Trajectory optimization under meteorological uncertainty

Meteorology (in particular, winds) represents one of the most relevant sources of uncertainty. A framework based on optimal control has been introduced to address the problem of robust and efficient trajectory planning under wind and convective forecast uncertainty, which is modeled with probabilistic forecasts generated by ensemble prediction systems. The proposed methodology is applied to a flight planning scenario under a free-routing operational paradigm and employed to compute trajectories for different sets of user preferences, exploring the trade-off between average flight cost and predictability. Results show how the impact of wind and convective forecast uncertainty in trajectory predictability at a pretactical planning horizon can be not only quantified, but also reduced through the application of the proposed approach. See [Gonzalez Arribas et al., 2018, JGDC]; [Soler et al., 2020, TR-C] and [Simorgh et al. 2023, IEEE Trans. Aerospace Elect. Systems.]

Convective weather conditions create major challenges for the ATM system. Since flying through a thunderstorm entails multiple risks (among them: strong turbulence, wind shear, downbursts, icing, lightning and hail), aircraft must stay clear of them if possible and pilots are thus led to deviate from their flight plans when thunderstorm activity is present. These deviations, when aggregated over multiple flights, amount to significant air traffic disruptions and capacity reductions that must then be managed by ATC and ATFM authorities, often by holding, delaying or cancelling other flights. See [González-Arribas et al., 2019, Arospace Science and Technology], [Andrés et al., 2022, TR-C]