Airlines test water-vapor sensing system

The day may come when aircraft collect water-vapor data around the world and weather balloons become a thing of the past, Colorado researchers say.

An air sampler developed by the University Corp. for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo., plus a diode laser developed by SpectraSensors Inc., San Dimas, Calif., make up the Water Vapor Sensing System II, or WVSS II.

Water vapor sounds boring, but it's essential to almost everything that happens in the atmosphere, said retired researcher Rex Fleming, who designed the air sampler that also received U.S. federal funding.

Better water-vapor data can improve a host of weather-related forecasts -- including sudden storms that the Federal Aviation Administration estimates cost the U.S. airline industry $1 billion a year -- and long-term climate changes.

This month, 25 United Parcel Service aircraft based in Louisville, Ky., are comparing WVSS II data with that from traditional weather balloons and satellites, said the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Other U.S. airlines as well as airlines in Australia, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa will also test WVSS II.

Source: Big News Network