Navigational aid method depending on meteorological conditions

US10424208B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• THALES · FR

Inventors

• Christophe Pierre · Aubange, BE
• Rémy Auletto · Toulouse, FR
• Benoît Dacre-Wright · Toulouse, FR

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 8, 2016
• Grant date: Sep 24, 2019
• Expiry date: Mar 29, 2038

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01W1/00
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A navigational aid method of an aircraft, carried out by a flight management system, for comparing a reference trajectory of the aircraft subjected to a wind vector field with a new trajectory between the same starting and end points, respectively, the method comprises: determining the reference trajectory, determining the new trajectory, loading meteorological data, determining a directional surface, delimited by a directional closed curve, consisting of the new trajectory, from the starting point to the end point, closed by the opposite of the reference trajectory from the end point to the starting point, determining a wind curl on the basis of the wind vector field, determining a flow of the wind curl through the surface, a positive value of flow indicating that the new trajectory makes better use of the wind load, a negative value of flow indicating that the new trajectory makes less effective use of the wind load.