Estimating Eddy Dissipation Rate with QAR Flight Big Data

Air turbulence (AT) is a typical risk that seriously threatens civil aviation safety. It is typically measured via vertical overload, derived equivalent vertical gust velocity (DEVG), and eddy dissipation rate (EDR), while the last one is the most ideal index. In this study, we combined two traditional methods of EDR estimation and proposed a new procedure to estimated EDR with quick access recorder (QAR) data. It enables us to use the parameters only from QAR data for EDR estimation, which fully reflects the great value of QAR data. We estimated EDR values with QAR data collected by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), to present the intensities of air turbulences happened within China from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2018. This study could also be helpful in evaluating and analyzing causes and early warning of AT risks.