Summary of a workshop on integrating weather into unmanned aerial system traffic management

On 19-21 July 2016, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) organized and cosponsored a two-and-a-half-day workshop bringing aviation weather, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) traffic management (UTM) researchers, and UAS operators together to discuss weather impacts and requirements to enable safe and efficient low-altitude UTM. The workshop, held at NASA Ames, Moffett Field, California, included two days of presentations covering the UTM system, the current aviation weather system, weather phenomena and their impact on UAS operations, and weather integration into UAS operations. The final half-day comprised two panel sessions: one panel discussed user experiences with weather in the field and the second discussed weather research needs for UAS operations. About 80 people attended the workshop representing industry, academia, government, and research organizations. The organizers will be using this workshop to engage a crosscutting group of users and weather researchers to inform weather product development and research to enable all-weather access for small UAS (sUAS) operations.