Well, to me, that is just wrong,
The wind is “measured” at the surface ( up on a Tower) with a Wind sensor, and that is the Ground Wind, that is given to the pilot in the ATIS, and is what is used in the Metar.
What the wind is doing up at 1000ft or above is another matter and is, by definition, the wind at 1000ft.
Unfortunately, this is just another example the development of simulation software, that is not simulating Real World, but instead what some Game Developer “THINKS” will be appropriate, or is within their limited understanding.
The logic should be the other way around. You should be Punching in the GROUND wind, and then the geostrophic wind (wind above the friction layer) should be (attempted to be) calculated from “Measured” GROUND level wind speed.(and direction)
The “Geostrophic” wind is NOT the wind that :
- The windsock is subjected to
- The Plane on the ground, during talkeoff and Landing is subjected to
- The Wind that is measured by the Ground based Winds sensors , used by ASOS & AWOS.
- The Wind that is used to form the ATIS and the METARS
This is really a case of “A little knowledge being a bad thing”.
Having gained a little knowledge about the existence of “Geostrophic winds”, the simulator developer seems to have used that in a totally inappropriate way, by making assumptions that are not in fact how things work in the “Real World”.
In the GAMES world, doing this may be to some “acceptable” , but in a simulator, its just WRONG.
It needs to be corrected . (Please)
It might also behoove some to research exactly what GEOSTROPHIC WINDS are.
GEOSTROPHIC WINDS blow above the friction layer of the Earth, balanced between pressure gradient forces and the Coriolis force. Geo, meaning “Earth,” and strophic, or “turning,” refer to the Coriolis force of the Earth’s rotation.
And, of course, the ATIS reporting wind speeds in ft/sec is just 100% wrong, and one would hope that that is “quietly” corrected in the next update, probably with the least said the better. !
