Hello and welcome to the 6th edition of EZNews!
We really appreciate all of those subscribers that have recently joined, renewed their membership or signed up for auto-renewal, especially those we had the pleasure of meeting in person at the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) Migration in Scottsdale, Arizona! Version 1.0.6 of EZWxBrief was released at the end of September. This continues to include user experience enhancements for portable devices. We continue to improve the responsiveness of EZWxBrief on smaller portable devices, especially the iPad and Android tablets.
New to EZWxBrief?
We want you to get the most from the EZWxBrief progressive web app. Any new application is sure to be unfamiliar and may not be immediately obvious on how to get started. Consequently, we have created a new YouTube video that provides a 13-minute overview of the basic features of the EZWxBrief progressive web app. We think this video should get you pointed in the right direction. If that doesn't cut it, we are now offering a free 15 minute 1-on-1 overview of EZWxBrief if you are still struggling to understand how to use the many groundbreaking features of the app. Please note that this free session is only to provide a brief introduction and basic overview of how to get started and is not meant to examine the weather for a proposed flight or to provide any other weather training. Visit https://avwxtraining.com/book-online to book your free 15 minute session (no credit card is required).
For a deeper dive of how to use the app to plan a route you are proposing, please consider purchasing a 1-on-1 online session. You'll not only learn how to use EZWxBrief as it was designed, but you'll also learn more about preflight weather analysis and increase your weather acuity and confidence. Visit https://avwxtraining.com/book-online to reserve your 30 or 60 minute slot.
Looking for a great gift for a new pilot or flight instructor?
With the holidays right around the corner, why not give them the gift of knowledge. That's right. Order the new gold standard and best selling book for aviation weather by purchasing Pilot Weather: From Solo to the Airlines for yourself or perhaps for your CFI or other aspiring pilot. The book is authored by Dr. Scott Dennstaedt and Captain Doug Morris who are both meteorologists, experienced aviators and flight instructors. Scott and Doug's unique qualifications provides a much more practical element to increasing your knowledge of weather. You can buy the 400-page soft cover book or purchase the eBook (the free Javelin ereader is required to view the eBook). You can also purchase the combo deal and save $30 when you purchase both!
Here's what others are saying about Pilot Weather...
"This book is expected to surpass many of the best aviation weather books ever written to include those by Peter Lester, Robert Buck and Richard Collins. The authors deal with the most recent discoveries in weather phenomena as well as weather services data from which to glean more information for the safety of flight and the comfort of passengers."
- Austin Flight Check Training Solutions
"Scott, what an absolutely first rate book you and Doug have put out. At last count, I have over 80 books on Meteorology/Weather and can state unequivocally that your book is the new standard by which all other books can be measured. The combined experience of both you and Doug is pure gold and visually the book is striking. Your photos add an extra dimension coming from someone who has been there and done that and gives the reader the feeling that these gentlemen know what they are talking about and want to share it with the reader regardless of their background."
- Martin P.
Getting help with EZWxBrief
If you have any questions about using the EZWxBrief progressive web app or run into an issue or bug, the best way to reach us is to send an email through our Contact Us page on the EZWxBrief website. We usually respond to support requests within 24 hours, but often much sooner. This is so we can consolidate all of your feedback, questions and comments into our support tracking application. We appreciate your help!
The EZWxBrief blog
Don't forget to check out the EZWxBrief blog where you can find the latest EZWxBrief release notes and these EZNewsletters as well as learn more about the progressive web app and other aviation weather topics. You can view his latest post as he provides the low down on vertical visibility.
Eddy dissipation rate
You'll notice that in the EZWxBrief progressive web app, eddy dissipation rate or EDR is used to depict turbulence intensity. EDR is an objective, aircraft-independent, universal measure of turbulence based on the rate at which energy dissipates in the atmosphere. In other words, it is a measure of the turbulent state of the atmosphere. When the atmosphere is dissipating energy quickly (i.e. the EDR is large), atmospheric turbulence levels are high.
Let's say there's an eddy in the atmosphere...think about perhaps the eddies generated through wake turbulence of a heavy departing aircraft. If those eddies dissipate or mix out rapidly that's an indication there's a fair amount of atmospheric mixing and you can expect a higher turbulence intensity. If the eddies take a long time to dissipate, then very little atmospheric mixing is occurring and the eddies will persist and turbulence will be of a lower intensity.
But the implication for aircraft bumpiness (what you actually feel in the cockpit) depends on the size (weight) of the aircraft. EDR has a range from 0.0 to 1.0 in units of meters squared per seconds cubed. Therefore, the higher the EDR value, the higher the intensity of turbulence. Typically EDR varies from close to 0, "smooth", to near 1, "extreme" for most aircraft types. Note: Actual EDR values in EZWxBrief are multiplied by 100 for ease of interpretation. Therefore the values will range from 0 to 100 accordingly.
Most pilots are aware that the aircraft’s maneuvering speed is higher when the aircraft is heavier. Moreover, heavier aircraft (Boeing 787) will experience the same EDR value of turbulence differently than a lighter aircraft (Cessna 172). Therefore, using the table below, the maximum takeoff weight is used to define the EDR that is applicable.
That table is based on the results of a study done by turbulence expert Robert Sharman, et. al (2014). The idea was to compare pilot weather reports with insitu EDR data for the same report. But during that study, they only had Boeing 737 data for comparisons. A Boeing 737 is in the medium aircraft weight class. The spread was quite large, so they used the medians for comparison. Then they used a theoretical argument about aircraft response based on weight to expand the mapping to light and heavy aircraft. These have never been verified, and would be extremely difficult to do anyway without a lot of data that simply doesn't exist.
Therefore, these values in the table above represent the best guess on what equates to light, moderate, severe or extreme turbulence for light aircraft. That is, as soon as an EDR value of 13 is reached, most light aircraft will begin to experience light turbulence. Moderate turbulence begins at 16 and severe turbulence begins at 36. If you are very sensitive to issues with turbulence when flying (e.g., carrying a nervous flyer), it may be a good idea to adjust the personal minimum values captured in the EZMinimums to be a lower value.
The turbulence forecast from the surface to FL450 is shown on the EZRoute Profile view like the one below. Note that the colors shown here are representative of the values for the table above and not based on your personal minimum settings. That is, green represents EDR values from 13 to 15 to depict a forecast for light turbulence. Tan represents EDR values from 16 to 35 to depict a forecast for moderate turbulence. And red represents EDR values from 36 to 63 to depict a forecast for severe turbulence. EDR values of 64 to 100 are very rare and are indicative of extreme turbulence.
EDR can also be depicted at a particular airport in the EZAirport Meteogram and will show how the turbulence aloft changes over time from the surface to FL250 using the same method as described above. Note that turbulence forecasts are not available beyond a lead time of 18 hours. Shown below is the turbulence forecast as Hurricane Ida passed over the South Lafourche Leonard Miller Jr. Airport in Galliano, Louisiana. Note the extreme turbulence depicted in dark red at FL140 to FL170. Notice that turbulence forecasts are not available after 10Z in this particular instance.
AOPA Aviator Showcase
It was nice to meet up with a bunch of EZWxBrief customers at the AOPA Aviator Showcase in Fort Worth, Texas last week as Scott presented "Five things you MUST know about datalink weather." If you missed the one in Fort Worth, this will be offered again at the AOPA events next year including SUN 'n FUN and AirVenture.
Next free webinars
Sponsored by SiriusXM and the Ninety-Nines, join Scott on Wednesday, October 27, 2021 at 8:00 - 9:00 PM EDT for a live webinar, "Getting to know your personal weather minimums." You must preregister for the webinar here. If you can't make that live webinar you can also register for a similar webinar that is being held on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 8:00 - 9:30 PM EDT. Simply go to eaa.org to preregister. Lastly, Scott will be holding a live webinar for the Mooneyspace aviators on Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 8:00 PM EDT entitled, "What is your weather weakness?" Sign into your mooneyspace.com account and visit the miscellaneous aviation talk forum to learn about the details for this webinar.
Join Scott for EZWxChat
Every Tuesday afternoon at 3 pm EDT, you can join Scott on Facebook Live to listen in on his weekly EZWxChat where he discusses many aviation weather topics including how to use the groundbreaking features of the EZWxBrief progressive web app. If you can't attend live, all of these are recorded and available on the EZWxBrief YouTube channel a day or two later. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don't miss any new videos.
What's new with EZWxBrief?
Version 1.0.6 was recently released and contains a few minor improvements to the responsiveness of portable devices. For all of the recent updates, the latest EZWxBrief release notes can be reviewed here.
Most pilots are weatherwise, but some are otherwise™
Dr. Scott Dennstaedt
Weather Systems Engineer
Founder, EZWxBrief
CFI & former NWS meteorologist
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