Title: Utilizing NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Gridded Binary data for determining fuel efficient IFR routes for Ultra Long Range Flight Operations
Authors: Leonard Selvaraja Fernando
Year: 2023
Organization: Workplace Tinkering
Type: Research Article
Status: Published

ABSTRACT
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This research explores the application of NOAA's Gridded Binary (GRIB) meteorological data in optimizing fuel-efficient Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) routes for Ultra Long Range (ULR) flight operations. Traditional flight planning relies on static wind models and historical averages, often leading to suboptimal fuel consumption on routes exceeding 14 hours. By ingesting real-time GRIB2 data into a custom routing algorithm, this study demonstrates potential fuel savings of 3–7% on transpacific and transatlantic ULR routes. The algorithm processes upper-air wind, temperature, and pressure data at multiple flight levels, dynamically adjusting the route to exploit favorable wind patterns and avoid adverse conditions. A case study using 12 months of historical GRIB data on the Singapore–Newark route validates the approach, showing consistent fuel efficiency gains across seasonal variations.