IBM's The Weather Company has linked up with Gogo Business Aviation to address the problem of in-flight turbulence, which costs the aviation industry $100 million a year.
Nasdaq-listed Gogo is one of the biggest names in the connected aircraft industry - it powers in-flight wifi connectivity for more than 2,500 commercial aircraft worldwide and has deals in place with 17 different carriers.
The tie-up uses Gogo's on-board servers to access and share data from aircraft systems while factoring in The Weather Company's " turbulence detection algorithm." This works in real-time and can alert pilots to potential areas of turbulence.
It also then feeds this information across Gogo's network so that other pilots can be alerted.
And the algorithm itself uses the data to "continually improve turbulence forecasts."
Mark Gildersleeve, president of business solutions at The Weather Company, said:
“It is a great example of the Internet of Things in action, where we are collecting massive amounts of data very quickly and then using that insight to provide guidance to all flights that will be traveling through impacted air space."
Meanwhile, Andrew Kemmetmueller, Gogo's vice president of connected aircraft services, said:
“In this increasingly connected world, it’s no longer just about passenger connectivity, we have to consider all the other ways we can leverage the available technology to enhance the overall flight experience and improve safety."
The costs associated include injuries to crew and passengers, repairs and the loss of revenue when the aircraft is out of action.
The detection algorithm is part of the Weather Company's TSI Total Turbulence product range which, it is claimed, can reduce airlines' turbulence related costs by 50%.
IBM completed its purchase of The Weather Company at the start of the year.
Related reading from Tnooz:
Gogo leads call for aviation connectivity standards to cope with the Internet of Things (April 2016)
Etihad (and partners) sign $700 million tech deal with IBM (Oct 2015)
With turbulence tech every cloud (potentially) has a softer landing (Sept 2015)