For any pilot who’s ever sat glued to the Weather Channel or logged onto a weather Web site to keep a watchful eye on a powerful cold front or line of thunderstorms sweeping across the country, the term airborne datalink could soon take on special significance.
Datalink, after all, makes possible the relay of text and graphical weather information from data centers on the ground straight to the cockpit. Hardware required to take advantage of datalink weather services includes only a simple airborne data receiver, antenna and a cockpit display. When formulating a strategic view of the weather en route, not even airborne radar and Flight Service specialists can outperform those color Nexrad images sliding across an MFD, painting with electronic brushstrokes the storms that threaten to imperil passengers and crew–or at least take an aircraft miles off course to avoid a bumpy ride.
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