DETECTING INFLIGHT ICING CONDITIONS ON AIRCRAFT

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DETECTING INFLIGHT ICING CONDITIONS ON AIRCRAFT

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MEIS CHARLES S / LANGHOFER ERIK M / WELSH BRYAN D

A method is provided that includes a number of operations performed in real-time during flight of the aircraft. That is, the method may include monitoring a continuous electrical signal output (308) by a sensor on a surface of the aircraft, where a magnitude of the electrical signal (308) may be related to an amount of ice buildup. The method may include calculating a liquid water content (LWC) value (312) as a function of a rate of change of the electrical signal (308), and iteratively calculating a total water exposure (TWE) value (328) as a function of the LWC value. The TWE value may represent a total water exposure of the aircraft from a time of an initial event, and may be calculated as a running total over a plurality of iterations. And the method may include performing a remedial or alert action in an instance in which the TWE value reaches a TWE threshold.