Adaptive Flight Planning Using Turbulence and Weather Forecasts

The North Atlantic airspace, one of the busiest corridors for global aviation, faces challenges due to evolving upper-level jet stream dynamics influenced by climate change. Over the past four decades, vertical wind shear in this region has increased by 15%, contributing to a projected doubling or tripling of clear-air turbulence by 2050–2080. This adversely affects flight safety, efficiency, and passenger comfort. Traditional flight planning methods, such as the North Atlantic Tracks (NATs), are static and fail to account for the increasingly dynamic atmospheric conditions. In this work, we introduce an adaptive flight planning approach that integrates the A* pathfinding algorithm with forecasted atmospheric data to optimize transatlantic flight paths. This atmospheric data is sourced from remote sensing technologies, including geostationary satellites that monitor jet stream patterns and wind dynamics, and radar systems that detect wind shear and turbulence precursors in real time. By leveraging these high-resolution inputs, the proposed system dynamically recalculates routes to leverage favorable wind conditions and avoid regions of high wind shear, reducing flight time, fuel consumption, and turbulence exposure.