Systems and methods for updating a scale of a barometric altimeter on aircraft

1. A method for automatically adjusting a scale of a barometric altimeter on an aircraft having a processor communicatively coupled to the barometric altimeter, the method comprising:

receiving, by an aircraft communication system, a digital message including barometric altimeter scale data corresponding to an atmospheric pressure at an airport;

determining, by the processor, when an altitude of the aircraft is below a transition level for the airport;

comparing, by the processor, the received barometric altimeter scale data with a current scale setting of the barometric altimeter;

indicating, on an aircraft display, the received barometric altimeter scale data when the received barometric altimeter scale data is different from the current scale setting of the barometric altimeter; and

adjusting, by the processor, the scale of the barometric altimeter based upon the received barometric altimeter scale data when the altitude of the aircraft is below the transition level for the airport.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, acceptance of the received barometric altimeter scale data,

wherein the adjusting further comprises automatically adjusting the scale of the barometric altimeter based upon the received barometric altimeter scale data when the altitude of the aircraft is below the transition level for the airport and the processor received acceptance.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indicating further comprising indicating, by a speaker communicatively coupled to the processor, the received barometric altimeter scale data.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a rejection of the received barometric altimeter scale data;

comparing, by the processor, the altitude of the aircraft to a predetermined level below the transition level; and

indicating, on the aircraft display, the received barometric altimeter scale data when the aircraft is below the predetermined level.

5. An aircraft, comprising:

a processor;

a barometric altimeter communicatively coupled to the processor, the barometric altimeter configured to measure an altitude of the aircraft;

a display communicatively coupled to the processor; and

a communications system communicatively coupled to the processor,

wherein the processor is configured to:

receive, from the communications system, a digital message;

parse the digital message for barometric altimeter scale data;

display an updated scale for the barometric altimeter on the display based upon the altimeter scale data parsed from the digital message; and

update a scale of the barometric altimeter based upon the altitude of the aircraft and the barometric altimeter scale data after receiving acceptance of the displayed updated scale.

6. The aircraft of claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to monitor the altitude of the aircraft and update the scale of the barometric altimeter when the aircraft descends below a predetermined transition level.

7. The aircraft of claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

parse the digital message for transition level data; and

update the scale of the barometric altimeter based upon the altitude of the aircraft and the transition level data.

8. The aircraft of claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to monitor the altitude of the aircraft and update the scale of the barometric altimeter when the aircraft transcends a predetermined transition altitude.

9. The aircraft of claim 5 , further comprising a barometric altimeter scale update interface communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the barometric altimeter scale update interface is configured to send the acceptance of the displayed updated scale to the processor when an accept button is pressed.

10. The aircraft of claim 5 , wherein the barometric altimeter scale data is QNH data, QFE data or QNE data.

11. A system for updating a scale of a barometric altimeter on an aircraft, comprising:

a processor communicatively coupled to the barometric altimeter;

a display communicatively coupled to the processor; and

a communications system communicatively coupled to the processor,

wherein the processor is configured to:

receive, from the communications system, a digital message;

parse the digital message for barometric altimeter scale data;

display an updated scale for the barometric altimeter on the display based upon the altimeter scale data parsed from the digital message; and

update the scale of the barometric altimeter based upon an altitude of the aircraft and the barometric altimeter scale data after receiving acceptance of the displayed updated scale.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to monitor the altitude of the aircraft and update the scale of the barometric altimeter when the aircraft descends below a predetermined transition level.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

parse the digital message for transition level data; and

update the scale of the barometric altimeter based upon the altitude of the aircraft and the transition level data.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to monitor the altitude of the aircraft and update the scale of the barometric altimeter when the aircraft transcends a predetermined transition altitude.

15. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a barometric altimeter scale update interface communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the barometric altimeter scale update interface is configured to send the acceptance of the displayed updated scale to the processor when an accept button is pressed.