Turbulence in North America - Literature review Example

Turbulence in North America s al affiliation Turbulence in North America Introduction North America is located in the Northern hemisphere where it is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the North, Atlantic Ocean to the east, Pacific Ocean to the southwest and South America and Caribbean Seas to the southeast. The different geological nature of North America has led to the occurrence of diverse climatic conditions and regions. The Northern hemisphere experiences air deflections due to the rotation of the earth. This phenomenon causes the westerlies and the northern winds. The movement of air masses causes the air turbulence that has been a phenomenon occurrence in North America. According to Williams et al. (2013), turbulence refers turbulence refers to a weather phenomenon that affects planes during flights. They are caused by the intense movement of air masses in different directions and speed and are always not noticeable. They cannot be seen, and they usually affect the planes without the knowledge of the pilots. North America has experienced multiple airplane crashes as a result of turbulence. This has been contributed by the movement of air in the Northern hemisphere. Northern America has experienced a series of air accidents that have been caused by aviation turbulence. A lot of people have been hurt in North America due to aviation turbulence during their flights. In January 2008, Air Canada A319 encounter moderate to severe turbulence that caused aviation turbulence in the plane. The turbulence was caused by another plane United Airlines 747 that was flying ahead of the Air Canada A319. The turbulence caused some injuries though no deaths took place. Moreover, Brannif Airways Flight 250 encountered extreme turbulence that caused its crash in Nebraska. In August 2009, a flight from Brazil to Texas encounter a mass of moving air that led to fatal injuries and hospitalization of seven passengers on board (McNamee, 2012). The essay below discusses the aviation turbulence. Impact of Weather on the Aviation Turbulence Aviation turbulence refers to the changes in air velocity that occurs during a flight. The weather plays some important roles on aviation turbulence. The weather either increases or decreases the intensity of the aviation turbulence. The wind is the most common subset of weather that influences the intensity of the aviation turbulence. The movement and speed of the winds determine the size and force of the aviation turbulence. Planes flying over areas with fast moving winds, experience strong aviation turbulence compared to planes flying on slow-moving winds. According to Williams et al. (2013), planes usually experience turbulence when they come across vertical airflow. In case the vertical airflow has a larger or equal to horizontal length scale, the plane must experience the turbulence. The turbulence usually occurs in either clear air where the navigators cannot see or in clouds and thunderstorms. In clear air, wave breaking caused by the clear unstable air causes the aviation turbulence. On the other hand, upward and downward draft of air may take place in clouds or thunderstorms thus causing aviation turbulence. The air flow over the mountains is the major cause of the gravity force that contributes to sheer aviation turbulence. Reynolds (2011) argues that whenever the winds blow from the west in the Northern hemisphere they cause mountain wave turbulence that is usually a major cause of aviation turbulence. The mountain wave turbulence leads to wave breaking that causes damage to any plane. In addition to breaking waves, there exists spinning air that goes round and round like a wheel. The spinning air changes the speed of the wind moving over the mountains thus causing aviation turbulence. There are fundamental causes of turbulence. They include thermal, shear and aerodynamic. The thermal cause of turbulence occurs when the surface is heated by the sun becoming considerably warm. The warm air having low density tends to rise forming vertical air currents. In the event a plane passes through these vertical air currents, it will experience turbulence. Furthermore, the shear cause of turbulence occurs when the wind speed of direction changes drastically. This causes aviation turbulence where the occupants of the planes feel uncomfortable in the plane. Finally, aviation turbulence might occur in case two planes fly in the same direction at proximity. The air will move in different directions and at different speeds depending on the speed of the planes and how far apart they are. McNamee (2012) describes the real occurrence inside a plane during aviation turbulence. He goes ahead to say that a plane could be flying miles by miles smoothly but suddenly skitters, sideslips of falling tables and laptops and cries and screams of passengers and crews are heard. This is an example of an ordeal where a plane encounters aviation turbulence. This occurs due to weather changes which affect the movement of the aircrafts. A lot of accidents have been witnessed which have been caused by aviation turbulence globally. Patrick a US pilot gave a testimony of his encounter with aviation turbulence (CABLE, 2014). He claimed that turbulence was one of the most uncomfortable scenarios in a plane. This illustrates the real experience of aviation turbulence. In several cases, the weather usually helps the pilots to detect the existence of aviation turbulence ahead. According to Reynolds (2011), the existence of altocumulus standing lenticular clouds helps the flight planners to get the satellites pictures that enable them locate the location of the air turbulence. The altocumulus standing lenticular clouds usually form on the top of waves forming mountains of waves. They can sometimes extend as long as the lengths of the waves. The pilot uses the satellites images to prepare for the fright and identify the mountain waves that may be along the wave. This will help them avoid any aviation turbulence along the way. Methods Used In Compiling the Report The major method used in compiling this report about the aviation turbulence was the literature review of various topics about aviation turbulence. Firstly, all the titles with relevance to the subject of aviation turbulence were compiled. The information was majorly sourced from academic books, journals, articles and academic websites that talked about the aviation turbulence. The abstracts of these titles were first read and discussed so as to get the idea of the book before commencing the full reading. The report was to be done in groups of four, and every member was given their roles to review the abstracts and present their recommendation of the titles in compiling the report. The members finally gave their feeling about their prescribed piece of works, and they finally came up with the correct titles to use in compiling the report. Books, articles and journals that dated from 2000 to date were used in research. In addition to the literature review, discussions were used in compiling this report. The group members met after every fortnight to discuss the topic by topic until they came up with the full report. The order of activities in all the discussions that took place was as follows. In the first discussion, the aviation turbulence in North America was discussed, and this helped in compiling the introduction of the report. The following two discussions were used to discuss the impact of weather on aviation turbulence and compiling the full report. Every member was entitled to contribute 20 points that would be used to make 80 points for a feasible report. The last meeting was used to make the final conclusions of the report. The report was also reviewed and ready for presentation. Contributions to the Report The above report was fundamental and vital in understanding what is supposed to be done in the event of any flight operations. For any plane to avoid aviation turbulence in future, the flight planners should consider doing some of the following activities. Firstly, the pilots should ensure the satellite images of the whole flight are captured and studied (Kaplan et al. 2006). This will help the pilot to know the existence of breaking wave along the way. The flight planners should consider improving on the technology necessary to analyze the breaking waves along the way. In addition, in future any flight operation should brief its passengers in advance on the expectations of aviation turbulence. The planes should be installed with a technology that will be displaying the weather to the passengers so that they can stay alert in case of aviation turbulence. This will help control the commotion since all the passengers will be aware of the turbulence thus reducing the multiple injuries that take place in the planes. Finally, the report revealed the fundamental causes of turbulence that are thermal, shear and aerodynamic. In future, any flight operator should consider avoiding flights during such circumstances. The planes should also be well coordinated to ensure no aerodynamic took place. Moreover, planes should be built with technologies that will help them become air turbulence in future. This will help reduce the number of injuries that occur due to aviation turbulence. Conclusion In conclusion, turbulence is a natural phenomenon that will forever be in existence. It is the duty of the innovators to continue coming up with new technologies that will help combat the deadly phenomenon that has been associated with multiple passenger`s injuries. North America has been one of the most hit parts of the world registering most of the fatalities and injuries from aviation turbulence plane crashes. With improved technology, the flight planners will be in a position to detect any turbulence block along the way. Moreover, the impacts of aviation turbulence can be controlled or eliminated through the development of feasible solutions. Crafts should be built in a manner that they can overcome any pressure from the turbulence, and this will help control the aviation turbulence. References CABLE, S. (2014). Pilot reveals what really happens when planes hit turbulence. Mail Online. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2809237/Pilot-reveals-REALLY-happens-plane-hits-turbulence.html Kaplan, M. L., Huffman, A. W., Lux, K. M., Cetola, J. D., Charney, J. J., Riordan, A. J., ... & Waight III, K. T. Coauthors. (2006): Characterizing the severe turbulence environments associated with commercial aviation accidents. A real-time turbulence model (RTTM) designed for the operational prediction of hazardous aviation turbulence environments. Meteor. Atmos. Phys, 94, 235-270. McNamee, G. (2012). Turbulence: An Airplane’s (and Airplane Passenger’s) Worst Nightmare | Britannica Blog. Blogs.britannica.com. Retrieved from http://blogs.britannica.com/2012/06/turbulence/ Reynolds, J. (2011). The Hidden Dangers of Mountain Wave Turbulence. Williams, P. D., & Joshi, M. M. (2013). Intensification of winter transatlantic aviation turbulence in response to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 3(7), 644-648. Read More