Abstract
The Forward-Looking Interferometer (FLI) is a new instrument concept for obtaining the measurements required to alert
flight crews to potential weather hazards to safe flight. To meet the needs of the commercial fleet, such a sensor should
address multiple hazards to warrant the costs of development, certification, installation, training, and maintenance. The
FLI concept is based on high-resolution Infrared Fourier Transform Spectrometry (FTS) technologies that have been
developed for ground based, airborne, and satellite remote sensing. The FLI concept is being evaluated for its potential to
address multiple hazards including clear air turbulence (CAT), volcanic ash, wake vortices, low slant range visibility, dry
wind shear, and icing, during all phases of flight. This project has three major elements: further sensitivity studies and
applications of EOF (Empirical Orthogonal Function) Regression; development of algorithms to estimate the hazard
severity; and field measurements to provide an empirical demonstration of the FLI aviation hazard detection and display
capability. These theoretical and experimental studies will lead to a specification for a prototype airborne FLI instrument
for use in future in-flight validation. The research team includes the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Hampton
University, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the Air Force Institute of Technology, and the
University of Wisconsin.
