u15 Flashcards
flight service stations are at class ____ control zones. what do they provide
class E
aerodrome advisory service (AAS) and veichnle control service (VCS)
what is the call sign when you want to talk to FIC
xxxx Radio
what is the call sign when you want to talk to FSS (class E)
xxx Radio
what does “CAVOK” on the ATIS mean?
- cloud height
- visibility
- weather phenomena
no clouds below 5000 AGL or below the minimum sector altitude
P6SM
no precipitation, storm, fog or low snow
a VOLUMET broadcast is like ATIS but,
- location
- type of radio wave
high north / north atlantic crossing
HF or datalink
when the airport operator has a planned temporary change, how much time in advance will they give the NOTAM
6h to 14 day notice
- unless unforeseen circumstance
CCA METAR means what
correction alpha metar
SPECI metar is made when
big changes within the hour
METAR gives winds and cloud heights in what units
winds in degrees TRUE
cloud heights AGL
RVR gives a _____ min average of runway visibility
10 min
metar code: SG, PL, GR, GS, IC
SG snow grain
PL ice pellets
GR hail
GS snow pellets
IC ice crystals
what does this mean: RETSRA
recent moderate thunderstorm and moderate rain
metar codes: BR, FU, FS, HZ, SA, DU, VA
BR mist
FU smoke
FG fog
HZ haze
SA sand
DU dust
VA volcanic ash
sky cover amounts in a METAR/TAF are…
cumulative
what does “CLR” mean from an AWOS (metar)
no cloud below 10 000 ft
does the AWOS cloud height sensor under read or over read during precipitation
under reads - more intense than it reports because of radar attenuation
which is more accurate: human or AWOS observation
AUTO more accurate when not affected by heavy rain/blowing snow
what does LWIS include
wind speed and direction
temperature and dew
alt setting
what is prevailing visibility
majority visibility around an airport (used for metar)
what is RVR
distance you can see down runway
how many times a day is the TAF released
4x a day
a TAF reports the winds as VRB when
the winds are less than 3 KT
or
the wind is changing direction
when does a taf use the term “TEMPO”
a temporary change for no longer than 1h straight, but we can have up to half the total flight time within the period
how often is a FD released
every 12h
when an FD has a code 9900 what does it mean
wind is less than 5 KT
decode this FD: 731960
73 - 50 =23 -> 230ºT
119 KT
-60ºC
when is an AIRMET released
when there’s a surprise weather change that isn’t shown in the GFA
while in-flight, a SIGMET that is suddenly released will be broadcasted on what frequency
126.7
the GFA shows conditions at what altitude / pressure level
below 24 000 ASL (400 hPa) **
which GFA chart has an additional IFR outlook for the following 12h
3rd cloud chart so that IFR people have a 24h information
cloud height on GFA in what units
ASL
VFR: ceiling and visibility requirements
over 3000 AGL and more than 5 SM visibility
MVFR: ceiling and visibility requirements
clouds 1000 to 3000 AGL and/or visibility between 3-5 SM
IFR: ceiling and visibility requirements
ceiling less than 1000 AGL and/or visibility less than 3 SM
a dashed green line on GFA means __________ precipitation
showery or intermittent
a solid green line on GFA means __________ precipitation
continuous
how fast does the surface wind need to be going if it’s going to be down on the GFA
speed greater 20KT
gusts greater 30 KT
T/F: light icing on the icing and turbulence GFA is drawn on the map
false - light icing mentioned in comments box, only moderate to severe is drawn on map
GFA is automatically amended by what two things
AIRMET or SIGMET
the 250 hPa pressure level is how high above sea level? and how many dM?
250 hPa = 35 000 ASL = 1 050 dM
the 500 hPa pressure level is how high above sea level? and how many dM?
500 hPa = 18 000 ASL = 570 dM
the 700 hPa pressure level is how high above sea level? and how many dM?
700 hPa = 10 000 ASL = 300 dM
the 800 hPa pressure level is how high above sea level? and how many dM?
800 hPa = 5000 ASL = 150 dM
the contours on upper level chart show _________
the isobars on surface charts show _______
upper level chart = pressure HEIGHTS
surface charts = pressure
upper prognostic charts have two charts. what’s the height of the lower level (ASL and hPa) chart
height of the higher level?
lower level = 10 000 to 24 000 (700 to 400 hPa)
higher level = FL 250 to FL 630
geostationary satellites
- orbit what location at ____ KM
- how many orbits daily
- how long does it take to get a full disc image scan
- benefit
above equator at 36 000 KM
one orbit daily
30 mins for full disc scan (10 mins in rapid scan mode)
good for watching weather at one location for an extended period of time
polar satellites
- orbit what location at ____ KM
- how many orbits daily
- how long does it take to get a new image scan
- benefit and disadvantage
above the poles at 850 KM
14x orbits daily
new image every 6h
can’t see weather changing at one location in real time since it’s moving so fast that it’s not hovering above one location
but since low above earth, high resolution
infared imaging for weather:
- measures _________
- can you get images at night
- at what location/situation would the scan not work
- why is it hard for infared imagining to detect low level clouds
temperature
yes
mountain tops or extremely cold temperature = earth can be as cold as clouds so IR can’t differentiate
low level clouds have similar temperature to surface
visible imaging for weather:
- can you get images at night
- better or worse resolution compared to infrared
better resolution
can’t see at night - daytime only
do clouds, ice crystals or dry snow show up on the iso-echo radar?
NO
radar only picks up liquid water - not dry ice, dry snow…
with picking up rain on the iso-echo radar, the _______ of drops determines the amount of reflectivity
SIZE
wet hail = giant raindrop = highest reflectivity
if we tilt our planes weather radar antenna too high (above the freezing level), what will the radar show us
above the freezing level = frozen (DRY) precipitation at top of anvil = shows low intensity
what is the best angle for a pilot to tilt their weather antenna to see the best precipitation display
tilt antenna to ground, and then upwards until ground return is minimized (but still there) = shows max precipitation display
what is the Threat Ident Procedure (TIP point) for tilting your antenna to get best reading of weather that’s happening at your altitude
- tilt radar beam until it’s at the 20 NM arc
- know your altitude
- tilt the beam upwards (degrees) so that it’s half the value of your altitude: for 12 000 ft = 6º tilt upwards
when a convective cloud has a top that is higher than ________ ft above the freezing level, that section of the cloud will have damaging sized hail
10 000 ft
if you’re flying below freezing level (warmer than 0ºC), avoid storms by ______ NM
5 NM
if you’re flying above freezing level (colder than 0ºC), avoid storms by ______ NM
10 NM
any echo that shows up on the radar beyond ___ to ___ NM is indicating an intense storm that is dangerous
50 - 70 NM
when flying above ________ ft, all echos on the radar must be avoided by a minimum of ______ NM
23 000 ft
20 NM
lightning detection system:
- detects ______
- advantages
- disadvantages
detects static bursts nearby
detect cells hidden behind other storms, real-time information
lightning can occur miles from an active cell, can’t detect rain (where worst downdrafts are)
what is a rain shadow on the weather radar
if a cell is extremely strong, it can absorb most of the the signal = hide other cells behind it and show clear skies behind
data-link receivers (type of weather radar)
- how does it work
- who can you get this weather information from
- does it show real time information
- is rain shadows common with data link
multiple radars on ground send information to XM weather or ADS-B
lag between ground radar detection, and ADSB sending you the information
no rain shadows because multiple ground radars = multiple angles of storm
t/f: ADS-B has higher resolution that XM weather
false
ADS-B has LOWER resolution than XM weather, but is faster at uploading
XM weather is slow to load but high resolution
Planned Position Indicator (PPI) ground radar
- how does it work
- does it scan at one or multiple levels
- can it detect far out storms
one beam sent out at a fixed angle
one level
no because the radar beam has a higher altitude as it moves farther = less likely to detect a storm far away since the cell will have a lower altitude than the radar beam
what is a Constant Altitude PPI (CAPPI) ground radar
- how does it work
- how long does it take to complete a full volume scan
- what are two shortcomings with CAPPI
scans horizontally and vertically - scans one angle at a time
10 mins
attenuation (rain block signal) and ground clutter (tall object blocks weather behind)
CAPPI radar radius
250 KM
doppler radar radius
120 KM
Doppler ground radar
- what does it measure
- can it detect that CAPPI cannot
speed that the storm is moving
wind shear and downbursts
t/f: ground clutter is detected by doppler and cappi ground radar
false
doppler measures speed of storm and since ground doesn’t move, it’s not detected
cappi can’t differentiate it just sends out a signal that bounces off of weather or ground cappi doesn’t know
what is anomalous propagation for ground radar
how can you differentiate between anomalous propagation and a real echo
radar beam that passes through the atmosphere curves downwards in very cold dense air and hits the ground = shows echo very far away
anomalous propagation = echo will move because the atmosphere is always changing BUT it will show erratic movements and sharp changes in intensity
what is an overshooting beam for ground radar
if precipitation forms at an elevation below the beam, it won’t get detected
snow can be difficult for the radar to detect so environment canada will change the _______ setting on the radar depending on the season
reflectivity
