Status of the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar - one year before deployment
Summary
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initiated the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) program in the mid-1980s in response to the need for improved real time hazardous weather (especially low altitude wind shear) detection in the terminal area. The program is designed to develop a reliable automated Doppler radar based system to detect terminal weather hazards and provide warnings that will help pilots successfully avoid these hazards. Following the successful operational evaluation of the TDWR concept which was described at the last conference, a production contract was awarded to the Raytheon Company, with the first deliveries scheduled for fall of 1992. This paper will describe the current status and deployment strategy for the operational systems and present recent results from the extensive testing of the radar system concept and weather information dissemination approach.