Скачать или смотреть ForeFlight Feature Focus: SXAR1 Cloud & Echo Tops

ForeFlight Pilots flying with SiriusXM’s SXAR1 have access to two new weather layers - cloud tops and echo tops.

The cloud tops layer, as the name implies, tells you the height of the cloud tops. Use the slider on the right to filter out tops below the selected altitude. Orbiting satellites measure the temperature of the cloud tops and use this data to infer their height - the colder the top, the higher the cloud. Keep in mind that the cloud top product does not infer how deep or shallow the cloud layer is, and some cloud layers may not be shown, especially lower-level or broken cloud fields, so you should use the Sky Coverage layer to augment the cloud tops layer.

The echo tops layer shows the highest altitudes where ground-based radar detects reflectivities above 18 dBZ. This number is significant because it defines the upper limit of the “precipitation” or “reflectivity” core in a storm.

Unlike the radar layers, the echo top layer isn’t filtered to remove false returns, so you may see some echo top clutter around radar sites. You can reduce this by raising the altitude slider, and especially by comparing the echo top layer with the radar layers to see where they agree and disagree.

Try enabling these layers with other ones on the Maps view to see which combinations provide the most helpful in-flight information.