Better than TAF?

A dmittedly, Im an unabashed geek, getting my jollies running statistical tests querying the actual NTSB relational database and publishing my aviation safety research in journals using scientific mumbo-jumbo-the majority (if not all) of which would put any insomniac to sleep in a heartbeat. That said Im also an active general aviation pilot. Here, Ill don both hats as I cover a hot-off-the-press scientific paper published in the Atmosphere journal, translating from highfalutin language into laymans English for the benefit of the general aviation pilot population.

dboyd

Monday, June 03, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

LAMP (Localized Aviation MOS Program) is an automated, hourly, airport-specific 25-hour weather forecast that is more widely available at General Aviation (GA) airports than human-generated TAFs.
A recent study found LAMP to be significantly more accurate than TAFs in forecasting ceiling conditions (both IFR/LIFR and VFR) and less prone to issuing "false alarm" warnings.
GA pilots are encouraged to integrate LAMP into their pre-flight weather briefings as a valuable supplementary tool, particularly for conservative aeronautical decision-making, despite its official status as supplementary to TAFs.

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A dmittedly, I’m an unabashed geek, getting my jollies running statistical tests querying the actual NTSB relational database and publishing my aviation safety research in journals using scientific mumbo-jumbo—the majority (if not all) of which would put any insomniac to sleep in a heartbeat. That said I’m also an active general aviation pilot. Here, I’ll don both hats as I cover a hot-off-the-press scientific paper published in the Atmosphere journal, “translating” from highfalutin language into layman’s English for the benefit of the general aviation pilot population.

These pages have held two articles on the Model Output Statistics computerized forecasts—”Hidden Weather Tool” in March 2018, and “More MOS” in June 2018. The study I’ll translate was undertaken by Embry Riddle University faculty on the Localized Aviation MOS Program (LAMP) tool. This forecast tool was adopted by the National Weather Service in the late 1990s with improvements in 2012.