Aviation Weather
FAA Is Reevaluating Services at Key Centers; Both FAA and the National Weather Service Need to Better Ensure Product Quality Gao ID: GAO-08-258 January 11, 2008The National Weather Service's (NWS) weather products are a vital component of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) air traffic control system. In addition to providing aviation weather products developed at its own facilities, NWS also provides staff on-site at each of FAA's en route centers. This group of NWS meteorologists--called a center weather service unit--provides air traffic managers with forecasts and briefings on regional conditions including turbulence, icing, and freezing precipitation. GAO agreed to (1) determine the status of NWS's plans for restructuring the offices that provide aviation weather services at FAA's en route centers, (2) identify FAA's requirements and its alternative sources for these services, and (3) evaluate both agencies' current abilities to ensure the consistency and quality of these services. To do so, GAO evaluated agency plans for restructuring offices, defining requirements, and ensuring quality products, and interviewed agency officials.
NWS developed a proposal for restructuring the offices that provide aviation weather services at FAA's en route centers, but these plans are currently on hold. In 2005, FAA requested that NWS restructure its center weather service units by consolidating offices, providing remote services, and reducing personnel costs. In response, NWS conducted a prototype that demonstrated that the services the center weather service units currently provide could be provided remotely by the closest weather forecast office. It subsequently proposed to implement this prototype, but FAA declined this proposal. NWS may reconsider its proposal or other alternative organizational structures as it works to meet FAA's needs in the future. FAA considers its existing requirements governing the center weather service units to be too broad to ensure the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the services, so the agency worked for several months to redefine its requirements. By September 2007, FAA had developed draft requirements that specified the products and services to be performed by meteorologists at the en route center, including conducting weather briefings and developing local icing and turbulence forecasts. FAA finalized a more expansive set of requirements at the end of December 2007, and expects NWS to respond within 120 days on its ability to fulfill the requirements. FAA has stated that, if NWS is unable to meet the requirements, it will consider using alternative sources such as private industry or government laboratories to meet the requirements. Although interagency agreements between NWS and FAA state that both agencies have responsibilities for assuring and controlling the quality of aviation weather observations, neither agency consistently does so for weather products and services produced at the en route centers. Specifically, neither agency has developed performance measures and metrics, regularly evaluated weather service unit performance, or provided feedback to improve these aviation weather products and services. Because of this lack of performance tracking and oversight, NWS cannot demonstrate the quality or value of its services, and FAA cannot ensure the quality of the services it funds. Until both agencies are able to measure and ensure the quality of the aviation weather products at the en route centers, FAA may not be getting the information it needs to effectively manage air traffic.
RecommendationsOur recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director: Team: Phone:GAO-08-258, Aviation Weather: FAA Is Reevaluating Services at Key Centers; Both FAA and the National Weather Service Need to Better Ensure Product Quality
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Report to Congressional Requesters:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
January 2008:
Aviation Weather:
FAA Is Reevaluating Services at Key Centers; Both FAA and the National
Weather Service Need to Better Ensure Product Quality:
GAO-08-258:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-08-258, a report to congressional requesters.
Why GAO Did This Study:
The National Weather Service‘s (NWS) weather products are a vital
component of the Federal Aviation Administration‘s (FAA) air traffic
control system. In addition to providing aviation weather products
developed at its own facilities, NWS also provides staff on-site at
each of FAA‘s en route centers (see fig.) This group of NWS
meteorologists”called a center weather service unit”provides air
traffic managers with forecasts and briefings on regional conditions
including turbulence, icing, and freezing precipitation.
GAO agreed to (1) determine the status of NWS‘s plans for restructuring
the offices that provide aviation weather services at FAA‘s en route
centers, (2) identify FAA‘s requirements and its alternative sources
for these services, and (3) evaluate both agencies‘ current abilities
to ensure the consistency and quality of these services. To do so, GAO
evaluated agency plans for restructuring offices, defining
requirements, and ensuring quality products, and interviewed agency
officials.
What GAO Found:
NWS developed a proposal for restructuring the offices that provide
aviation weather services at FAA‘s en route centers, but these plans
are currently on hold. In 2005, FAA requested that NWS restructure its
center weather service units by consolidating offices, providing remote
services, and reducing personnel costs. In response, NWS conducted a
prototype that demonstrated that the services the center weather
service units currently provide could be provided remotely by the
closest weather forecast office. It subsequently proposed to implement
this prototype, but FAA declined this proposal. NWS may reconsider its
proposal or other alternative organizational structures as it works to
meet FAA‘s needs in the future.
FAA considers its existing requirements governing the center weather
service units to be too broad to ensure the efficiency and cost-
effectiveness of the services, so the agency worked for several months
to redefine its requirements. By September 2007, FAA had developed
draft requirements that specified the products and services to be
performed by meteorologists at the en route center, including
conducting weather briefings and developing local icing and turbulence
forecasts. FAA finalized a more expansive set of requirements at the
end of December 2007, and expects NWS to respond within 120 days on its
ability to fulfill the requirements. FAA has stated that, if NWS is
unable to meet the requirements, it will consider using alternative
sources such as private industry or government laboratories to meet the
requirements.
Although interagency agreements between NWS and FAA state that both
agencies have responsibilities for assuring and controlling the quality
of aviation weather observations, neither agency consistently does so
for weather products and services produced at the en route centers.
Specifically, neither agency has developed performance measures and
metrics, regularly evaluated weather service unit performance, or
provided feedback to improve these aviation weather products and
services. Because of this lack of performance tracking and oversight,
NWS cannot demonstrate the quality or value of its services, and FAA
cannot ensure the quality of the services it funds. Until both agencies
are able to measure and ensure the quality of the aviation weather
products at the en route centers, FAA may not be getting the
information it needs to effectively manage air traffic.
Figure: FAA Facilities Involved in Air Traffic Control:
[See PDF for image]
This figure is an illustration of FAA Facilities Involved in Air
Traffic Control. The following data is depicted:
Air Traffic Control System Command Center:
Preflight: Air traffic control tower;
Takeoff: Air traffic control tower;
Departure: Terminal radar approach control;
En route: Air route traffic control center;
Descent: Air route traffic control center; Terminal radar approach
control;
Approach: Terminal radar approach control;
Landing: Air traffic control tower.
Source: GAO analysis of FAA data.
[End of figure]
What GAO Recommends:
GAO is recommending that Commerce and Transportation define performance
measures for aviation weather services and evaluate the quality of
these services. Commerce agreed with the recommendations.
Transportation did not agree or disagree with the recommendations, but
stated that its just-released requirements include performance measures
and evaluation procedures.
To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on
[hyperlink, http://www.GAO-08-258]. For more information, contact David
Powner at (202) 512-9286 or pownerd@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Results in Brief:
Background:
NWS's Plans for Restructuring Its Center Weather Service Units Are on
Hold:
FAA Finds Its Existing Requirements Are Not Sufficiently Precise and Is
Developing New Ones; Agency Has Not Ruled Out Private Industry Sources:
Neither NWS Nor FAA Ensure the Quality of Aviation Weather Services at
En Route Centers:
Conclusions:
Recommendations for Executive Action:
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology:
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Commerce:
Appendix III" GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Tables:
Table 1: Weather Products Developed by the Aviation Weather Center:
Table 2: Systems Used in the Center Weather Service Units:
Table 3: Key Products and Services Provided by Center Weather Service
Units:
Figures:
Figure 1: FAA Facilities Involved in Air Traffic Control:
Figure 2: Center Weather Service Unit Locations and Service Areas:
Abbreviations:
FAA: Federal Aviation Administration:
NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:
NWS: National Weather Service:
[End of section]
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
January 11, 2008:
Congressional Requesters:
The National Weather Service (NWS) plays a significant role in
providing weather services to the aviation community. NWS's weather
products and data are vital components of the Federal Aviation
Administration's (FAA) air traffic control system, providing weather
information to local, regional, and national air traffic management,
navigation, and surveillance systems. NWS aviation weather products
include forecasts and warnings of meteorological conditions that could
affect air traffic, including thunderstorms, air turbulence, and icing.
In addition to providing aviation weather products that are developed
at its own facilities, NWS also provides staff on-site at each of FAA's
en route centers--the facilities that control high-altitude flight
outside the airport tower and terminal areas. This group of NWS
meteorologists--called a center weather service unit--provides air
traffic managers with forecasts, advisories, and periodic weather
briefings on regional conditions.
Over the last few years, FAA has been exploring its options for
enhancing the efficiency of the aviation weather services provided at
its en route centers. Because of your interest in possible changes to
NWS's aviation weather services, we agreed to (1) determine the status
of NWS's plans for restructuring the offices that provide aviation
weather services at FAA's en route centers, (2) identify FAA's
requirements and its alternative sources for these services, and (3)
evaluate both agencies' current abilities to ensure the consistency and
quality of these services.
To address our objectives, we reviewed NWS's plans for restructuring
its center weather service units, interagency agreements governing the
aviation weather program and its requirements, and efforts by both FAA
and NWS to ensure the quality of aviation weather service. We compared
the agencies' efforts with best practices for quality assurance. We
also interviewed relevant agency officials, as well as FAA and NWS
employees at en route centers. We performed our work at FAA and NWS
headquarters offices, an FAA air traffic control tower, and FAA's Air
Traffic Control System Command Center, in the Washington, D.C.,
metropolitan area. In addition, we conducted work at four en route
centers across the country and at NWS's Aviation Weather Center in
Kansas City, Missouri. We conducted this performance audit from May
2007 to December 2007, in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform
the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a
reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit
objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Additional details on our objectives, scope, and methodology are
provided in appendix I.
Results in Brief:
NWS developed a proposal for restructuring the offices that provide
aviation weather services at FAA's en route centers, but these plans
are currently on hold. In 2005, FAA requested that NWS restructure its
center weather service units by consolidating offices, providing remote
services, and reducing personnel costs. In response, NWS conducted a
prototype that demonstrated that the services currently provided by the
center weather service units could be provided remotely by the closest
weather forecast office--effectively removing the center weather
service unit staff from the en route center. It subsequently presented
a proposal for implementing this prototype, but FAA declined this
proposal. Instead, FAA decided to more clearly define its requirements
for the weather services provided at en route centers. NWS officials
stated that they may revise the proposal or consider other alternative
organizational structures to meet FAA's needs in the future.
FAA considers its existing requirements governing center weather
service units to be too broad to ensure the efficiency and cost-
effectiveness of the services, so the agency worked for several months
to redefine its requirements. By September 2007, FAA had developed
draft requirements that specified the products and services to be
performed by the meteorologists at the en route centers, including
conducting weather briefings and developing local icing and turbulence
forecasts. FAA finalized a more expansive set of requirements at the
end of December 2007 and expects NWS to respond within 120 days on its
ability to fulfill the requirements. FAA stated that if NWS is unable
to meet the requirements, it will consider using alternative sources
such as private industry or government laboratories to meet the
requirements.
Although interagency agreements between NWS and FAA state that both
agencies have responsibilities for assuring and controlling the quality
of aviation weather observations, neither agency consistently does so
for weather products and services produced at the en route centers.
Specifically, neither has developed performance measures and metrics,
regularly evaluated weather service unit performance, or provided
feedback to improve these aviation weather products and services.
Because of this lack of performance tracking and oversight, NWS cannot
demonstrate the quality or value of its services, and FAA cannot ensure
the quality of the services it funds. Until both agencies are able to
measure and ensure the quality of the aviation weather products and
services at the en route centers, FAA may not be getting the
information it needs to effectively manage air traffic.
We are making recommendations to the Secretaries of Commerce and
Transportation to ensure that NWS and FAA develop performance measures
for aviation weather services provided at en route centers, evaluate
the services against those measures, and provide feedback to the NWS
staff on how to improve services. In written comments on a draft of
this report, the Secretary of Commerce agreed with our recommendations
and stated that after FAA provides its revised requirements, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would work with
FAA to develop methods for performance monitoring and evaluation. The
Department of Transportation's Director of Audit Relations also
provided comments via e-mail on a draft of this report, but the
department did not agree or disagree with our recommendations. In its
comments, the department stated that FAA's revised requirements
document establishes performance measures and evaluation procedures,
and that FAA would negotiate with NWS to implement them. Both
departments also provided technical comments that we incorporated as
appropriate.
Background:
FAA is responsible for ensuring safe, orderly, and efficient air travel
in the national airspace system. NWS supports FAA by providing
aviation-related forecasts and warnings at air traffic facilities
across the country. Among other support and services, NWS provides four
meteorologists at each of FAA's 21 en route centers to provide on-site
aviation weather services. This arrangement is defined and funded under
an interagency agreement.
FAA's Mission and Organizational Structure:
FAA's primary mission is to ensure safe, orderly, and efficient air
travel in the national airspace system. FAA reported that, in 2006, air
traffic in the national airspace system exceeded 46 million flights and
750 million passengers. In addition, at any one time, as many as 7,000
aircraft--both civilian and military--could be aloft over the United
States. In 2004, FAA's Air Traffic Organization was formed to, among
other responsibilities, improve the provision of air traffic services.
More than 36,000 employees within FAA's Air Traffic Organization
support the operations that help move aircraft through the national
airspace system.
The agency's ability to fulfill its mission depends on the adequacy and
reliability of its air traffic control systems, as well as weather
forecasts made available by NWS and automated systems. These resources
reside at, or are associated with, several types of facilities: air
traffic control towers, terminal radar approach control facilities, air
route traffic control centers (en route centers), and the Air Traffic
Control System Command Center. The number and functions of these
facilities are as follows:
* 517 air traffic control towers manage and control the airspace within
about 5 miles of an airport. They control departures and landings, as
well as ground operations on airport taxiways and runways.
* 170 terminal radar approach control facilities provide air traffic
control services for airspace within approximately 40 miles of an
airport and generally up to 10,000 feet above the airport, where en
route centers' control begins. Terminal controllers establish and
maintain the sequence and separation of aircraft.
* 21 en route centers control planes over the United States--in transit
and during approaches to some airports. Each center handles a different
region of airspace. En route centers operate the computer suite that
processes radar surveillance and flight planning data, reformats it for
presentation purposes, and sends it to display equipment that is used
by controllers to track aircraft. The centers control the switching of
voice communications between aircraft and the center, as well as
between the center and other air traffic control facilities. Two en
route centers also control air traffic over the oceans.
* The Air Traffic Control System Command Center manages the flow of air
traffic within the United States. This facility regulates air traffic
when weather, equipment, runway closures, or other conditions place
stress on the national airspace system. In these instances, traffic
management specialists at the command center take action to modify
traffic demands in order to keep traffic within system capacity.
See figure 1 for a visual summary of the facilities that control and
manage air traffic over the United States.
Figure 1: FAA Facilities Involved in Air Traffic Control:
[See PDF for image]
This figure is an illustration of FAA Facilities Involved in Air
Traffic Control. The following data is depicted:
Air Traffic Control System Command Center:
Preflight: Air traffic control tower;
Takeoff: Air traffic control tower;
Departure: Terminal radar approach control;
En route: Air route traffic control center;
Descent: Air route traffic control center; Terminal radar approach
control;
Approach: Terminal radar approach control;
Landing: Air traffic control tower.
Source: GAO analysis of FAA data.
[End of figure]
NWS's Mission and Organizational Structure:
The mission of NWS--an agency within the Department of Commerce's NOAA-
-is to provide weather, water, and climate forecasts and warnings for
the United States, its territories, and its adjacent waters and oceans
to protect life and property and to enhance the national economy. In
addition, NWS is the official source of aviation-and marine-related
weather forecasts and warnings, as well as warnings about life-
threatening weather situations.
The coordinated activities of weather facilities throughout the United
States allow NWS to deliver a broad spectrum of climate, weather,
water, and space weather services in support of its mission. These
facilities include 122 weather forecast offices located across the
country that provide a wide variety of weather, water, and climate
services for their local county warning areas, including advisories,
warnings, and forecasts; 9 national prediction centers [Footnote 1]
that provide nationwide computer modeling to all NWS field offices; and
21 center weather service units that are located at FAA en route
centers across the nation and provide meteorological support to air
traffic controllers.
NWS Provides Aviation Weather Services to FAA:
As an official source of aviation weather forecasts and warnings,
several NWS facilities provide aviation weather products and services
to the FAA and aviation sector. These facilities include the Aviation
Weather Center, weather forecast offices located across the country,
and center weather service units located at FAA en route centers.
Aviation Weather Center:
The Aviation Weather Center located in Kansas City, Missouri, issues
warnings, forecasts, and analyses of hazardous weather for aviation.
Staffed by 65 personnel, the center develops warnings of hazardous
weather for aircraft in flight and forecasts of weather conditions for
the next 2 days that could affect both domestic and international
aviation. The center also leads a collaborative effort to develop a
forecast of expected convective events for the entire country every 2
hours. This is used by FAA to manage aviation traffic flow across the
country. The Aviation Weather Center's key products are described in
table 1.
Table 1: Weather Products Developed by the Aviation Weather Center:
Weather product: Significant Meteorological Information;
Description: A brief description of the development and occurrence or
expected occurrence of certain nonthunderstorm weather conditions that
may affect the safety of aircraft in the en route environment. These
conditions include severe icing not associated with thunderstorms,
severe or clear air turbulence not associated with thunderstorms, dust
or sand storms that lower visibility to below 3 miles, volcanic ash,
and tropical cyclones.
Weather product: Convective Significant Meteorological Information;
Description: A text product describing the occurrence or expected
occurrence of thunderstorms and related weather conditions over the
contiguous United States within 2 hours of issuance time.
Weather product: Airman's Meteorological Information;
Description: A brief description of the development and occurrence or
expected occurrence of certain nonthunderstorm weather conditions that
may affect the safety of aircraft in the en route environment, but that
do not meet the criteria to develop a Significant Meteorological
Information product.
Weather product: Collaborative Convection Forecast Product;
Description: A graphical convection forecast developed for strategic
planning and management of en route air traffic. It is produced every 2
hours through collaboration--by way of an online chat room--among the
Aviation Weather Center, the Meteorological Services of Canada, airline
meteorology departments, FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command
Center, and the center weather service units. These collaborative
forecasts are produced between March 1 and October 31 every year.
Source: GAO analysis of NWS data.
[End of table]
Weather Forecast Offices:
NWS's 122 weather forecast offices issue terminal area forecasts for
approximately 625 locations every 6 hours or when conditions change.
These forecasts consist of the expected weather conditions significant
to a given airport or terminal area and are primarily used by
commercial and general aviation pilots.
Center Weather Service Units:
NWS's center weather service units are located at each of FAA's 21 en
route centers and operate 16 hours a day, 7 days a week (see fig. 2).
Each weather service unit usually consists of three meteorologists and
a meteorologist-in-charge who provide strategic advice and aviation
weather forecasts to FAA traffic management personnel. Governed by an
interagency agreement, FAA currently reimburses NWS approximately $12
million annually for this support.
Figure 2: Center Weather Service Unit Locations and Service Areas:
[See PDF for image]
This figure is a map of the United States, illustrating Center Weather
Service Unit Locations and Service Areas. The following locations are
depicted:
Boston;
New York;
Washington, DC;
Cleveland;
Indianapolis;
Memphis;
Atlanta;
Jacksonville;
Miami;
Houston;
Fort Worth;
Kansas City;
Chicago;
Minneapolis;
Denver;
Albuquerque;
Salt Lake City;
Los Angeles;
Oakland;
Seattle;
Anchorage.
Source: NWS (data). Map Resources (map).
[End of figure]
Center Weather Service Units: An Overview of Systems and Operations:
The meteorologists at the center weather service units use a variety of
systems to gather and analyze information compiled from NWS and FAA
weather sensors. Key systems used to compile weather information
include FAA's Weather and Radar Processor, FAA's Integrated Terminal
Weather System, and a remote display of NWS's Advanced Weather
Interactive Processing System. Meteorologists at the en route centers
located along the Northeast air traffic corridor also use FAA's
Corridor Integrated Weather System to oversee the interaction of air
traffic routes and weather. Table 2 provides a description of selected
systems.
Table 2: Systems Used in the Center Weather Service Units:
System: Weather and Radar Processor;
Description: FAA's Weather and Radar Processor is used in en route
centers and receives information from automated weather sensors located
at airports and from other sources such as weather satellites. It
compiles the information and provides current weather and forecasts to
air traffic supervisors, traffic flow managers, and the center weather
service unit meteorologists.
System: Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System--Remote
Display;
Description: NWS's Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System
integrates hydrometeorological data from a variety of sources and
produces graphical displays at NWS weather forecast offices, river
forecast centers, and national centers. This system aids forecaster
analysis and decision making. Meteorologists at the en route centers
have access to this system through a remote display system, which
provides a dedicated connection to the supporting weather forecast
office. The Remote Display is funded by FAA, and maintenance is
provided by NWS.
System: Integrated Terminal Weather System;
Description: FAA's Integrated Terminal Weather System furnishes air
traffic controllers and meteorologists with full-color graphic displays
of weather information concerning airport terminal airspace within a 60-
mile radius. The system also projects movement of severe weather
systems up to 1 hour in the future and has been installed at 22
airports.
System: Corridor Integrated Weather System;
Description: FAA's Corridor Integrated Weather System is a prototype
decision support tool that gathers weather information occurring along
the Northeast air traffic corridor to help controllers select the most
efficient routes for diverting traffic to avoid severe weather
conditions. This system provides traffic flow managers with
comprehensive convective weather data needed for tactical
modifications, occurring within 2 hours, to the operational plan. These
tactical modifications to the operational plan may include the weather
impacts on air traffic control capacity, a need to modify the
mitigation plan, and the execution of a modified mitigation plan.
Source: GAO analysis of FAA and NWS data.
[End of table]
NWS meteorologists at the en route centers provide several products and
services to the FAA staff, including meteorological impact statements,
center weather advisories, periodic briefings, and on-demand
consultations. These products and services are described in table 3. In
addition, center weather service unit meteorologists can provide input
every 2 hours to the Aviation Weather Center's creation of the
Collaborative Convective Forecast Product, train FAA personnel on how
to interpret weather information and, if warranted, provide weather
briefings to nearby terminal radar approach control facilities.
Table 3: Key Products and Services Provided by Center Weather Service
Units:
Product or service: Meteorological impact statement;
Description: An unscheduled forecast of weather conditions that are
expected to adversely impact the flow of air traffic in the en route
center's area of responsibility within 4 to 12 hours.
Product or service: Center weather advisory;
Description: A short-term, unscheduled warning of hazardous weather
conditions used primarily by air crews to anticipate and avoid adverse
weather conditions in the en route and terminal environments. It
describes current weather conditions or adverse weather conditions--
such as moderate to severe icing or turbulence, thunderstorms, and low
ceilings and visibility--beginning within the next 2 hours.
Product or service: Briefings;
Description: Short updates provided by en route center meteorologists
to FAA supervisors twice a day; they include current weather
advisories, a summary of the predicted weather in the en route area,
terminal forecasts, and jet stream and freezing information.
Product or service: On-demand consultation;
Description: Unscheduled verbal presentations provided to traffic
management controllers, supervisors, and other FAA facilities within
the en route center area. Consultations may be about the expected
weather conditions or interpretations of weather information from the
satellite images.
Source: GAO analysis of FAA and NWS data.
[End of table]
FAA Is Seeking to Improve Aviation Weather Services Provided at En
Route Centers:
In recent years, FAA has undertaken multiple initiatives to assess and
improve the performance of the center weather service units. [Footnote
2] Studies conducted in 2003 and 2006 highlighted concerns with NWS's
weather service units while FAA's more recent initiatives have sought
solutions.
In November 2003, FAA performed a study of the performance of the
weather service units and found that the services provided at different
en route locations were inconsistent, the products were not
standardized, and there was little communication and collaboration
between neighboring service units. Additionally, in January 2006, FAA
initiated an analysis of the value of different activities performed by
the center weather service units. Similar to the 2003 study, the
results of this analysis noted the lack of standardization of products,
services, tools, and procedures. In addition, the report found that
quality assurance was provided on an informal basis, there was no
formal feedback process for products and services, and meteorological
training was not standardized.
To address these concerns, FAA undertook several initiatives. In
September 2005, FAA requested that NWS restructure its aviation weather
services to provide improved services more efficiently. FAA also
contracted for an analysis of whether weather information could be
remotely delivered to air traffic controllers. The subsequent report
[Footnote 3] confirmed that it would be possible for weather
information, products, and services to be delivered to customers at the
en route centers from one or many remote locations with currently
available state of the art technology platforms. Following up on this
information, in October 2006, FAA administered a market survey to
determine whether the private sector could provide remote weather
services at a lower cost than currently provided. Ten organizations,
including private sector firms and government-funded laboratories,
responded that they could provide the services that FAA wanted.
NWS's Plans for Restructuring Its Center Weather Service Units Are on
Hold:
NWS developed a proposal to address FAA's request for more efficient
center weather service, but any plans for restructuring the center
weather service units are currently on hold. When FAA requested that
NWS restructure its aviation weather services, the agency asked NWS to
consolidate 20 of the service units (excluding the service unit in
Alaska) to a smaller number of sites, reduce related NWS personnel
costs by 20 percent, and deliver forecast products and services 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. Subsequently, NWS chartered a prototype
team to evaluate approaches for providing services to FAA and to
prepare a proposal for modernizing the national aviation weather
program.
In August 2006, the NWS team conducted a prototype in which center
weather service unit products and services were completed and delivered
remotely from the closest weather forecast office. This prototype
showed that remote operations were possible and effective, but that
they would be difficult to implement because of the need for cultural
change, technology upgrades, and communication stability.
Specifically, forecasters in the prototype were not able to provide
dedicated support for the aviation mission because their other duties-
-including forecasting severe weather at the weather forecast office--
took precedence. In addition, a collaboration technology used during
the prototype was not operationally ready-to-use, servers were
unstable, critical radar data were inconsistent with weather forecast
office data, and communications lines were unstable throughout the
prototype. In spite of these difficulties, in October 2006, NWS
presented its proposal for restructuring its aviation weather services
to FAA.
In April 2007, FAA declined NWS's proposal. FAA officials explained
that NWS's proposal was not viable because it did not consolidate the
offices to a smaller number of sites and it involved higher training
costs. Instead, FAA reported that it would redefine its requirements
for the functions provided by the center weather service units.
Officials stated that once FAA's requirements are more clearly defined,
NWS may revise its proposal or consider other alternative
organizational structures to deliver those requirements.
FAA Finds Its Existing Requirements Are Not Sufficiently Precise and Is
Developing New Ones; Agency Has Not Ruled Out Private Industry Sources:
FAA considers its existing requirements governing NWS's center weather
service units to be too broad to ensure the efficiency and cost-
effectiveness of the services, and has therefore worked for several
months to redefine its requirements. By September 2007, the agency had
developed draft requirements that specified activities and performance
measures. In late December 2007, after we completed our review, FAA
finalized a more expansive set of requirements. It expects NWS to
respond within 120 days as to whether they are able to meet the
requirements. If NWS is unable to fulfill the new requirements, FAA has
stated that it will consider using alternative sources from private
industry or government laboratories to obtain the weather services
necessary to meet its requirements.
FAA's Existing Requirements for NWS Services Are Imprecise:
FAA's existing requirements for the center weather service units are
broadly outlined in an interagency agreement that is updated every few
years. The interagency agreement specifies that NWS is to provide
meteorological advice and consultation to en route center operations
personnel and other designated FAA air traffic facilities within the en
route area of responsibility. [Footnote 4] This agreement establishes
specific terms that govern the number of NWS staff, their working
hours, and cost reimbursement details. It does not specify the
contents, quality, or frequency of weather products.
An NWS directive, signed in May 2006 and intended for NWS's weather
forecast offices and center weather service units, provides more
specific information regarding the content of weather products,
including daily briefings, meteorological impact statements, and center
weather advisories. Specifically, a service unit's briefings are to
contain sufficient information for air traffic controllers to make
decisions and appropriate operational adjustments based on weather
impacts, including a discussion of advisories in effect, weather
systems and their movements within the en route center area, flight
conditions (including convective weather, turbulence, and icing),
weather conditions for large airports (including heavy snow, freezing
precipitation, and low visibility), wind direction and speed, and any
other locally required items. The service unit's meteorological impact
statements are to detail weather conditions expected to adversely
impact air traffic flow in the service unit area of responsibility and
should include the location, height, extent, and movement of the
weather conditions. In addition, the center weather advisories may
include forecasts of conditions expected to begin within 2 hours of
issuance. Center weather advisories typically include the issuance
time, the time the meteorologist expects the condition to begin, other
weather advisories that are augmented by the center weather advisory,
and the location and a brief description of the weather phenomenon.
FAA Is Redefining Its Requirements:
In April 2007, FAA's Air Traffic Organization began refining its
requirements for aviation weather services at the en route centers. To
do this, FAA collected all related NWS and FAA orders and directives
and developed a list of over 100 products and services that the
different service units provide. FAA then sent this list to traffic
managers in each of the en route centers, asking them to specify the
products and services that they need, the ones they do not need, and
any new products or services that they would like. Traffic managers
were also able to specify whether they needed some of the more
customized weather products that are currently available at selected en
route centers.
Using results from this survey, FAA developed a list of approximately
47 products and services. Examples of products and services include
conducting scheduled briefings, developing local turbulence and icing
forecasts, and issuing products such as the meteorological impact
statement and the center weather advisory. In commenting on a draft of
this report, FAA noted that it finalized a more expansive set of
requirements on December 19, 2007.
NWS will have 120 days to respond as to whether they are able to meet
the requirements outlined in the final requirements document. Also, FAA
plans to request that NWS respond to different assumptions, including
having aviation weather services provided at the current en route
center locations, having aviation weather services provided at an off-
site location, and potentially having a hybrid approach.
FAA May Consider Alternative Sources for Weather Service Support:
FAA officials within the Air Traffic Organization stated that they are
not currently considering private industry sources for weather services
at en route centers, but that they may do so in the future. FAA
officials stated that until NWS responds as to whether and how it can
fulfill the revised FAA requirements, it is premature to consider
alternative sources. However, FAA has stated that if NWS cannot meet
the refined requirements, it will consider taking steps to procure
weather services from alternative sources. While acknowledging that NWS
is not directed to be the exclusive provider of weather products and
services to FAA, NWS's Senior Counsel stated that the Secretary of
Commerce is required to provide meteorological reports, such as those
provided by the center weather service units, to persons engaged in
civil aeronautics. [Footnote 5] He stated that if NWS cannot meet FAA's
requirements, FAA and NWS should enter into negotiations.
Neither NWS Nor FAA Ensure the Quality of Aviation Weather Services at
En Route Centers:
While interagency agreements between NWS and FAA state that both
agencies have responsibilities for assuring and controlling the quality
of aviation weather observations, neither NWS nor FAA consistently do
so for weather products produced at the en route centers. Leading
organizations use quality assurance to provide staff and management
with objective insights into processes and associated work products.
[Footnote 6] Generally, quality assurance includes objectively
evaluating performed processes, work products, and services against
applicable process descriptions, standards, and procedures; identifying
and documenting noncompliance issues; providing feedback to project
staff and managers on the results of quality assurance activities; and
ensuring that noncompliance issues are addressed. However, neither NWS
nor FAA has developed performance measures and metrics, regularly
evaluated weather service unit performance, or provided feedback to
improve these aviation weather products and services.
Because of this lack of performance tracking and oversight, NWS cannot
demonstrate the quality or value of its services, and FAA cannot ensure
the value of the services it funds. As a result, it is not clear that
FAA is getting the information it needs to effectively manage air
travel. FAA officials stated that they intend to establish performance
measures for their redefined requirements and to improve their
oversight against these measures. However, at present, FAA has not
worked with NWS to define a comprehensive set of measures for its
requirements, and it is unclear how the agency would develop a
performance baseline for comparison to actual performance because many
of the products and services have not previously been measured.
NWS Does Not Measure or Evaluate Aviation Weather Products and Services
at En Route Centers:
NWS does not measure or evaluate the aviation weather services it
provides at en route centers. Under existing interagency agreements,
NWS is responsible for controlling the quality of its aviation weather
observations. Specifically, NWS is responsible for monitoring and
evaluating the quality and effectiveness of its aviation weather
services, including the services provided at the weather forecast
offices, the Aviation Weather Center, and the en route centers.
While NWS has developed and continues to monitor performance measures
for aviation weather forecasts provided by its weather forecast offices
and the Aviation Weather Center, the agency has not done so for the
weather products and services provided at the en route centers.
Specifically, NWS has not developed performance measures for aviation
weather products and services at en route centers, evaluated the
aviation weather products and services developed at the en route
centers, or provided feedback for those services. NOAA and NWS
officials declined to explain why the agency does not have performance
measures for aviation weather products or services at en route centers,
but they noted that neither FAA nor NWS have required or funded such an
effort. Further, the aviation services branch chief told us that he had
planned to begin evaluations for aviation weather services at the en
route centers but decided to wait because of the potential for large-
scale changes to the services.
Until NWS establishes performance measures and evaluates the quality
and effectiveness of its products against these measures, the agency
will remain unable to ensure that it provides consistent quality
products and to effectively demonstrate the value it provides to FAA.
FAA Does Not Consistently Evaluate or Provide Feedback on Aviation
Weather Services at En Route Centers:
FAA has not consistently evaluated NWS services at its en route centers
or adequately provided feedback on the results of its few evaluations.
Under interagency agreements, FAA is responsible for ensuring that
aviation weather services meet its requirements. In addition, it
requires the traffic management officer within each traffic management
unit to evaluate the aviation weather services at the en route centers
annually and to provide feedback to the resident meteorologist-in-
charge.
FAA has not consistently ensured the quality of aviation weather
services at en route centers. Specifically, it currently does not have
any quantitative and objective performance measures--such as
timeliness, accuracy, or false alarm rate--by which to evaluate these
services. Agreements between the agencies broadly specify the types of
aviation weather products to be developed at the en route centers but
do not provide criteria by which these products can be evaluated. In
addition, FAA has not consistently performed its annual evaluations of
these products and services. According to the contracting officer's
technical representative responsible for the evaluations, the last
evaluation was performed in 2006, and its results were largely
anecdotal. Specifically, the evaluation called for the traffic
management officer to rate the service unit on a scale of 0 to 4 in
different categories, including quality and timeliness of products and
services, knowledge of air traffic control, and participation in
training. The technical representative told us that he could not find
any evaluations in 2005, evaluations of only three service units in
2004, and evaluations of a similarly small number of service units in
2003.
Further, FAA is not consistently providing feedback to weather staff at
the en route centers. According to the technical representative, the
evaluations from 2006 were not compiled or analyzed because the
evaluations contained no glaring problems or issues that needed
additional attention. In addition, the NWS aviation services branch
chief told us that FAA had sent him copies of the evaluations from 2006
but did not offer analysis of these evaluations, express concerns about
the services, or send the results to the individual center weather
service units. This official also stated that he was not aware that FAA
had performed any annual evaluations of the center weather service
units prior to 2006.
Because FAA has not established performance requirements or
consistently and thoroughly evaluated the aviation weather services at
en route centers, the agency cannot be sure that the products and
services provided by the center weather service unit meteorologists are
adding value, and they cannot provide feedback to these meteorologists
in order to improve the services. To address this shortfall, FAA
officials stated that they intend to establish performance measures for
aviation weather services at en route centers when they revise their
requirements and to improve their oversight of NWS against these
measures. However, FAA has not worked with NWS to develop measures for
the products and services it will require from NWS, and it is unclear
how the agency would develop a performance baseline for comparison to
actual performance because many of the products and services have not
previously been measured.
Conclusions:
In seeking to improve the aviation weather services provided at its en
route centers, FAA asked NWS to develop a proposal for restructuring
its organization to provide weather services more efficiently. NWS
subsequently presented a proposal for providing weather services
remotely, but FAA declined this proposal, stating that it would revise
and reaffirm its requirements before deciding how to proceed. FAA also
noted that if NWS is unable to meet FAA's needs, it will consider
alternative sources including private industry.
Assessing the value and effectiveness of current weather service
products provided at en route centers is difficult because neither NWS
nor FAA monitors the accuracy and quality of these aviation weather
products. Specifically, NWS has not established performance measures
for aviation weather products and services provided at the en route
centers, evaluated these products and services, or provided feedback on
them. FAA has not specified what level of performance it needs,
consistently evaluated the aviation weather services at en route
centers, or provided NWS feedback on how to improve its services. While
FAA plans to include performance measures when it defines its new
requirements, it has not worked with NWS to develop a set of measures,
and it is not clear how the agency would develop baseline performance
for comparison. Until the agencies establish a system of performance
tracking and oversight, NWS will not be able to demonstrate the quality
or value of its services, and FAA will not be able to ensure the value
of the services it funds. Without knowing the quality of the aviation
weather services used at en route centers across the country, FAA may
not be getting the information it needs to effectively manage air
travel.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
While many steps remain in defining the future of aviation weather
services at en route centers--including negotiations between FAA and
NWS on the provision of these services and FAA's subsequent decision on
whether to obtain selected services from alternative sources--there are
steps both agencies can take to ensure that the quality of future
aviation weather products and services are measured and evaluated. We
are making two recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce and three
recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation to improve the
quality of aviation weather products and services at en route centers.
We recommend that the Secretary of Commerce direct the Assistant
Administrator for the National Weather Service to:
* assist FAA in developing performance measures and metrics for the
products and services to be provided by center weather service units,
and:
* perform annual evaluations of aviation weather services provided at
en route centers and provide feedback to the center weather service
units.
Further, we recommend that the Secretary of the Department of
Transportation direct the FAA Administrator to:
* work with NWS to define performance measures and metrics for aviation
weather services provided by meteorologists,
* evaluate the services it receives against those measures and metrics,
and:
* ensure that results of these evaluations are provided to staff
stationed at center weather service units so that they can improve
performance, where applicable.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
The Department of Commerce provided written comments on a draft of this
report (see app. II). In the department's response, the Secretary of
Commerce agreed with our recommendations to assist FAA in developing
performance measures and metrics, and to perform annual evaluations of
aviation weather services and provide feedback to the center weather
service units. The department stated that after FAA provides its
revised requirements NOAA would work with FAA to develop methods for
performance monitoring and evaluation. Subsequently, on December 19,
2007, FAA provided its revised requirements to NWS.
The Department of Transportation's Director of Audit Relations provided
comments on a draft of this report via e-mail. In those comments, the
department did not agree or disagree with our recommendations. The
department stated that FAA's revised requirements are consistent with
our recommendations in that they establish performance measures and
evaluation procedures, and that FAA would begin to negotiate with NWS
to implement them.
In its December 2007 requirements document, FAA identified several new
requirements for aviation weather. Specifically, the document calls for
expanding the scope of the center weather service units to monitor the
entire national airspace system, rather than the respective en route
center regions. This national scope is expected to allow more
integrated decision making at the national level while continuing to
provide specialized products at the regional and local levels. The
revised requirements also define new products and services, such as
providing weather forecasts for terminal radar approach control
facilities, increasing weather coverage from 16 hours a day to 24 hours
a day, and enhancing the standardization of products among center
weather service units. FAA also calls for NWS to prepare three
operational concepts for fulfilling the requirements--in its existing
configuration located at the 21 en route centers, through remote
services provided by a reduced number of regional facilities, and
through remote services provided by a single centralized facility.
In addition to these requirements, FAA identifies performance measures,
as well as processes for evaluating performance and providing feedback
to the forecasters. However, the department did not involve NWS in
developing its performance measures and did not leverage NWS's
expertise in measuring the accuracy, timeliness, and quality of its
weather products and services. As a result, the measures may not
reflect the leading expertise in measuring the performance of weather
forecasters. Thus, we reiterate our recommendation that FAA and NWS
work together to establish and monitor performance measures.
Both departments also provided technical comments that we incorporated
as appropriate.
As we agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the
contents of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until
30 days from the report date. At that time, we will send copies of this
report to interested congressional committees, the Secretary of
Commerce, the Secretary of Transportation, the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget, and other interested parties. In addition,
this report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
If you have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202)
512-9286 or by e-mail at pownerd@gao.gov. Contact points for our
Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on
the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major contributions to
this report are listed in appendix III.
Signed by:
David A. Powner:
Director, Information Technology Management Issues:
List of Requesters:
The Honorable Nick Lampson:
Chairman:
The Honorable Bob Inglis:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Energy and Environment:
Committee on Science and Technology:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Mark Udall:
Chairman:
The Honorable Tom Feeney:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics:
Committee on Science and Technology:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Jerry Costello:
Chairman:
Subcommittee on Aviation:
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure:
House of Representatives:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology:
Our objectives were to (1) determine the status of the National Weather
Service‘s (NWS) plans for restructuring the offices that provide
aviation weather services at en route centers, (2) identify the Federal
Aviation Administration‘s (FAA) requirements and its alternative
sources for these services, and (3) evaluate the agencies‘ abilities to
ensure the consistency and quality of these services.
To determine the status of NWS‘s plans for restructuring aviation
weather services, we reviewed agency plans for restructuring its
aviation weather services, including prototype plans and results,
service unit survey results, and plans for addressing FAA‘s
requirements. We also interviewed NWS officials to obtain
clarifications on these plans.
To identify FAA‘s requirements and its alternative sources for these
services, we reviewed historical requirements documents, including the
memorandum of understanding, interagency agreement, and NWS orders
regarding center weather service unit products and services;
documentation of requirements from FAA; responses from the market study
performed by FAA; and legislation regarding aviation weather services.
We compared FAA‘s current requirements development processes with best
practices for developing and validating requirements by the Carnegie
Mellon University Software Engineering Institute‘s Capability Maturity
Model® Integration for Development.[Footnote 7] We also interviewed
agency officials and employees who were involved in the requirements
gathering process.
To evaluate the agencies‘ abilities to ensure the consistency and
quality of these services, we reviewed agency documentation that
governs aviation weather, including the memorandum of understanding,
interagency agreement, and NWS orders. We also reviewed results from
the most recent FAA evaluation of the center weather service units. We
compared these documents with best practices for quality assurance from
the Capability Maturity Model® Integration for Development. In
addition, we interviewed FAA officials responsible for evaluations of
aviation weather services; FAA and NWS en route center staff to obtain
information on evaluations and feedback; and NOAA‘s Global Systems
Division representatives responsible for verifying certain aviation
weather products.
We performed our work at FAA and NWS headquarters offices, FAA‘s
Potomac Consolidated Terminal Radar Approach Control facility, FAA‘s
Air Traffic Control System Command Center, and the Dulles air traffic
control tower in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. In addition,
we conducted work at four FAA en route center offices in Leesburg,
Virginia; Denver, Colorado; Dallas, Texas; and Cleveland, Ohio, because
they were geographically dispersed and were identified by NWS officials
as some of the stronger and weaker weather service units. We also
performed observations and interviews at NOAA‘s Global Systems Division
offices in Boulder, Colorado, because of their expertise in verifying
aviation weather products, and NWS‘s Aviation Weather Center in Kansas
City, Missouri, because of its responsibilities for aviation weather
forecasts”some of which are supplemented by the center weather service
units. We conducted this performance audit from May 2007 to December
2007, in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
[End of section]
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Commerce:
The Secretary Of Commerce:
Washington, D.C. 20230:
December 18, 2007:
Mr. David A. Powner:
Director, Information Technology Management Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street, NW:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
Dear Mr. Powner:
Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the Government
Accountability Office's draft report entitled Aviation Weather. FAA Is
Reevaluating Services at Key Centers; Both FAA and the National Weather
Service Need to Better Ensure Product Quality (GAO-08-258). I enclose
the Department of Commerce's comments on the draft report.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Carlos M. Gutierrez:
Enclosure:
Department of Commerce's Comments on the Draft GAO Report Entitled
"Aviation Weather: FAA is Reevaluating Services at Key Centers; Both
FAA and the National Weather Service Need to Better Ensure Product
Quality" (GAO-08-258/January 2008):
General Comments:
The Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) appreciates the opportunity to review this report
on aviation weather. The report does a fair and thorough job in
assessing the status of the National Weather Service's plans for
restructuring offices providing aviation weather services at the
Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) en route centers and evaluating
current abilities to ensure the consistency and quality of these
services.
NOAA Response to GAO Recommendations:
Recommendation 1: "We recommend that the Secretary of Commerce direct
the Assistant Administrator for the National Weather Service to assist
FAA in developing performance measures and metrics for the products and
services to be provided to center weather service units."
NOAA Response: NOAA agrees with this recommendation. As indicated in
the report, the FAA is redefining its requirements for products and
services to be performed by meteorologists at en route centers. When
the FAA provides its finalized requirements, NOAA will work with them
to develop performance measures and metrics for the Center Weather
Service Unit products and services. Subsequent collaboration between
NOAA and the FAA should lead to a shared service level agreement on
milestones, performance measures, and goals.
Recommendation 2: "We recommend that the Secretary of Commerce direct
the Assistant Administrator for the National Weather Service to perform
annual evaluations of aviation weather services provided at en route
centers and provide feedback to the center weather service units."
NOAA Response: NOAA agrees with this recommendation. NOAA will work
with the FAA to develop methods for performance monitoring and
evaluation based upon the FAA's service requirements (see the response
to Recommendation 1). These methods will involve annual evaluations, at
a minimum.
[End of section]
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
David A. Powner, (202) 512-9286, or pownerd@gao.gov.
Staff Acknowledgments:
In addition to the contact person named above, Colleen Phillips,
Assistant Director; Kate Agatone; Monica Perez Anatalio; Neil Doherty;
Nalani Fraser; Amos Tevelow; and Jessica Waselkow made key
contributions to this report.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] These centers include the National Centers for Environmental
Prediction Central Operations, Aviation Weather Center, Environmental
Modeling Center, Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, Ocean
Prediction Center, Storm Prediction Center, Tropical Prediction
Center/National Hurricane Center, Climate Prediction Center, and Space
Environment Center.
[2] FAA is also involved in a longer term initiative to increase the
efficiency of the national airspace system and to improve its overall
safety. This initiative, called the Next Generation Air Transportation
System, is a joint effort between Department of Transportation, the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the White House Office
of Science and Technology Policy, and the Departments of Homeland
Security, Defense, and Commerce. FAA anticipates that this initiative
may lead to major changes in the aviation weather program that would
supercede its current efforts.
[3] Federal Aviation Administration, Center Weather Service Unit Post-
Operational Study (Washington, D.C.: 2006).
[4] In December 2007, FAA and NWS signed an interagency agreement that
will be effective for 21 months, with an option for one additional
year.
[5] 49 U.S.C. § 44720.
[6] The Carnegie Mellon University‘s Software Engineering Institute is
recognized for its expertise in software and system processes. See
Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, Capability
Maturity Model® Integration for Development, Version 1.2 (Pittsburgh,
PA: August 2006).
[7] Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute,
Capability Maturity Model® Integration for Development, Version 1.2
(Pittsburgh, PA: August 2006). Capability Maturity Model® and
Capability Maturity Modeling are registered in the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office. CMM is a service mark of Carnegie Mellon University.
[End of section]
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