2023_11_03 - Flight-Path-Analysis/FlightPathAnalysis GitHub Wiki
Flight Path Analysis Project: Weekly Meeting
Meeting Date: Nov 3, 2023 - 10:00 CT / 11:00 EST / 9:00 MST / 15:00 UTC
Meeting Location: Zoom
Chair: Andre Guimaraes
Announcements / One Minute Updates
- 33 days until project deadline
Agenda Items
- Action Items:
- Putting Weather Data Gather and Weather Processing (Andre Guimaraes)
- Flight Route Decision (Hannah Solomon)
- Investigation/interpretation/implementation of METAR reports on weather stations (Hannah Solomon, Andre Guimaraes)
- Passenger Data Availability (Dimindu de Silva, Ruth MacLeod)
- Preliminary model for Fuel Consumption Index (or any efficiency index) (Dimindu de Silva, Ruth MacLeod)
- GPS Waypoint routes or other FAA Published routes (Noah Thompson)
- Other issues for discussion
- Set up action items and working groups for next week
- Noah + Andre: Wind speed from plane data.
- Noah: Look at FAA flight plans released waypoints, where does flightaware get it?
- Hannah + Andre: Implementing METAR.
- Ruth + Dimindu: Compare Methods
- Any Other Business
[AI-Generated Minutes]
1. Announcements / Updates
- There are 33 days remaining until the project deadline.
- Participants provided brief personal updates and shared excitement about the upcoming events.
2. Current Status of the Project
- Action items from previous meetings were reviewed with emphasis on the weather data gathering and weather processing by Andre Guimaraes.
- The decision on flight route additions has been made, with the inclusion of Los Angeles to San Francisco and Denver to Seattle routes.
3. Discussion Points
- The handling and implementation of METAR reports in weather stations were discussed, with specific roles being designated.
- The availability and preliminary modeling of passenger data and fuel consumption index were debated, focusing on different approaches to these complex issues.
- The potential use of GPS waypoint routes and FAA Published routes were brought up by Noah Thompson, including discussions about where flight data like this is sourced (FlightAware was mentioned).
4. Task Assignment
- Noah and Andre will work together on extracting wind speed data from plane data.
- Andre and Hannah Solomon will team up to implement the METAR reports within the project's systems.
- Ruth and Dimindu are tasked with comparing different methodologies to approach the project's challenges.
- The group agreed on various other action items to pursue in the coming week.
5. Any Other Business
- Discussion of the units and calculations needed for the project's success, emphasizing the importance of using multiple systems and comparing methods.
- Planning for testing different models on actual flight data and utilizing FlightAware for published routes and flight data.
6. Miscellaneous
- Video recordings from the previous meeting were referred to for clarifications on various points.
- The meeting was interactive with significant time spent on explaining and discussing specific technical issues related to flight paths, fuel consumption, and weather impact analysis.
7. Closing
- The meeting ended with a clear set of goals for the next week, with different members or groups tasked with specific action items.
- The necessity of analyzing deviations in speed and altitude and the usage of filed reports for accurate analysis were acknowledged as crucial steps moving forward.
- The discussion closed with a reminder of the limited time remaining before the project deadline and the importance of the tasks at hand.
Next Meeting: Nov 10, 2023 - 10:00 CT / 11:00 EST / 9:00 MST / 15:00 UTC
AI Generated Summary
- André, Noah, Solomon, Ruth, and others had a conversation where they shared updates about their lives and upcoming events. André announced that his mother got married, Solomon mentioned going to a math conference in Oklahoma, and they discussed the approaching project deadline. - PLAY @1:00: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=60.0
- Solomon and André discussed the results of a poll to determine additional flights for their project. They decided on two flights: Los Angeles to San Francisco and Denver to Seattle, with the possibility of prioritizing one if needed. - PLAY @4:56: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=296.9
- André, Solomon, Dumindu, and Ruth discussed various topics including setting up a poll, flight arrangements, downloading and processing data, and the availability of passenger data. They also shared their findings on fuel consumption and discussed different approaches to tackle the issue. - PLAY @9:48: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=588.98
- Ruth and André discussed different approaches to solving the problem of calculating the mass of fuel consumed by an airplane over time. They considered factors such as thrust, acceleration, drag, lift, and the angle of the plane, but were unsure about how to incorporate the force of gravity. They also discussed using data on passenger weight, flight time, and coefficients of drag and lift to model the fuel consumption. - PLAY @13:34: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=814.0
- Dumindu, Solomon, André, and Noah discussed the use of the open AP library to estimate fuel consumption for aircraft. They also explored the concept of different airspeed measurements and the possibility of estimating wind speed using GPS data. - PLAY @19:25: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=1165.74
- André, Dumindu, Solomon, and others discussed the units and calculations needed for a project. They considered using multiple systems and comparing different methods to ensure accuracy and efficiency. - PLAY @28:27: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=1707.4
- André, Ruth, Dumindu, and Noah discussed narrowing down the methods for their library and planning to test different models on an actual flight with available data. They also mentioned the possibility of using FlightAware for published routes and exploring existing flight data in their database. - PLAY @33:13: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=1993.74
- Noah and André were discussing a recent JetBlue flight from LAX to an unknown destination. Noah was trying to find the flight route and was looking at the flight data, but the conversation ended before he could find the information he was looking for. - PLAY @35:25: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=2125.48
- Noah explained that flights are planned by using a network of waypoints across the United States, which can be GPS or radio wave points. Pilots follow departure and arrival procedures to navigate from the airport to these waypoints, and there are various routes that can be taken in between. - PLAY @36:55: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=2215.72
- Noah explained that the route they were discussing had a departure procedure and a standard terminal arrival route, with various waypoints in between. However, when Solomon asked if decoding the waypoints would provide more information, Noah mentioned that it only provided latitude and longitude coordinates, and suggested Googling the departure procedure for further details. - PLAY @39:27: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=2367.82
- Noah explained the departure procedure for a flight, including the routes that different runways would follow to reach a specific waypoint. He also mentioned a website where he could copy and paste the actual route taken by a plane, comparing it to the planned route. - PLAY @41:00: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=2460.0
- Noah explained that airline dispatchers determine the middle segment of a flight by selecting waypoints based on factors like weather and air traffic. They may choose a different route beforehand if there is forecasted bad weather, or the pilot may have to change the route mid-flight if the weather turns out to be worse than expected. - PLAY @43:32: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=2612.58
- Noah and André discussed the two main sources of weather delays during flights and the methods to identify them by comparing actual flight paths to filed routes. They acknowledged the challenge of searching for vectors for thousands of flights manually. - PLAY @46:37: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=2797.54
- André, Noah, and Solomon discussed the tables in the OpenSky database and their contents, including state vectors and flight data. They also mentioned the need for documentation and exploring the FlightAware website for additional information. - PLAY @47:56: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=2876.5
- André, Noah, and Solomon discussed the progress of their data analysis project, focusing on gathering flight data, weather data, and information about waypoints. They also discussed the importance of analyzing deviations in speed and altitude, and the need to find filed reports for accurate analysis. - PLAY @50:24: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=3024.16
- Solomon explored a library called MetPy to decode metadata and extract additional information from weather station data. André offered to implement the part of the code that identifies and adds non-repetitive columns to the database. - PLAY @53:26: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=3206.28
- Solomon, André, and Noah discussed the organization of code and the meaning of certain data in the METAR weather reports. They planned to work together to combine the weather data and determine if diversions were due to severe weather conditions. - PLAY @1:00:41: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=3641.42
- Solomon, André, Noah, and Dumindu discussed various action items for the next week, including looking into speed calculations based on plane heading and velocity, finding a database of previous flight plans, implementing the MITAR meter, and comparing different methods for data analysis. They also discussed the altimeter setting and pressure measurements in relation to flight data. - PLAY @1:05:33: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=3933.62
- André discussed his progress on computing the weather influence score for different weather quantities, such as cloudiness, and mentioned that he had prepared it for future use. He offered to share the details later for review. - PLAY @1:13:03: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=4383.64
- André discussed the need for feedback on the Wiki weather influence score to determine the amount of weather on flights. They also mentioned other action items such as GPS, fuel consumption, and data availability for the names. Meetings were planned for the future and the conversation ended with André saying goodbye and mentioning the number of days left until the next meeting. - PLAY @1:13:48: https://fathom.video/share/L6twVbV8xwEZKAVuW1TJ-a683g8a_VCY?timestamp=4428.14