Clear-Air Turbulence and Aviation Operations: A Literature Review

Abstract

Aviation operations are increasingly impacted by clear-air turbulence (CAT) encounters, a growing concern in both media and academic circles. Research into CAT focuses on the generation, prediction, detection, and monitoring of the occurring events (thanks to weather-related methodologies and instruments) along with technologies and operational aspects to mitigate their effects, from the perspective of both the flight segment (aircraft and pilot and related onboard systems) and the ground segment (ATM and ATC and related tools). Climate changes have led to more frequent and severe CAT events, highlighting the need for sustainable aviation solutions, aiming to achieve improved theoretical knowledge and technological and operational management advancements. This paper addresses the CAT topic under two main perspectives: the scientific understanding of the phenomena, and the technological management of such occurrence in aviation operations. With reference to the first addressed domain, the paper provides a comprehensive review of the currently used and perspective proposed methodologies and tools for understanding, detecting, and predicting CAT phenomena. With reference to the second addressed domain, then, this paper aimed to analyze the state of the art and trends in the technological and operational management and mitigation of the CAT occurrences at a tactical level (i.e., while in flight) by the aviation, covering the technologies and procedures implemented onboard and in the ground segment. Overall, therefore, this paper assesses the state of the art and identifies the most promising innovations that promote safer, more sustainable future aviation operations, by bridging weather and climate science with aviation engineering, in the presence of CAT events.