Using the Spire TEC Environment Assimilative Model (STEAM) to provide ICAO space weather advisories

Matthew Angling - Spire Global, United Kingdom; Giorgio Savastano - Spire Global, Luxembourg; Shradha Mohanty - Spire Global, Luxembourg

Session: Aviation

Abstract

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has recognised the issue of space weather and has implemented activities to provide operational space weather information services. These new services are provided by dedicated space weather centres (SWXCs) which generate and share space weather advisories using the existing aeronautical fixed network for international aviation. The advisories can be provided directly to airlines, but also to air navigation service providers (ANSPs) such as The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) and the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) in the UK.

One of the ICAO advisories is concerned with detecting and forecasting the occurrence of extreme total electron content (TEC) values that may directly impair (or act as a proxy for gradients that may impair) the operation of GNSS services. In this paper we will discuss the modifications that have been made to the Spire TEC Environment Assimilation Model (STEAM) so that it can provide probabilistic nowcasts of the TEC. These may be used to aid the SWXCs in producing the required advisories.