Definition
Automated weather observations transmitted from ground-based or airborne sensors that feed real-time atmospheric data — such as wind, temperature, pressure, visibility, and precipitation — into the National Airspace System for use by pilots, controllers, and weather services.
Plain English
Live weather readings from automated equipment that get fed into the air traffic system so everyone is working from current conditions.
Context Anchor
Seen in NextGen discussions about how aircraft, ground equipment, and air traffic systems share position, status, and condition information.
Derivation
Sensor comes from the Latin sentire, meaning to feel or perceive. A sensor is a device that perceives a condition (like temperature or wind) and reports what it finds. The word report comes from the Latin reportare, to carry back. Together: instruments that perceive conditions and carry that information back to users.
Why Pilots Care
These reports feed real-time position and weather data into the NextGen network, improving traffic flow and reducing reliance on radar alone.
Intuition Check
Do not read “reports” here as a written report from a pilot. Sensor reports are data updates produced and sent by equipment.
Example Sentence 1
NextGen relies on a steady stream of sensor reports to keep weather information current across the system.
Example Sentence 2
Sensor reports from the fleet allowed the system to update wind and temperature data along the route.