SkyGrid, an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Third-Party Service Provider (TSP),today announced they have entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT Lincoln Laboratory) to jointly develop high-resolution weather forecasting capabilities that will enable safer and more scalable Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) operations.
The CRADA, executed under the authority of the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 and as extended to Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), brings together SkyGrid’s expertise in airspace integration and simulation with MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s decades of leadership in weather sensing, forecasting, and air traffic control technologies.
Unlike conventional aviation, AAM operations—such as autonomous cargo flights and passenger eVTOL services—will take place at lower altitudes where weather conditions in the planetary boundary layer can be highly dynamic and unpredictable. This partnership will evaluate how high-resolution forecast (HRF) models can enhance safety margins, planning, and execution efficiency.
“Advanced Air Mobility will best succeed if we can solve the weather challenge at scale. By integrating MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s high-resolution forecast models into our simulation environments, we can begin to understand the precise weather requirements for safe, routine, and highly automated operations,” said Jordan Cohen, R&D Technical Lead at SkyGrid. “This collaboration is a critical step toward building the decision support systems that AAM operators and service providers will need to thrive.”
SkyGrid is at the forefront of future AAM analysis, defining performance requirements for critical components, such as weather, which constitute input for the PSU functions.
“Lincoln Laboratory has a long history of advancing weather and air traffic management technologies that transition into operational use,” said Dr. Gabriele Enea, Assistant Group Leader, Air Traffic Control & Weather Systems Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. “By collaborating with SkyGrid, we can expand this expertise into the emerging AAM domain, ensuring weather data is not just available, but actionable in the context of highly automated flight.”
Through this CRADA, SkyGrid and MIT Lincoln Laboratory aim to:
- Define the sensitivity of AAM operational efficiency to weather forecast accuracy and resolution.
- Identify weather-specific and system-level requirements for future AAM operations.
- Benchmark MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s HRF model performance against NOAA’s High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model and observational data.
- Provide scalable, data-driven insights into how high-resolution weather forecasting can unlock a higher operational tempo in AAM.
This collaboration underscores the importance of aligning advanced research with industry expertise to develop the next generation of aviation infrastructure.
