Recent Advances in the Understanding of Near-Cloud Turbulence

Unexpected encounters with turbulence pose a safety risk to airline passengers and crew, can occasionally damage aircraft, and indirectly increase the cost of air travel. Deep convective clouds are one of the most important sources of turbulence.

Cloud-induced turbulence can occur both within clouds and in the surrounding clear air. Turbulence associated with but outside of clouds is of particular concern because it is more difficult to discern using standard hazard identification technologies (e.g., satellite and radar) and thus is often the source of unexpected turbulence encounters. Although operational guidelines for avoiding near-cloud turbulence exist, they are in many ways inadequate because they were developed before the governing dynamical processes were understood.