An application in depth
Urban Air Mobility and the atmospheric boundary layer
Urban Air Mobility vehicles operate within the Atmospheric Boundary Layer, where interactions with the environment and human systems are strongest. This is the application the center's founding concept develops furthest.
Background
A nascent industry, growing quickly
Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is a nascent industry rapidly growing in the US and worldwide. Growth projections point to 10X growth in less than five years ($40B by 2030), and 100X by 2040 (to $400B).
Key drivers are congested urban traffic, maturity of Electrical Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles, and growing need for efficient transport for intra-urban transport of goods, medical emergencies, and surveillance.
The US FAA launched the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Strategy, a 10-year plan to Leverage, Initiate, Forge, and Transform (LIFT) urban transportation.
Low altitude and urban weather is a fundamental variable to untap the UAM industry, validated by industry and included in the LIFT Strategy.
Operating zone
~50 m – 500 m
Where eVTOLs, drones and air taxis operate, within the boundary layer.
Safe, sustainable, and resilient UAM depends on understanding and operating within the boundary layer.
Market outlook
Urban Air Mobility market size
| Year | Market size |
|---|---|
| 2025 | USD 6.33 B |
| 2026 | USD 8.37 B |
| 2040 | USD 425.03 B |
CAGR 21.45%. Source: Mordor Intelligence.
Federal strategy
LIFT: Leverage, Initiate, Forge, Transform
The US FAA launched the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Strategy, a 10-year plan to Leverage, Initiate, Forge, and Transform urban transportation.
- LLeverage
2–3 years
Existing programs to support innovation and begin operations
- IInitiate
4–8 years
Engagement with partners, research and development, and smart planning
- FForge
4–8 years
New policy and models responsive to public needs
- TTransform
8+ years
The aviation ecosystem
The eIPP
The FAA National Strategy includes the eVTOL and AAM Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), granted to 8 jurisdictions across the US including the NY/NJ Port Authority, to implement LIFT.
Recommendation 2.8
Develop enhanced weather detection, forecasting, and reporting network capabilities for AAM operations.
Lead agency: FAA, with support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, DOT, DHS, FCC, and NTIA.
Next steps
- Develop an interdependent ground-based, low-altitude, weather-sensing network that not only accurately depicts microscale weather conditions but also provides dynamic decision-support tools.
- Leverage commercial weather technology and establish standards for weather-reporting networks that AAM communities would implement, while establishing qualifications and certification requirements for third-party weather data providers.
- Establish a research collaborative to determine requirements and criticality of weather data transmitted by an interdependent, low-altitude weather-sensing network over cooperative areas.
- Develop algorithms and decision-support tools to enhance capabilities for aircraft to avoid microscale weather phenomena.
- Equip aircraft with weather sensors to collect and report weather information, making each aircraft in a cooperative area a contributing beacon to the network.
- Continue research led by NOAA on airborne weather detection technology and data transmission.
- Implement a data link from the aircraft to ground infrastructure to transmit data as they are collected in real time.
- Assimilate the increased number of weather observations and move from a networked near real-time system to a high-resolution, low-latency, short-term weather-forecasting system.