A tool for remote detection and nowcasting of in-flight icing using satellite data

In-flight icing is a major weather hazard to aviation; therefore, the remote detection of meteorological conditions leading to icing is a very aspired goal for the scientific community. In 2017, the Meteorological Laboratory of CIRA has developed a satellite-based tool for in-flight icing detection in collaboration with Italian Air Force Meteorological Service. Then, in the framework of the European project SENS4ICE, a further maturation of the previously developed algorithm has been achieved, in order to consider also Supercooled Large Drop (SLD) Icing Conditions. The tool relies on high-resolution satellite products based on Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) data. The aim of this product is to identify areas potentially affected by in-flight icing hazard, using information about the properties of clouds, remotely inferred from satellite, and the set of experimental curves and envelopes describing the interrelationship of icing-related cloud variables, that represent the icing reference certification rules, namely Appendix C and Appendix O to FAA 14 CFR Part 25 / EASA CS-25. Furthermore, starting from this detection product, a nowcasting tool has been developed with the aim to perform a forecast of the current icing conditions over a short period ahead. In the present work an overall description of the implemented tools for detection and nowcasting of icing conditions is provided