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Voice Over:
VIDEO:
Most airplanes fly out of their way to avoid atmospheric
turbulence, but not a 757 flying laboratory based at NASA'S Langley
Research Center. "We're a weather research flight and there's some
weather over in the area of Vulcan. Once we get over there we want
to go down to a lower altitude and penetrate the weather for data
purposes."
VIDEO:
The former airliner is equipped with an experimental radar
system designed to detect turbulence associated with
thunderstorms,“NASA is working on an enhanced turbulence
detection radar system, which is a software signal processing
upgrade to existing predictive Doppler windshear systems that are
already on airplanes.”
VIDEO:
To see how well the enhanced radar performed, the 757 and its
crew went looking for the kind of bumpy weather most air travelers
find jarring. Researchers say the system did what it was designed
to do. It detected turbulence not seen by the plane’s radar.
NASA says airliners could get this kind of upgrade within the next
few years.
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