INFLUENCE OF SELECTED METEOROLOGICAL ELEMENTS ON THE SAFETY OF FLIGHT OPERATIONS IN THE ASPECT OF VARIABILITY OF LONG-TERM DATA

ABSTRACT

The geographical location of Lech Walesa Airport was described in relation to the country and the nearest city. Its most important elements as well as, main users have been characterized. The approach systems have been analyzed in terms of the manner of operation and the constraints associated with meteorological conditions for landing operations at the selected airport. Based on the collected climatic data from 2000-2016, using the graphs, atmospheric analysis of the selected airport was made. The METAR (METeorological Aerodrome Report) message has been considered in terms of the data it may contain, as well as data relevant to the development of the topic of work. The selected dangerous phenomena have been described in more detail, which may have an impact on the operations of take-offs and landings at the Lech Walesa Airport. On the basis of the number of dangerous phenomena published in the METAR messages from 2010-2016, charts for long-term and yearly runs were made, which were then analyzed. The limitations of the Gdansk airport compared to other six airports located in Poland were analyzed by isolines maps for the whole area of the country, based on selected METAR messages from 2010-2016. The visibility data along the runway has been compiled with the operational restrictions of all categories of the ILS system and the appropriateness of introducing a higher category system was estimated. It was found that at the Lech Walesa Airport the safety of performing take-off and landing operations, including landing approach systems, largely depends on the occurrence of hazardous atmospheric phenomena.

Keywords: airport, meteorological phenomena, variability of long-term data