Definition
A computer-based weather system that gathers data from multiple sensors around a major airport — including terminal Doppler weather radar, surface weather stations, and other sources — and combines it into a single set of products showing current and short-term forecast weather hazards such as wind shear, microbursts, gust fronts, and heavy precipitation, displayed to air traffic controllers and airline operations to support safe arrival and departure flow.
Plain English
A system at busy airports that pulls together information from several weather sensors and turns it into one easy-to-read picture of dangerous weather near the airport, so controllers and airlines can plan around it.
Context Anchor
Seen in discussions of weather support for large airport terminal areas, especially where air traffic controllers need fast warnings about wind shear, storms, and changing runway-area weather.
Derivation
‘Integrated’ means brought together into one. ‘Terminal’ here refers to the airport terminal area — the airspace and ground operations close to the airport — not the passenger building. The name reflects that the system pulls several separate weather feeds into one product focused on the airport area.
Why Pilots Care
Allows pilots to anticipate hazards such as wind shear or low visibility during critical takeoff and landing phases.
Analogy
It is like one dashboard that brings several weather instruments together, so the controller does not have to build the picture from separate pieces during a fast-moving weather situation.
Intuition Check
Do not read “terminal” as the airport building or a computer screen. Here it means the airport-area airspace where arrivals, departures, and runway operations are taking place.
Example Sentence 1
During the thunderstorm, the tower used the Integrated Terminal Weather System to track an approaching gust front and switched arrivals to the opposite runway.
Example Sentence 2
Controllers used data from the Integrated Terminal Weather System to advise arriving aircraft of changing winds.