Publications
Report on product performance for the Terminal Doppler Weather Radars (TDWRs) at Washington National Airport and Memphis and Orlando International Airports
Summary
Summary
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory provides support to the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) Program Office in the performance analysis of deployed TDWR systems, and resulting recommendations for systems enhancements. This report documents initial performance of the TDWR products at Washington National Airport (DCA), Memphis International Airport (MEM) and...
Feedback from the users of commissioned TDWR systems
Summary
Summary
The primary mission of the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) system is to detect thunderstorm-related wind shears and microbursts that are potentially hazardous to aircraft during landing and takeoff operations (e.g.. within three nautical miles on final approach and within two nautical miles on departure). The sources of these wind...
Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) demonstration and validation operational test and evaluation
Summary
Summary
During summer 1994, MIT Lincoln Laboratory conducted the Operational Test and Evaluation Demonstration and Validation (Dem Val) of the Federal Aviation Administration's Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS). The purpose of the demonstration was to obtain user feedback on products and to prove that the ITWS products and concept were sufficiently...
An algorithm to remove anomalous propagation clutter returns from ASR-9 weather channel data using pencil beam radar data
Summary
Summary
The Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS), currently under development by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will produce a fully automated, integrated terminal weather information system to improve the safety, efficiency and capacity of terminal area aviation operations. The ITWS will acquire data from FAA and National Weather Service sensors as...
The gust-front detection and wind-shift algorithms for the Terminal Doppler weather radar system
Summary
Summary
The Federal Aviation Administration's Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) system was primarily designed to address the operational needs of pilots in the avoidance of low-altitude wind shears upon takeoff and landing at airports. One of the primary methods of wind-shear detection for the TDWR system is the gust-front detection algorithm...
The Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) storm cell information and weather impacted airspace detection algorithm
Summary
Summary
The Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) is an FAA-sponsored program (Sankey, 1993; Ducot, 1993) whose objective is to acquire data and products from a variety of weather sensors, integrate the data and create aviation weather products for users, such as Air Traffic (AT) controllers and traffic managers, pilots, and airline...
A comparison of the performance of two gust front detection algorithms using a length-based scoring technique
Summary
Summary
The Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) Gust Front Algorithm provides, as products, estimates of the current locations of gust fronts, their future locations, the wind speed and sirection behind the gust fronts, and the wind shear hazard to landing or departing aircraft. These products are used by air traffic controllers...
Characteristics of gust fronts
Summary
Summary
A gust front is the leading edge of a thunderstorm outflow. A gust frontal passage is typically characterized by a drop in temperature, a rise in relative humidity and pressure, and an increase in wind speed and gustiness. Gust front detection is of concern for both Terminal Doppler Weather Radar...
Improvement in gust front algorithm detection capability using reflectivity thin lines versus azimuthal shears
Summary
Summary
Gust front detection is of concern for both Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) and Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) systems. The automatic detection of gust fronts is desirable in the airport terminal environment because warnings of potentially hazardous gust front-related wind shears can be delivered to arriving and departing pilots...
An improved gust front detection algorithm for the TDWR
Summary
Summary
Gust fronts are associated with potentially hazardous wind shears and cause sustained wind shifts after passage. Terminal Air Traffic Control (ATC) is concerned about the safety hazard associated with shear regions and prediction of the wind shift for runway reconfiguration. The Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) system has a gust...