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and figure by Mr Carlos Fuller, Chief Meteorologist, Belize
Meteorological Service.
Civil aviation has traditionally
been the most significant user of weather information in the Caribbean. For
example, the British Caribbean islands in the 1930’s with the clouds of
war forming in Europe
and the advent of aviation. By
the 1950s a British Caribbean Meteorological Service had been established. Its
headquarters was located in Trinidad
with
three weather forecast offices providing services to the other islands. Trinidad
served the eastern Caribbean, Jamaica
the
central Caribbean, and Nassau
the
Bahama archipelago and Turks and Caicos islands. All
the other British territories from Guyana to
Belize
provided weather observations, which were transmitted to the forecast offices. These forecast offices had two
missions: supporting aviation and providing warnings during the hurricane season.
Besides contributing to the safety of the aircraft on takeoff, in transit and
landing, the weather information also contributes significantly to the economic
operation of the airline industry. Surface wind data is used to locate the
orientation of runways. Aircraft pilots try to land and takeoff into the wind as
much as possible to enhance the lift of the aircraft. It is the relative motion
of the air across the wings, which enable the planes to fly. The stronger the
wind is blowing across the wings, the less ground speed the plane needs to
takeoff and consequently the less fuel the plane has to expend. Aircraft try to
avoid taking off and landing in crosswinds. This makes the aircraft unstable and
above a certain wind speed threshold, pilots are not allowed to land or takeoff
depending on the type of aircraft. So the orientation of the runways can
contribute significantly to the profitable operation of an airline and an
airport.
The air temperature and the humidity
of the aerodrome are also important for aircraft operation. The warmer the air
is and the more moisture it has, the less dense the air becomes and the less
lift the air provides when flowing over the wings of the plane (see the figure).
Aircraft operators use the forecast air temperature and humidity to determine
the amount of cargo with which the planes can safely takeoff. The lower the
temperature and humidity, the more cargo the plane can carry. Therefore,
accurate forecasts of these parameters contribute to the economic operation of
the airline and airport.
Once on route, the patterns of wind
aloft and the weather conditions determine how quickly the airplane can get to
its destination. Depending on the distance of his/her destination, a pilot can
save considerable time and consequently fuel on his/her journey. With a strong
tail wind a pilot can shorten his time across the Atlantic
by
two hours. By knowing ahead of time where severe weather is located the pilot
can avoid costly diversions by proper flight planning. If a pilot can shorten
his expected flying time, he does not have to fill up his tanks. His plane
weighs less and he can add on more cargo. Again this can contribute to the
profitable operation of an airline.
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