Turbulence: Gusty Wind

Music
Ambience: Arctic Wind (sound file)

If you’ve been on a long plane ride, you’ve likely experienced it the sudden shaking and rollercoaster lurch of turbulence. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Jim Watson is an Engineer at Langley Research Center. He’s been working on reducing the impact of turbulence for airline passengers. But what exactly is turbulence?

“Turbulence is a characteristic of the atmosphere that generally relates to erratic high velocity winds, particularly in the upper atmosphere. Near the ground level this is typically referred to as gusty winds. For transport aircrafts, which typically ride on a cushion of air, as long as the cushion of air is relatively calm, turbulence is not a factor, but when the aircraft encounters an area of turbulence, basically that cushion of air becomes very unstable. There is usually very sudden loss in altitude as well as some severe shaking of the airplane. There have been some instances where airplanes flying through turbulence have lost several hundred feet of altitude in a very short period of time. Typically, when an airplane encounters atmospheric turbulence, in commercial transports there have been about 20 serious accidents and injuries per year within the continental United States. The majority of accidents and injuries on commercial transports related to turbulence, about 75 percent of them have occurred within near vicinity of thunderstorms or convective activity.”

Even by staying clear of thunderstorms, pilots still won’t be able to reliably predict when and where turbulence will hit. In a future program, we’ll hear about the new system that Jim Watson and his team developed that will allow pilots to see where turbulence is and how severe it is. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation, with additional support from NASA. I’m Jim Metzner.
music

Turbulence: Gusty Wind

You've probably experienced the stomach-wrenching effects of turbulence - but what exactly is it?
Air Date:01/23/2007
Scientist:
Transcript:

Music
Ambience: Arctic Wind (sound file)

If you’ve been on a long plane ride, you’ve likely experienced it the sudden shaking and rollercoaster lurch of turbulence. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Jim Watson is an Engineer at Langley Research Center. He’s been working on reducing the impact of turbulence for airline passengers. But what exactly is turbulence?

“Turbulence is a characteristic of the atmosphere that generally relates to erratic high velocity winds, particularly in the upper atmosphere. Near the ground level this is typically referred to as gusty winds. For transport aircrafts, which typically ride on a cushion of air, as long as the cushion of air is relatively calm, turbulence is not a factor, but when the aircraft encounters an area of turbulence, basically that cushion of air becomes very unstable. There is usually very sudden loss in altitude as well as some severe shaking of the airplane. There have been some instances where airplanes flying through turbulence have lost several hundred feet of altitude in a very short period of time. Typically, when an airplane encounters atmospheric turbulence, in commercial transports there have been about 20 serious accidents and injuries per year within the continental United States. The majority of accidents and injuries on commercial transports related to turbulence, about 75 percent of them have occurred within near vicinity of thunderstorms or convective activity.”

Even by staying clear of thunderstorms, pilots still won’t be able to reliably predict when and where turbulence will hit. In a future program, we’ll hear about the new system that Jim Watson and his team developed that will allow pilots to see where turbulence is and how severe it is. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation, with additional support from NASA. I’m Jim Metzner.
music