Pilots weather: the atmosphere aloft
While most people are concerned about the weather only at ground level, pilots and meteorologists focus on what’s happening aloft. Pilots need to understand weather away from the ground because that’s where they fly.
Meteorologists need to track the weather aloft because it’s the key to understanding and forecasting weather at earth’s surface.
This page is not an introduction to the weather aloft, but is intended as a supplement to articles I’ve done for Flight Training magazine. Some of these articles are linked from this page.
The standard atmosphere
- AMS Weather Book, Web supplement: Explorations: The Standard Atmosphere
- July 2003 Flight Training: Density Altitude: Why airplanes like cool days better
- January 2006 Flight Training: Understanding the Altimeter
Observing the upper atmosphere
- NWS Online Weather School: Remote sensing with radiosondes
- weatherjackwilliams.com: Weather balloons and airplanes
- Pilots can learn how to file PIREPS (pilot reports of weather) by going to the AOPA Air Safety Foundation’s Online Safety Center SkySpotter course
- June 2005 Flight Training: Automated PIREPS
Jet streams
- April 2008 Flight Training: Narrow rivers of air
- April 2001 Flight Training: Low-level jets
- NWS Weather School: Jet streams
- The AMS Weather Book: “A One, Two, Three of Jet Streams” graphic, p 60-61.
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