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Aviation Weather Overview
Weather Detection RadarsTerminal Doppler Weather Radar
The Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) is now deployed at 41 major airports using technology developed by Lincoln Laboratory. A TDWR functional prototype operated at five airports in the 1984-1993 time frame. The Laboratory continues to support refinement of the wind shear detection algorithms used in the TDWR.Airport Surveillance Radar-9 (ASR-9) Weather Systems Processor (WSP)
A Lincoln Laboratory adaptation of the TDWR algorithms, together with innovative signal processing techniques, has made it possible to estimate low-altitude wind shear with a fan beam radar. The FAA Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR-9) will be equipped with a Weather Systems Processor (WSP) add-on, that will provide wind shear warning and storm motion products at 35 airports that did not receive a TDWR. Lincoln Laboratory is playing a major role in the development of production versions of the ASR-9 WSP while continuing to operate a functional prototype WSP at Albuquerque, NM. An additional functional prototype WSP will begin operation at the new Austin, TX airport in late 1998. Airport Surveillance Radar 11 (ASR-11)
Lincoln Laboratory has initiated a program to improve the weather detection capability of the FAA's new ASR-11.Integrated Terminal Weather System
Lincoln Laboratory's Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) will significantly extend the TDWR capability in the areas of hazardous storm cell identification and short-term forecasting of significant weather. ITWS also provides weather products for air traffic automation systems by using data from FAA and National Weather Service (NWS) sensors, aircraft reports, and NWS numerical weather predictions. The FAA operational users access the ITWS products through a color situation display.
The reports section of this site has full copies of papers on:
the ITWS system motivation, key features and expected benefits
predicting microbursts
tracking storms
estimating the three dimensional structures of terminal area winds
Lincoln Laboratory is currently transitioning Laboratory-generated algorithms for creating ITWS products to the FAA's ITWS FSD contractor, Raytheon Company. It is expected that production versions of the ITWS will be installed at major airports starting in 2001. Lincoln Laboratory is continuing to operate ITWS functional prototypes in Memphis, Orlando and Dallas/Ft. Worth to increase the ITWS operational and meteorological database and to provide operational user benefits. An experimental ITWS for the New York airports commenced operations in late August 1998.
Figure 2: ITWS Block Diagram. To view an expanded version of this illustration, click on the image.
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