SkyGrid, an Austin, Texas-based third-party service provider for advanced air mobility (AAM), has extended its Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with MIT Lincoln Laboratory to keep building high-resolution weather forecasts for low-altitude flight, the company announced on November 12, 2026.
The new phase runs through July 2027. SkyGrid describes it as a shift from evaluating the laboratory’s high-resolution forecast (HRF) models to maturing them for future operational use.
What year one found
The partnership began in October 2025. In its first year, the team fed Lincoln Laboratory’s HRF data into SkyGrid’s AAM simulation environment to see how sharper, higher-resolution forecasts change flight planning for both safety and efficiency. That work produced an early framework for AAM-specific weather requirements, which was presented at the AIAA AVIATION 2026 Forum.
The problem, according to SkyGrid, is that forecasts built for conventional aviation usually can’t resolve the fast, small-scale changes in wind, turbulence, visibility and convection that matter to eVTOLs and autonomous cargo aircraft flying close to the ground.
What phase two adds
- More data going into the models, including high-resolution terrain, surface weather stations, aircraft reports, radiosondes, NEXRAD radar and LIDAR.
- Checking forecasts against sensor networks deployed at test sites across the United States, and working out which sensor setups give the best low-altitude accuracy.
- New hazard products covering turbulence, 3-D visibility, icing and precipitation.
- Probabilistic forecasts, using ensembles and 4-D error models, so planners get a measure of confidence rather than a single answer.
- A more realistic SkyGrid simulation environment, with new aerodrome networks, ground-operations models and traffic schedules.
- Head-to-head simulations comparing HRF with NOAA’s operational High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model across multiple regions and seasons.
SkyGrid R&D lead Jordan Cohen said the next phase will test the models against more hazards, in more regions and with real-world uncertainty. Dr. Gabriele Enea of Lincoln Laboratory’s Air Traffic Control and Weather Systems Group said the first phase showed high-resolution forecasts can make a measurable difference for highly automated flight.
By tying forecast misses to operational effects such as delays, reroutes and cancellations, the partners plan to propose AAM weather forecast requirements intended to inform regulators, service providers and operators. SkyGrid is part of Wisk Aero.
More Info:
SkyGrid (Official website): click here
MIT Lincoln Laboratory (Official website): click here
Wisk Aero (Official website): click here
SkyGrid press release via PR Newswire: click here
Image: SkyGrid via PR Newswire