PIREPS in especially poor weather. Would this proposed system diminish the need for PIREPS about weather all together?

 

14 hours ago, Noah Berks said:

Do controllers in real life actually have a real time, private weather feed?

Definitely. Measurement of wind and other meteo data is highly standardized. E.g. the wind values given for take-off and landing clearances are mean values of the last 2 minutes (not 100% about the exact number, but it's definitely not the measurement taken right now). You find some details in skybrary (https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Wind_Velocity_Reporting), a very helpful reference for a lot of questions regarding professional aviation. Details about meteo services and measurements can be found in ICAO Annex 3.

On 9/16/2018 at 12:38 PM, LB777 said:

On current networks the standard way for controllers to get any weather data is from METARs. That's obviously not very realistic for large airports which are equipped with sensors all over the place. Especially in bad weather conditions with varying winds, giving the pilot what's on the METAR from 15min ago isn't really helpful.

I think it'd be nice if controllers could have the option to get live data from the sim if they choose to run it alongside the radar client. So for instance having a plugin that reads ActiveSky wind or visibility/RVR data directly from the sim and sends it to the radar client (or have it as a separate program, whatever).

Just a small idea really but I don't think it'd be something hard to do using standard SDK functions from P3D or xPlane.

I spoke at length with Damian at length at FSExpo 2018 and some great ideas were generated during that conversation.

We are definitely focusing a considerable amount of time and money to developing out better sources of weather for POSCON.