Interactive 4D Hurricane Modeling for Improved Warnings
Raytheon worked with the scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to develop the Interactive 4D visualization and analysis system to enable experts from around the world to collaborate towards improving weather forecasting. The Data Instrument and Analysis Graphic User Interface (DIAG) is time-synchronized with visualization to allow users to compute and display data from multiple sources. Leveraging existing technologies and a rapid prototyping environment, Raytheon developed the system in three months.

The visualization and DIAG provide an interactive comparison of satellite sensor data, and weather and research forecasting model. The 4D hurricane visualization and simulation capabilities enhance the display, analysis and study of environmental and weather data, and will lead to improved hurricane forecasts, tracking and warnings.
 

Developing the Next Generation Air Transportation Systems
Raytheon is helping NASA develop and maintain the Langley Research Center (LaRC) Airspace and Traffic Operations Simulation (ATOS) system, one of the largest distributed simulation environments in the world. ATOS uses realistically modeled aircraft and Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) systems to develop and test concepts for the Next-Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).

The ATOS system consists of a federation of more than 400 high-fidelity workstation-based aircraft simulators networked together, and linked with external laboratories at NASA LaRC, NASA Ames Research Center, FAA and other compliant facilities, in support of Human-In-The-Loop and Automated simulations. Raytheon helps NASA use ATOS to perform research on advanced concepts and technologies for the NextGen System that will significantly and efficiently improve the National Airspace System capacity, safety and flexibility. Raytheon also supports the development of a high-fidelity Weather Scenarios Generator and Server based on historical weather data to enable NASA to test these concepts in realistic environmental conditions.

Raytheon supported NASA’s Pilots-In-The-Loop experiments on a concept called Flight Deck Merging and Spacing. The algorithms tested with the help of the ATOS system makes use of onboard aircraft surveillance to provide flight deck spacing commands allowing aircrafts to follow one another at the safest, most efficient interval possible from cruise altitude to the runway. This technology, which is currently being rolled out to industry, will provide more consistent aircraft spacing while increasing capacity and efficiency within the terminal airspace.